In may im going to chicago with my boyfriend, any hotel suggestions?

Not sure about cheap places with a kitchen, but some places lets you rent a refrigerator. My husband and I are staying at the Palmer House next week. ONly paid $113 a night and get breakfast from there JAnuary sale. I would recommend not buying for pages like hotel.com. I looked there and had the palmer house rate but they wanted to charge a $150 fee. I booked directly from the hotel (they often list the specials on there site) and paid only $392 for three nights. I also rented a mini fridge for $35 per stay. I thought this way we could save left overs and store snacks and soda because they are so expensive when bought from the hotel itself.

I know you didn't ask for all these answers but since you re on a budget i can relate. I too am planning a trip to chicago for next week and these are the goodies i found.

Another way i saved food wise was going onto www.restaurant.com They had a sale for 80% off gift certificates (most gC are $10 for a $25 GC) Anyway, I got about $200 for $24 so i would recommend checking it out. If you don't use them its not a huge loss.

We too are on a budget and wanted to do a lot of site-seeing. So i bought the go chicago card from www.smartdestiantions.com I got the three day pass for the two day price on sale. It lets you see over 30 sites with free admission(it adds up quick) Most places on the card close by 530 this time of year, so you'll have to start early and i would recommend dong the free things after that time. You'll need to get the 2 day pass to get your moneys worth out of the card, its not cheap but considering what you would pay in admission fees, its worth it.

If you're going in February, Id spend a lot of time on mag mile. They are running promos all through Feb www.toastonthemagnificientmile.com.

Feb 14 is chinese new year and I hear China town is very inexpensive with good places to shop and eat.

I would also recommend coming in on the amtrak or some form of transportation so you dont have to pay high parking fees, the cheapest i found is $45 a night, and thats even if you stay there. Some hotels have paking in there specials (palmer house) but its so high i wouldnt cosider it free.

The magnificent mile also has a face book page and put new promos up daily so i would check that out.

Hope this helps, have fun and stay warm in CHicago!!

I live about 3 hours from Chicago and have spent many weekends there. Unfortunately, your request is very difficult. Chicago is simply an expensive city compared to most.

If you want to be near the excitement.....there are many choices downtown, close to the sites, nightlife, resturaunts, lakefront, museums.....most within walking distance, or an short cab ride. The best deal I ever found for a hotel there was about $150 a night (the Allerton), but typically they go $180 to $200 (parking is extra, look for self-parking options versus a valet only). Expect to pay more on weekends and during a big event downtown. The internet is your friend on this one, I would suggest searching hotels in one window, plugging in your days, getting the price, and have google maps in another window to see where it is relative to where you want to be.

Further out in the suburbs, I think you'll still be looking at $100 to $150 a night, but then you have to pay for parking everywhere, plus you can spend a couple of hours a day driving and searching for your destination. If you stay downtown, you can do more in fewer days, which may let you pack your trip into two nights instead of three, saving you the extra night in a hotel.

Chicago is an awesome place to visit, lots to see and do, but unfortunately, nothing about it is cheap, from hotels to resturaunts. Try to look for hidden costs in parking, food, cabs, etc., before you go, or you could be in for a bad surprise.

Good luck on your plans, I hope it works out and you have a great time within your budget.

Try TripAdvisor.com for destination guides and lists of hotels with comments from past guests. "Close to the excitement" is going to be expensive in any city. You could always try one of the bidding or opaque websites, e.g. Priceline or HotWire or Hotels.com....

One budget thing you can do: Rather than pay to go up to the observation deck of either the Sears [er, Willis?] Tower or John Hancock building, go to the restaurant/bar on the floor below the OD at the Hancock. For the price of a drink/lunch, you get the same view for less. [Don't miss the ladies room!] You may even be able to just look around for free, if you go at the right time of day. We were there in mid-afternoon, past the lunch rush, and they let us wander around.

An interesting place to eat downtown is "Heaven on Seven" - a burger joint on the seventh floor of an office building. It's not well-marked, so look up their website or just do a search on it. We found it listed in the Frommer's or Fodor's guidebook or at their on-line sites. They both have lots of info, from budget to budget-busting!

Have fun!!

The budget range isn't clear. Try searching for a hotel deal via Dealbase (http://www.dealbase.com/Chicago-hotel-deals-discou... ). Look for a bargain related to a suite or extended stay places. You can either search for a list of general deals for a specific hotel via the top-right search box OR you can search for specific dates in the "Compare" search box lower on the site.

Some downtown places where you MAY be able to get a deal on a decent suite for $99 or lower a night: Seneca Hotel (about two blocks east of the John Hancock on Chestnut - http://www.senecahotel.com/ ), Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Chicago Downtown (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-rooms/chifd-f... ), Residence Inn Chicago (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chird-reside... ).

NOTE: I recently stayed at the Seneca suite based on an upgraded $99 deal. The room wasn't the cleanest or modern and the hotel heating was really hot, but there was a full kitchen in the suite and a hot complimentary breakfast included.