Travel

Travel Note

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Our wedding and reception are in the twin cities of Champaign-Urbana (“CU”) Illinois. CU is ~ 130 miles SSW of downtown Chicago, ~120 miles WNW of Indianapolis, and ~175 ENE of St. Louis. It is accessible by Interstate (I-74, I-72, and I-57), Amtrak (https://www.amtrak.com/home.html), and air. Below, we note which hotels we reserved a block of rooms, and until what date the hotels will hold the rooms for us. After that date they will sell the rooms to anyone. Since the weekend of October 13th it is homecoming weekend for the University of Illinois, all uncommitted rooms outside our blocks are mostly sold out, If you will be spending one or more nights in Champaign, to ensure that you have a hotel room, we encourage you to reserve your room among the blocks we reserved at the following hotels quickly or otherwise you could end up possibly 15 miles away.

Travel Note

If you did not drive to Champaign and will not have a car, we suggest that you stay at the Hyatt Place; it’s within easy walking distance to ~25 bars and restaurants and so there is typically an active night life in the vicinity. It is a wonderful hotel and we recommend it. The church is several miles from all of the hotels; we have arranged for prepaid Ubers, though just as we are completing with Homecoming for hotels, we likely will be competing with Homecoming for Ubers. See FAQ's

Travel Note

The Drury Inn, Econolodge and Eastland Suites are several miles from the wedding, wedding reception and our home. If you choose to stay at either of these, having access to a car will add to your comfort & convenience. Having said that, we have arranged transportation to transport our guests between events, or Willard Airport or the Illinois Terminal but as we are completing with homecoming for hotels, we likely will be competing with homecoming for Ubers, so while having access to a car may not be essential, it is suggested.

Travel Note

Addresses you should know: The Church: Unitarian Universalist (“UU”) Church of Urbana-Champaign 309 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 https://uucuc.org/ The Reception: Cityview Banquet & Meeting Center (@Illinois Terminal) 45 E University Ave, Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 384-3577 https://cityview.cumtd.com/AreaMap.aspx Ellen and Jim’s phone numbers: Ellen’s: 217-898-2786 Jim’s: 217-898-2443 email strauser.gitzen@gmail.com

Flight

O'Hare or Midway Chicago airports

American Airlines flies into Champaign-Urbana, other flight options include flying into Chicago to either O’Hare or Midway airports. An airport shuttle from either O'Hare or Mudway in Chicago to CU is available (https://peoriacharter.com). If you take the shuttle, you will want to disembark at the “Illinois Terminal”. If you prefer, rental cars are available at any of these airports.

Flight

Willard Airport (the Champaign - Urbana Airport)

American Airlines flies directly to Champaign from St Louis or Chicago (O'Hare). An airport shuttle from Willard is available. If you prefer, rental cars are available at the airport.

Flight

Central Illinois Regional Airport - Bloomington

Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington (45 miles) is served by American, Allegiant, Delta, and Frontier. Car rentals at the airport, but it's better to reserve in advance.

Train

Amtrak

Amtrak makes trips from Chicago to Champaign several times daily (leaving Chicago’s Union Station @ 8:15 AM, 4:05 PM and 8:05 PM) See the links below for information on getting from O’Hare or Midway Airports( respectively) https://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~yopopov/directions/ord-us.html https://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~yopopov/directions/mdw-us.html

Travel Note

Champaign is served by Greyhound Lines from Chicago and St Louis

Rental Car

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

This is the car rental agency at the Champaign-Urbana airport (CMI). If you fly into either O'Hare or Midway airports in Chicago, additional car rental agencies are available there.

Hotel

Hyatt Place Champaign/Urbana

The Hyatt Place is about 4 blocks west of our wedding reception and ~ 3 blocks east of our home. If you did not drive to Champaign and will not have a car, we suggest that you stay at the Hyatt Place; it’s within easy walking distance to ~25 bars and restaurants and a vibrant part of our city. It is a somewhat expensive but we recommend it. The Hyatt tells us that if guests give them prior notification, the Hyatt has a shuttle to take from Willard Airport or to wedding events. We arranging Uber transportation to the church and reception should the shuttle be unavailable.

Travel Note

More info Hyatt

Hyatt Place. 217 N. Neil St, Champaign, IL 61820. 217-531-2819.  $299 per night + tax.   The block of rooms we reserved are from Oct 11 through Oct. 13.  We have reserved a block or up to 20 rooms for the nights of the 12th and 13th. If you would like to stay here call the hotel and tell them you want a room as part of the   “Strauser Wedding Block”.  If you want to stay at the Hyatt place longer,  additional rooms will almost certainly open up Oct 14.  Hyatt place will hold this block of rooms for us until September 11th.

Hotel

Drury Inn & Suites Champaign

Drury Inn. 905 West Anthony Drive, Champaign, IL 61921. $289.99 + tax. The block of rooms (up to 10 rooms) we reserved from Oct 11 through Oct. 15.  Request the “Strauser-Gitzen Wedding Block”.  Reservations here must be made by September 10th.

Hotel

Please Eastland Suites Hotel- Urbana/Champaign

The block of rooms (up to 10 rooms) we reserved are from Oct 11 through Oct. 14.  $149 to $189 per night (depending on the night) plus tax.  If you would like to stay here call the hotel and tell them you want a room as part of the “Gitzen/Strauser Wedding Block”.  If you want to stay at the Eastland Suites longer,  additional rooms will almost certainly open up Oct 14.   Eastland Suites will hold this block of rooms for us until September 11th.

Hotel

Econo Lodge Champaign Urbana - University Area

Econolodge.   1908 N Lincoln Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, (217) 367-6000.  $59. + tax.  The block of rooms (up to 10 rooms) we reserved from Oct 11 through Oct. 15.  Request the “Strauser-Gitzen Wedding Block” .  Reservations here must be made before September 11th.

Hotel

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Rantoul

Holiday Inn Express & Suites We reserved a block of rooms (up to 9 rooms) for Oct 12 through Oct. 14.  If you plan to stay here,  you need to contact Ellen or Jim for the confirmation number to tranfer the reservation to your name. They are reserved in ours. Please note,  Rantoul, is ~20 miles north of Champaign-Urbana.  The hotel is virtually new. Depending on the room and the day, room rates are between $125-$200