[SSD]

Now planning to have a road trip to Chicago, and stay at downtown for 2 nights, then 3rd day, stop by Detroit or Windsor and stay there for another night..and 4th day, coming back to Toronto. So my wife won't be feel bad on 8+ hours of driving with her poor back. Also plan to depart a Saturday morning and stay for Sat+Sun in Chicago as the hotel will save a bit too.

Any good advise on what's good to visit and do and eat? First time to both places btw.

I heard Detroit and Windsor are boring too, so not sure if I should stay there for a night or somewhere else (like London or Lansing)

For MPH, I'll use my Tomtom GPS for the reading.

Also, if any luck I want to get a set of OEM 18" rim+tire from any Chicago BMW owner, how easy can I get it via the custom when I come back to Canada? (at least how could I declare how much will it worth without receipt)

Thx in advance.

[SSD]

Oh..I also want to know if the BMW roadside assistance will work in US as well in case I have any problem....also my T&C tire insurance...forget the company name..but not from BMW.ca.

[pdude]

Windsor IS pretty boring, and Detroit at night could be dangerous, unless you want to see a ball game and you know exactly where you are going.
In Windsor you'll have a couple good restaurants and the casino, maybe a show, I'm not sure who is in town these days.
All this depends on how old you are and what you are looking for.
I'm 34 and find that myself and my wife can't really do much in this town.

[SSD]

Originally Posted by pdude

Windsor IS pretty boring, and Detroit at night could be dangerous, unless you want to see a ball game and you know exactly where you are going.
In Windsor you'll have a couple good restaurants and the casino, maybe a show, I'm not sure who is in town these days.
All this depends on how old you are and what you are looking for.
I'm 34 and find that myself and my wife can't really do much in this town.

Great..in that case, I'll skip it and drive all the way back to Toronto in a day.

For this kind of distances (1700km round trip), do you guys usually rent a car or drive your bimmer to US? Wonder if the parking is safe in downtown Chicago.

[CHCCubs]

The drive to Chicago can be done in one day without a problem. I drove there in one day last summer (left about 8:00am and arrived at about 3:00pm Chicago time - Central Time) although I stopped several times for lunch, etc. I would suggest crossing through Sarnia though and avoiding Detroit if you are planning on driving straight to Chicago as it is faster than going through Windsor/Detroit.

If you are looking to stay in the city in Chicago and want to save some cash I would recommend the Heart of Chicago Motel located on the north side. It is a pretty basic place, but the rooms are clean, it's still close to most city attractions, and the parking is free (which is impossible to find at any other hotel within the city). Some places I would suggest to check out in Chicago are Wrigley Field/Wrigleyville, Navy Pier, Sears Tower, Hancock Building, Field Museum, and the beaches and parks along Lakeshore Drive.

If you are looking to shop, there is a big outlet mall about an hour north of Chicago (Gurnee Mills), or there is also one in Michigan you could stop at on the way back just north of Flint (Birch Run). There is also some decent shopping in the northern suburbs of Detroit (Great Lakes Crossing in Pontiac).

[SSD]

That's great..I'm actually seeing another hotel at the beginning (Best Western River North).....I don't know about the outlet mall before..I think it'll be great for my wife..


Now..I'm also thinking if it's safe or good to drive my 328 to there...or just better rent a car for the weekend.

[MOAB]

Originally Posted by SSD

That's great..I'm actually seeing another hotel at the beginning (Best Western River North).....I don't know about the outlet mall before..I think it'll be great for my wife..


Now..I'm also thinking if it's safe or good to drive my 328 to there...or just better rent a car for the weekend.

what's the point of having a car if you aren't going to drive it? if it were a ferrari or an aston martin, ok maybe, but its just a bmw

[BMdblU]

Originally Posted by MOAB

what's the point of having a car if you aren't going to drive it? if it were a ferrari or an aston martin, ok maybe, but its just a bmw

+1

Only reason I can see for not driving it would be if it's leased and you're worried about too many km's ..

[SSD]

But if in case there's a problem...the BMW roadside assistance is valid in US too? And the warranty as well..in case they'll tow to the closest US dealership.

[pdude]

Use priceline for your hotel, you can probably get a 4star downtown for $50-$70. Parking is crazy expensive, I would do self park, even if the hotel does not 'offer it'.
Drive your car, do you really want to spend 8hrs in a rental, and there is no '50km over we take your ride away', so you can 'stretch them BMW legs'.

[CHCCubs]

Originally Posted by SSD

Now..I'm also thinking if it's safe or good to drive my 328 to there...or just better rent a car for the weekend.

I didn't have my BMW when I went last year, but had no problems with my previous car (Acura CSX) that I drove there. There are some bad parts of town (mostly on the southside), but most areas close to downtown are quite safe.

[SSD]

Tempting for using priceline..but the problem is I can't choose the hotel at all...I don't really want to give my km/h bimmer for valet parking.....same for hotwire as well..

[Speeze]

Highly recommend Priceline. I use it all the time.

[SSD]

Originally Posted by Speeze

Highly recommend Priceline. I use it all the time.

How does it work after you chose the area, the rate and the price..and submit?

They'll just pick one and book it for you...and you can't select or change or cancel it right?

If so, how would I avoid the hotel with valet parking? Or if there's a lot of self parking near every hotel?

[Speeze]

That's right -- you can't cancel or change it. It charges your credit card if it finds a hotel in your area and star rating. The important thing is to pick your general area and go for a 4/5 star hotel. Just start with a low offer that you would be very happy with. Sometimes it forces you to change criteria other than just price (i.e. star level and or area) if it can't find what you are looking for. If you close your browser and go back to the site (clear your session cookies) you can start over with just changing your price and not the star level.

The parking thing is rolling the dice a bit. This is why you should make sure that your priceline quote is way lower than what you would pay if you had just booked your hotel directly.

For your first time, just try a lowball of $40 for a 5 star hotel. That offer will get rejected (unless you are really lucky) and you'll get to see how it works.

[SSD]

Thx..I just tried to use priceline this morning and start with $40, then close browser, tried $50...close browser and tried $60....but now...I have 3 requests showing in my account...anyway to delete the previous request?

Will they keep trying to find the price for me before the departure date? In this case, if they can find $50 hotel..will it be double book with all my requests in the account...

For parking, now I'm thinking if I just park in the non-hotel parking..but try to find nearby self-parking...hope it'll be safe to park for 2 days without leaving their garage.

[Speeze]

With name your own price if it doesn't book it right then and there it won't be booked at all.

[Izzie Werner]

The distance from Chicago to Detroit is 237 miles or 384 kilometers. This distance can vary greatly depending on several factors. For instance, the flight time from Chicago to Detroit could take less than 1 hour and 25 minutes, or it could take longer than that.

[Vulcan50]

Nearly a 13 year old thread