Any of them would be fine. The Monaco is south of the river at the NW corner of The Loop and adjacent to Macy's on State Street. The Red Line subway runs under State and the Orange and Brown Line L are a block away.

The Palomar is about a quarter mile north of that in the River North area three blocks west the southern end of the Magnificent Mile. The Red Line stops at Grand Avenue and there are several bus routes within 1-2 blocks.

The Talbott is about 3/4 mile north of the Palomar at the other end of the Mag Mile. It's so a tad more quiet than the Palomar, but an older building, so some rooms can be a bit smaller. The Red Line three blocks south at Chicago Ave.

Since the location is a wash, I'd go with whichever offers the best price and amenities you want.

For what I'd typically want to do, the Talbott is the location I'd least want, though it's by no means bad. I'm not a big shopper, so being close to the Mag Mile but further from an el stop is a bit of a drawback for me. You may be the opposite, though.

I can't compare the properties as I've only stayed at the Monaco, but I actually just got back from there and enjoyed my stay very much. The proximity to the el is really fantastic - very quick walk, and the State/Lake stop is on several different lines. The staff was great and our room was huge, though our particular view was of the parking garage next door! I believe many of the rooms have a river view, though. We walked to the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute, Navy Pier (for the fireworks), Millennium Park, and the architecture cruise. We took a cab to Hyde Park to save time, but took the bus back and that was easy as well.

Thanks for the info. There are so many hotels to choose from! thus my confusion. I have to make my mind up in a couple of days so I really appreciate your input.

Shopping won't be a priority as I'm with a man who HATES to shop....LOL.

You mentioned fireworks...do you know if they are still on in September? We'll be there Sept 7 - 10th.

Also, has anyone taking the segway tour and if so, which company is recommended or are they all fairly similar?

While I'm on it with questions galore, can anyone suggest some good restaurants?

Thanks!

Once you have made a choice look at Groupon and SniqueAway for price. I have seen both Monaco and Palomar offer discounts in the past few weeks.

Looks like the fireworks are over till New Year's.

http://www.navypier.com/things2do/fireworks.html

Good restaurants are everywhere in Chicago, and there are tons of threads here with suggestions if you do a search. We also used the Yelp app (you can use the web site too, of course) which I found very helpful. We ate at Kinzie Chop House one night and Davanti Enoteca the other night (the latter is near the UIC campus and is a cab ride from downtown - really delicious, though). We had a good breakfast at Twisted bakery in Old Town.