Lombard ---> ORD
June 28, 2012 12:55 PM Subscribe
What's the best/cheapest way to get three people from a hotel in Lombard, Illinois to O'hare on a Tuesday afternoon?
We'll be at the Stay Inn and for most of our stay, we'll be shuttled around by other family members but by the time we need to get back to the airport, they'll all have gone home with their cars. After having lived in the western suburbs for 20+ years but gone for the last 20 I have no clue what airport transportation options are out there. It'll be me, my husband and our young daughter. Our flight is at about 2pm and though we won't have huge amounts of luggage, we'll have enough that I don't want to cart it around all morning, otherwise I'd probably take the train downtown for the morning and then the blue line to O'hare.
Alternatively, if you can suggest something really awesome to do within walking distance of the hotel that would be great, too. Having spent the bulk of my formative years at Yorktown Shopping Center, I'm not sure I can stomach a whole morning at the mall. (Holy crap, when did I-88 become the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway?)
We'll be at the Stay Inn and for most of our stay, we'll be shuttled around by other family members but by the time we need to get back to the airport, they'll all have gone home with their cars. After having lived in the western suburbs for 20+ years but gone for the last 20 I have no clue what airport transportation options are out there. It'll be me, my husband and our young daughter. Our flight is at about 2pm and though we won't have huge amounts of luggage, we'll have enough that I don't want to cart it around all morning, otherwise I'd probably take the train downtown for the morning and then the blue line to O'hare.
Alternatively, if you can suggest something really awesome to do within walking distance of the hotel that would be great, too. Having spent the bulk of my formative years at Yorktown Shopping Center, I'm not sure I can stomach a whole morning at the mall. (Holy crap, when did I-88 become the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway?)
I always use American Taxi to get back and forth to ORD from Aurora. Don't know about price. Probably $25-30 from Lombard. They have tons of cars, so there should be no trouble getting folks there.
posted by hwestiii at 1:11 PM on June 28, 2012
posted by hwestiii at 1:11 PM on June 28, 2012
Nthing the cab. Make sure you tell them there are 3 of you with luggage for space reasons. However, county cabs make a big chunk of their business with airport runs so they know the drill.
Call early though. It can take a while to get one dispatched and if they are not there, have second number ready.
As far as things to do that you can walk to? Yeah as JoeZydeco mentioned, you are a bit out of luck. That part of Lombard is ok to walk around, but everything is really spaced out. If you had a car, no problem, but even getting to your old haunt at Yorktown will be a hike with a kid in tow as it is about a mile away. (And as a person without a car in that area, I can attest to how annoying it is to get anywhere.)
Last thing...if you do go walking, realize the streets are far wider than in SF and drivers can be a bit testy with pedestrians here. Probably more than when you lived here 20 yrs ago.
posted by lampshade at 1:59 PM on June 28, 2012
Call early though. It can take a while to get one dispatched and if they are not there, have second number ready.
As far as things to do that you can walk to? Yeah as JoeZydeco mentioned, you are a bit out of luck. That part of Lombard is ok to walk around, but everything is really spaced out. If you had a car, no problem, but even getting to your old haunt at Yorktown will be a hike with a kid in tow as it is about a mile away. (And as a person without a car in that area, I can attest to how annoying it is to get anywhere.)
Last thing...if you do go walking, realize the streets are far wider than in SF and drivers can be a bit testy with pedestrians here. Probably more than when you lived here 20 yrs ago.
posted by lampshade at 1:59 PM on June 28, 2012
Response by poster: Okay, so we'll probably plan on a cab. I sort of figured there weren't a lot of walkable options around there. However now that I've put my brain back on, I just realized that we won't be staying at that hotel the night before but will be staying near downtown Glen Ellyn that morning so there will be plenty of things for us to amuse ourselves with! The cab is still sounding like a good option for airport transportation but at least we won't have to spend the morning at the Mobil station on the corner.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:34 PM on June 28, 2012
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:34 PM on June 28, 2012
Holy crap, when did I-88 become the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway?
Don't worry, nobody calls it that.
posted by goethean at 8:22 AM on June 29, 2012
Don't worry, nobody calls it that.
posted by goethean at 8:22 AM on June 29, 2012
we won't be staying at that hotel the night before but will be staying near downtown Glen Ellyn
Ahh...welll that changes things a bit. GE is very walkable and there are some options for you and the kid. 2Toots is a nice kid friendly place that is always packed. I have never been in there but judging from the crowd, they are probably doing something right. There is also a whole slew of restaurants downtown and easy to find online. The park is also easy to walk to.
The Glen Art Theatre has some matinees and while not a great selection of shows, it is alright.
Stay away from The Patio though - that place is evil. You would do better to go to McChesney & Miller get some picnic stuff and go to the park.
posted by lampshade at 9:20 AM on June 29, 2012
Ahh...welll that changes things a bit. GE is very walkable and there are some options for you and the kid. 2Toots is a nice kid friendly place that is always packed. I have never been in there but judging from the crowd, they are probably doing something right. There is also a whole slew of restaurants downtown and easy to find online. The park is also easy to walk to.
The Glen Art Theatre has some matinees and while not a great selection of shows, it is alright.
Stay away from The Patio though - that place is evil. You would do better to go to McChesney & Miller get some picnic stuff and go to the park.
posted by lampshade at 9:20 AM on June 29, 2012
Response by poster: Yes, I'm pretty familiar with downtown GE and have already been to 2Toots. I'm hoping to make it a film at the Glen since that's my childhood's movie palace. Good to know about The Patio. We'll probably make it to Giesche's for shoe shopping too--I plan on hitting all the highlights of 1985.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:04 PM on June 29, 2012
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:04 PM on June 29, 2012
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From your hotel to ORD is a flat $31 plus a couple bucks more for the additional passengers. With tip you could get to the airport for under $40. You can also request a van instead of a car if you need more space, it's a few bucks more.
It's not glamorous, and the cabs aren't exactly limos, but they've been very reliable for me.
As for things to do, you don't have many options within walking distance. Aside from the typical mall options there's an AMC movie theatre (with IMAX) in the southeast corner of the mall lot, and a Harry Caray's restaurant nearby. There's also one of those upscale bowling alleys in the mall now, Lucky Strike Lanes. Oh, and there's a free indoor playground/climbing thing inside Yorktown. Your daughter will get a kick out of that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:10 PM on June 28, 2012 [1 favorite]