May Edition Where's Wallace

With so much excitement taking place at The Field Museum, I had to go check things out this month. As we mentioned before the awesome Mammoths and Mastodons Exhibit has been open for a while now. It is really impressive seeing these creatures from the Ice Age. Our Mammoths and Mastodons Coloring Contest is coming to an end and the winner will be annouced the first week of June.

You may have also heard that Sue the T. Rex is celebrating her 10th anniversay at The Field museum. There is a new interactive exhibit called RoboSue! You cant miss it!

You also won’t want to miss when a “Walk Around Sue” visits Best Western River North on June 11 at 5pm.

An All Access ticket is now available to the Field Museum. With this ticket you can experience the T. Rex exhibits and the Mammoths!

Go! You will LOVE it!

It wouldn’t be summer without a new issue of Midwest Living’s Best of the Midwest magazine. The 2010 edition includes recommendations of where to go, where to stay, what to eat and what to do. The staff of Midwest Living has eaten at every restaurant, stayed at every lodging and visited every destination to ensure they’re good.

Best Western River North Hotel is again featured as a “Where to Stay” in Chicago. Just a handful of Chicago hotels are featured. We sincerely appreciate the recognition and will continue to do our best to provide a great lodging value in the great city of Chicago!

Hello from high above Chicago! This month I went to visit two of the highest points you can reach in downtown Chicago; The Skydeck at the Willis Tower and The Signature Room at the 95th.

The left side of the photo captures me out on “The Ledge”. Yes, thats right, you can stand in a glass box that hangs off the side of the Willis Tower….or Sears Tower and I did it! You can see the day I visited it was a little cloudy, but the views were still incredible.

Next I hustled over to the John Hancock building and worked my way up to the 95th floor. Along with an observatory, The Signature Room is open for lunch and dinner and offers unbeatable views while you are dining. There is also a lounge if dining is not in your plans.

These two places offer a truely unique experience and are must see’s when visiting Chicago.

Where’sWallace,
originally uploaded by Best Western River North Hotel Chicago.

Alright everyone, welcome to the first edition of “Where’s Wallace?” I let the secret out a little early, so you may have heard I was at Navy Pier. I spent an afternoon walking around the state’s #1 attraction, and here is what I discovered.

For over 10 years, Navy Pier has been the place where all of Chicagoland and tourists come together and enjoy a day of fun and beauty on Lake Michigan. I started my day with a walk down “Dock Street”. Dock Street is the outdoor area that runs the length of Navy Pier. Now, you might be asking, what is there to do outside in winter? The answer is plenty! All along Dock street Chicago’s best dining cruise and sightseeing ships dock. Cruises are available all year long! From Dock Street I made my way up to “Pier Park”. Pier Park is located on the upper deck and features attractions like a Carousel, Wave Swinger, Miniature Golf and more. While most of these attractions are not open for the season yet, the one attraction open year round is the 150 foot high Ferris wheel. As you can see in the picture, it was a beautiful clear day when I was at Navy Pier, and the views from the Ferris wheel are spectacular! I think I even saw River North Hotel from the top!

After the excitement of the Ferris wheel ride, I headed indoors for some lunch. With many restaurants and a food court, deciding where to eat was tough. I finally chose the Bubba Gump Restaurant and Market and boy was I happy I did. The food was terrific and so was the service. When I explained to the staff a little about my “Where’s Wallace” column, they were even nicer! So please visit my friends at Bubba Gumps, and tell them Wallace sent you!

After lunch, I strolled around inside and did some shopping. Navy Pier offers 30+ shops. I made a stop by DC Mad Hatter. Here you can have custom embroidery done on a hat, while you wait. DC is a good friend of Best Western River North, so he made me a Wallace hat, check out the picture. We wrapped up my day at the Navy Pier IMAX theatre, now showing Avatar. They say you haven’t really seen Avatar until you see it in IMAX 3D…lets go…

Best Western Chicago - Papers,
originally uploaded by Best Western River North Hotel Chicago.

As part of our Social Consciousness Program, our employees drop off old newspapers to our community neighbor The Anti-Cruelty Society. Anti-Cruelty reuses these newspapers in both the cat and dog adoption rooms.

With Old Man Winter settling in for the season, you may be looking for things to do on these frigid, blustery days. Now is the perfect time for a getaway and Best Western River North is the perfect place.

Best Western River North is offering special, Website only “Winternet” rates starting as low as $79 per night! These great rates won’t be around long, so book your stay today!

In addition to the “too good to miss” rates, here are some exciting reasons to visit Chicago and Best Western River North in January or February:

-Presidents Day is February 15. Which Means no school! Extend your weekend with our great Winter Rates that always include FREE parking you can afford to take a break! Discounted tickets are available at the hotel front desk to Chicago’s most popular attractions like, Shedd Aquarium and the Sears Tower SkyDeck. Spend your time enjoying Chicago, not waiting in ticket lines.

-Free General Admission to the Museum of Science and Industry on weekdays in January.

-Chicago Snow Days January 29-31. Free activities in Grant Park such as Snow Sculpting, Dog Sled races and an Activities Igloo.

-Spend Valentines Day at Best Western River North and experience true Chicago Style deep dish pizza in a new way, Heart Shaped! Heart shaped pizza’s are available at Pizzeria Ora now through February 14. 
-Not a fan of Valentines Day? Celebrate Chinese New Year! February 14. Navy Pier celebrates the “Year of the Tiger” with an afternoon of traditional Chinese performances and activities. Visit www.navypier.com for more information.

-Chicago Winter Dance 2010 - February 1-28. A celebration of ice skating and dancing in Millennium Park. Visit www.explorechicago.org for a complete schedule of activities.

julie helenius,
originally uploaded by Best Western River North Hotel Chicago.

November 21, 2009 Chicago will be 1,000,000 lights brighter as the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival kicks of the Holiday Season. The procession kicks off at 5:30 pm when Mickey Mouse begins to light the holiday lights along Michigan Ave.

You are in for a musical treat this year! Musical performer and instructor Julie Helenius, accompanied by Karen Jordan and Tony Bobalik, will be performing holiday classics aboard the Best Western Hotels float in this years parade.

Chicago Hotel - Navy Pier

Here are Chicago’s Top 10 Sightseeing attractions, according to the Chicago Sun Times. How many have you visited? Let us know which are your favorites and why. If you haven’t visited all these attractions, plan a getaway to Chicago!

1. Navy Pier
2. Millennium Park.
3. Chicago Trolley & Double Decker
4. Lincoln Park Zoo ( and did I mention it’s free)
5. Six Flags Great America
6. Brookfield Zoo
7. Willis (Sears) Tower Skydeck
8. Morton Arboretum
9. Chicago Botanic Garden
10. John Hancock Observatory

Jonas Standee Best Western,
originally uploaded by Best Western River North Hotel Chicago.

This summer Best Western is sponsoring the hit TV series JONAS on Disney Channel. Best Western Rewards members who have two qualifing stays from June 21-August 16 can receive a free night voucher plus a JONAS cinch pack.

Tell us why you like the JONAS TV series and you could win an almost life-size  JONAS “standee” like the one pictured here. One blog entry will be chosen at random (one each month, June, July and August) to win!

Our favorite part of the JONAS TV series is that they are including Frankie…the Bonus Jonas!