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Last-Minute Hotel Deals in River North

Tonight's open rooms in River North, where five of the twelve hotels we cover put a destination fee on the booking screen and a car can add up to $88 a night.

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Chicago goes cheap in January, and the garage costs more than the fee

Friday and Saturday are the nights that sell. In 2021 some downtown hotels hit about 90% on ordinary weekends while most rooms stood empty on weekdays. The records since are weekend ones: four summer 2025 weekends each topped 91,000 room nights across downtown, and the first weekend of June 2023 ran 96.8% full. So the open River North room is usually a Sunday to Thursday room. No source we found publishes a current weekday curve, so compare a Tuesday with a Saturday yourself. Weekends with a headline event go first: Lollapalooza, whose 2027 dates aren't announced, and Marathon Sunday on October 10, 2027, after a 2026 marathon week that ran 82.7% occupied. A McCormick Place convention lifts weekdays too. IMTS week in September 2026 pushed the average rate up 28.2%, per CoStar.

January is the cheap month in Engine's public-rate averages for Chicago, May 2024 to April 2026, and June the most expensive, with December well under the yearly average and November closer to it. Late December is cheap despite the holiday draw. The November pinch is the lights-festival weekend, Saturday, November 21, 2026. Winter's cheap pattern breaks for the Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place, February 13 to 21, 2027, and for AHR Expo on January 25 to 27, 2027.

Chicago's room tax is 18.9% on the booking screens: City 4.5%, County 1%, State 11.9% and a 1.5% tourism-district charge that began May 1, 2026 for downtown hotels with 100 or more rooms. Five of the twelve River North hotels also carry a destination fee, $25 at four of them and $30 at the Westin, and at the three Marriott hotels it is already inside the rate the screen shows. Six show none. One we couldn't read. Where a hotel's current page publishes a price, overnight parking runs $59 to $88 a night, more than any of those fees. The city taxes parking at 23.25%, and none of the hotels that post a price says whether it includes the tax. A Westin guest with valet pays $88 a night on top of a rate that already includes the $30 fee. A guest at the Moxy with a car pays $59 and no fee. The Blue Line from O'Hare is $5 and 40 to 45 minutes; the Orange Line from Midway is $2.50 and 20 to 25.

River North deal questions

When are River North hotels cheapest?

January. Engine's public-rate averages for Chicago rank it the cheapest month and June the most expensive. Within a month, Sunday to Thursday is where open rooms are likeliest, because the busiest nights on record are Fridays and Saturdays. A McCormick Place convention week, such as the Auto Show on February 13 to 21, 2027, breaks the pattern.

Do River North hotels charge destination fees?

Some do. Five of the twelve we cover show one on the booking screen: $25 a night at the RIVVY, voco Chicago Downtown, Holiday Inn Chicago Downtown - The Mart and Hotel Chicago Downtown, and $30 at the Westin. At the three Marriott hotels (the RIVVY, the Westin and Hotel Chicago Downtown) the fee is already inside the rate the screen shows. The Langham, Trump International, Embassy Suites, Hyatt Place, Aloft and Moxy show none. We couldn't read Hotel 505's booking screen, so we don't know.

How much is parking in River North?

Where a hotel's current page publishes a price, overnight parking runs $59 to $88 a night: $59 at the garage the Moxy uses on Wells Street, $88 for valet at the Langham and the Westin. Trump International, Hotel 505 and the two Wolf Point Plaza hotels have no rate we could confirm. Chicago taxes parking at 23.25%, and none of the hotels that post a rate says whether it's included.

How do you get to River North from the airports by train?

From O'Hare, take the Blue Line, which runs 24 hours and reaches downtown in 40 to 45 minutes for $5. From Midway, the Orange Line takes 20 to 25 minutes for $2.50.

Is River North close to McCormick Place?

No. McCormick Place is about 2.5 miles south of the Loop, so from any of these hotels it is a cab or CTA ride. We found no McCormick Place shuttle listed by any of the twelve.

Nearby areas