Urban Oases

Got visitors? Put them up in one of these neighborhood hotels for a taste of real city life.

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Lake View
CITY SUITES HOTEL
933 W. Belmont Ave.; 800-248-9108, cityinns.com
Forty-five rooms, from standard queen to executive suite. Weekday rates from $249 to $319; weekend rates from $309 to $409. Nearby garage parking, $22 per day with in-and-out privileges.

Just a couple of doors from a stop on the main north-south el train line, City Suites provides a good home base for Cubs fans or travelers with a taste for real urban living. The hotel faces Belmont Avenue, one of the busier streets in Boystown, which has gentrified into a funky retail area that's still gritty but no longer seedy. Wrigley Field and its attendant slew of sports bars are one train stop—or a five-block walk—away, while downtown is a 20-minute ride in the other direction. The rooms at City Suites are small and basic; suites have separate sleeping areas, though not actual doors.

UPSIDE, DOWNSIDE To minimize noise from the elevated train station, request a room on the east side of the hotel. On the plus side, your walk to 24-hour public transportation is less than half a block. And taxis and buses are so plentiful you may not need a car.

This article appears in the May 2008 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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