Our visit to Chicago was at the end of Feb/beginning Mar and unfortunately we hit a cold spell. This was too bad because the Essex is in a fantastic location walking around downtown Chicago and the lake parks and museums and Navy pier etc etc.
The front rooms at The Essex have an amazing view of the lake and brandt and millenium parks across the street. Our room was on the corner with complete glass front and south walls!! We had an excellent king bed with down type comforter, lots of pillows, very nice color scheme, flat screen TV and wireless internet. The bathroom is very small but also very elegant. We had a great winter getaway deal so the value for this room was unbelieveable. It is much more expensive in the high seasons. The rooms in the other parts of the hotel would not have the views of the front corners but they would still be nice. The hotel has a big pool and exercise room and shuttle service to local attractions for free - nice touch. The restarount has good food for reasonable prices. There is an irish pub across the street with good food but expensive drinks. Buddy Guys Blues club is 1/2 block with good Cajun food. There are lots of small cafes in the area and hotels with fancy eats too. i would love to stay here again and hope I can find a good deal.
We walked as much as we could considering the cold weather (and we are from Saskatchewan!!) but i need to return because Chicago is an excellent destination city with lots to do. Fortunately it is easy and relatively cheap to grab a taxi to get you places in the cold and the 'L' the elevated train system, is very easy to navigate, safe and clean in the downtown area and only $2.25 a ride - a transit card would be even cheaper. The Magnificent Mile shopping area is within short walking distance as are most attractions. We went to second city comedy on the 'L' quick and easy and took a bus to watch the Blackhawks play. Also easy. the new football stadium is right across the park. Something unique - check out the stained glass museum at the Navy Pier - even the teens we saw there were impressed.
It costs about $35 - $40 to take a cab 15min from the airport (with tip). At the time of evening we arrived the shuttle service was going to charge us $60 and it was going to take almost 60mins!! Don't buy a round trip on a shuttle from the airport cause it is easy and cheap to get to the airport on the 'L' from local stops or the 'metra' train from union station. If you are good with the metro then it is easy to get most places on the metro and subway.