Don't Go To Canuckistan; ó Rick Steves Blows: Chicago Getaway Hostel

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The Chicago Getaway Hostel in Lincoln Park is a nice, very clean hostel with a friendly and engaging atmosphere and modern decor. Its name is a nod to the city's (old)gangster reputation during the Prohibition era when the baddies needed a getaway car to speed them from the scene of the crime. Various framed prints of the likes of Elliot Ness, Al Capone, John Dillinger is about the only bit of kitsch in the joint.

Most guests were sociable and the hostel always had a few group events planned beyond the tried-and-true pub crawl (which in this winter weather wasn't so appealing anyway). One evening we went out for a night of down home Chicago Blues at The Kingston Mines. As many times as I've been to/through/around Chicago this was my first time in a Blues bar! Some places can be too engaging and obnoxious - "party hostels" - but such was not the case here; plenty of comfortable seating and lighting for conversations and quiet reading.

blues performance at The Kingston Mines

Unlike so many of the hostels in which I've stayed Front Desk didn't "welcome" one with a stale rundown of endless house rules either. You presented identification (fyi, no Chicago residents allowed as guests), paid your bill upfront, and received your card key with assigned bed (linen & towel included). My only complaint is the dorm room had poor lighting and lack of personal reading lamps which made it hard not to disturb others after dark.

FREE breakfast was continental style and included lots of fresh whole oranges and bananas and, more uniquely, milk! The industrial kitchen is well equipped to store guests groceries and there are half a dozen free and FAST computers in the lobby (in addition to WI-FI). Also, there's free luggage storage, pool table, Netflix, hot water showers, a piano, and a brand new additional TV room in the basement. The hostel is roughly four blocks or 15 min walk from the Fullerton Red Line station. Yep, it's the perfect place to get away.