HI Chicago, Be Blown Away in the best hostel of the Windy City

Chicago and Hostelling International Chicago

If there is one cosmopolitan city you would want the wind to blow you away to, then Chicago in the United States is the best choice there is. And not just because Chicago is also affectionately called the Windy City for its strong winds, and some say, for its strong personalities!

Chicago enjoys its fame and notoriety. For fame, it has built the United State’s first comprehensive sewerage system, the world’s first skyscraper in the Home Insurance Building, the world’s tallest skyscraper till top of antenna in the Sears Tower, the first African-American city mayor through Harold Washington, and possibly the first African-American president in Barack Obama. For notoriety, get a dose of Al Capone and Bugsy Moran, the Manhattan Project, political machines, and the O’Hare Airport. However, notoriety and fame are often interchangeable depending on the perspective so the above mentioned examples are not ironclad.

Chicago is a city that welcomes anybody and everybody into its midst. In fact, its demographic makeup sounds like a roll call of ethnicities from all around the globe – Irish, German, Polish, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Italian, Native American, and African-American with a smattering of other immigrants from Asia and Latin America. This has resulted in a vibrant multi-cultural mix that attracts visitors and fascinates Chicagoans daily.

For music lovers, Chicago is heaven for its variety of music genres. You can have your fill of the Chicago blues, jazz, gospel, and soul courtesy of the robust African-American heritage. You can dance to house music and hip hop, groove to new wave and rave music, express your angst through punk, rock, and indie songs, and enjoy classical music with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Dance and theater are also exciting staples in Chicago with the presence of theaters such as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre and Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place for Broadway style productions and the Joffrey Ballet and Chicago Festival Ballet for dance pleasures. Who would not love a town that knows its muses?

And because Chicago is a melting pot of races, you can definitely expect a melting pot of cuisine, too! From Italian pizza to Chinese noodles, you can find restaurants that will satisfy your culinary cravings. However, for an eat-all-you-can, eat-all-at-one-venue Chicago cuisine experience, the Taste of Chicago Festival at Grant Park is the place to be – or more accurately, eat.

Of course, Chicago’s skyline is one of the most distinctive in the world. You can either get a stiff neck just looking up at one of the world’s tallest skylines dotted with the imposing likes of the Sears Tower, Aon Center, John Hancock Center, Wrigley Building, and Tribune Tower, or tour the buildings to get a good case of vertigo. And plans for shooting into the sky don’t stop there either!

You should see the baseball, football, and basketball games all around the city! Chicago lends its name to the baseball champions Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, the 6-time basketball titleholders Chicago Bulls, and the ice hockey champs Chicago Blackhawks. Wrigley Field and United Center are as much household names as they are shrines to sports for Chicagoans.

After all the traipsing and gallivanting around the Windy City, you will need to rest your weary body in the most accommodating of Chicago hostels. Where else but in the HI Chicago?

The Hostelling International Chicago is a 500-bed facility, with at least 6 beds to a room featuring an ensuite bathroom and shower. No need for inconvenient dashes to the toilet and inopportune lining up for the showers at HI Hostel, mind you.

And the location will blow you away. The HI Hostel is located conveniently located within walking distance of Grant Park and the Millennium Park, Lake Michigan, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) system, and great sights of The Loop. You can literally go from the HI Hostel to anywhere in Chicago via the CTA’s buses, trains and subways! Indeed, location, location, location is HI Hostel.

And it is its location that allows you to visit Chicago’s landmarks on a leisurely walk from the Hostelling International Chicago. Sears Tower, Navy Pier, Lake Michigan, the Art Institute, most major museums, and Michigan Avenue are all within walking distance from the hostel, which is very convenient if you are watching your budget for fare expenses. Otherwise, you can always avail of the low-cost bike rental at the HI Hostel to get around Chicago.

You will fall in love with the HI Chicago’s features. Consider these:

• Free breakfast of filling foods like cereal with milk, orange, juice, toast, muffin, and fruit. • Large and über clean kitchen and dining room for good meals. • Hot showers anytime of the day to wash off the weariness of travel. • Air-conditioned rooms for comfortable sleep. • Elevator to ease your luggage problems. • Common room to relax in, with ping-pong table, plenty of sofas and chairs, free WiFi, and great acquaintances.

And if you are new to the city, you can avail of the free city tours with knowledgeable guides who will take you to interesting neighborhoods for sightseeing, shopping, and souvenir-hunting during the day, and bar hopping in the night. The staff provides helpful travel information and delivers efficient service with a warm smile.

Hostelling International Chicago also provides bars and restaurants within its premises for those who desire to entertain themselves and to take their meals inside the hostel. The food is great, the service is great, and the ambiance is great, too! All in all, a magnificent way to experience hostel hospitality.

With HI Hostel Chicago will blow you away and make you come back for more of the Windy City!

Chicago Vacations