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Hotwire Hotel: 4.5* Chicago (Magnificent Mile Area - River North) James Hotel


ryk
By ryk,
in

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Greetings,

 

I am trying to find a room in the Downtown - Millennium Park - Grant Park area for 8/22-25 (Sat-Tue). It appears not much good deals in this area for this particular weekend.

 

I found this on Hotwire and would appreciate someone's help to ID the hotel.

 

4 starts

List price $204, HW Price $133

80% Recommend

FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Self-service laundry, Internet access (Copied and pasted from Easy View)

 

Could you help identifying what this hotel might be (Club Quarters perhaps?) I also noticed that Fairmont Chicago, which is listed as 4.5* in the hotel list, is now listed as 4* in the HW Standard Rate List. I am not sure if HW changed the rating, but thought I would report :-)

 

I was hoping to get a 4* or 3.5* room in this area around $100 or lower, but realize it might be hard for this weekend. Congress Hotel is great in terms of location and I could probably get it within this price range, but other people's reviews scare me :-) I bid on Priceline a few days ago (before I signed up for this site): started with $85, rebid for 90, 100, 105 for 4* in the DT/MP/GP with no taker. Judging from HW and PRICELINE EXPRESS Deals, it seems 3.5* hotels are not that cheaper (sometimes more expensive) in this area, and I am beginning to think this HW deal might be about as good as I could get. I would appreciate if a more experienced bidder could share her/his thoughts on this.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

 

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These amenities are fairly common for a Chicago hotel, but my guess for this one would be the Central Loop Hotel.

However, do you need to be in this zone or is the River North area acceptable as well (which is often considered to be a slightly better location and has more nightlife).

On PRICELINE EXPRESS I'm seeing what appears to be the Warwick Allerton Hotel Chicago for $124/nite (less than the HOTWIRE offer above) or for just a little more you could likely get the well reviewed 4.5* Intercontinental Chicago for $151/nite.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Let us know your thought as to how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Greetings thereuare,

 

Thank you very much! I will be attending an event that is held at Hilton Chicago and Palmer House. It is ideal if I could stay within a walking distance from both hotels, so Central Loop Hotel would work very well in terms of location. I would imagine Chicago has a pretty good public transportation system in the River North - Downtown areas, though.

 

I might give Priceline another try for a better price tonight (don't think I can get much cheaper, though, based on my previous attempts), but maybe it is wiser to grab Central Loop on HW since I like the location. AaronJB commented on my other inquiry that prices tend to go up as dates get closer, so I guess I should make a decision very soon. If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear.

 

Thanks again for your help!

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Sorry, it's me again.

 

I looked at HW for River North, and found 4.5* hotel for $144. I am wondering if this is Hotel Palomar. If so, it has a pretty good access to both hotels I need to get to. It's a bit more expensive, but appears to have a better rating.

 

List Price $239 HW Price $144

95% Recommended

FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Spa services, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower

 

Thoughts?

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I think it depends on how much of the time will be spent at the event. If you are going to be spending the majority of the time at the event and just want a place to sleep close by, then the Central Loop Hotel (which is essentially half of the Club Quarters Loop building - both CQ properties in Chicago were split a while back.)

If you are only spending part of the time at the event and/or are going to be out at night after the event, I'd stay North of the river. There's really going to be very little going on around the Central Loop Hotel later at night. North of the river is going to be far more in the way of restaurants and nightlife.

 

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

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Thanks, thereyouare, AaronJB, for your very helpful advice. I noticed the price for the MMA/RN hotel I mentioned earlier dropped to $130, and after reviewing earlier posts in the forum, figured that it is most likely James Hotel. I then slearned that the hotel is close to Red Line, which gives a convenient access to two hotels I need to frequent during my stay. In fact, it will probably be easier to commute from James than some other hotels in the DT/MP/GP area where I have to either take an infrequent bus or long walk. Trader Joe's across from the street is also a plus. So, I gave it a shot, and as expected, got James Hotel.

 

Here is the description:

Price $130 ($390 for three nights + $102.75 tax & fees)

95% Recommended

FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Spa services, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower

 

The lowest rate at the hotel's website is $180 and hotel.com has it for $212 for this period. I am happy with the deal I got.

 

Thanks again for all your help. You not only helped me IDing hotels and assess different possibilities, but also made me think what I want to get out of this trip. I was initially just thinking about getting to the event, but why not have some fun in Windy City while I am there ;-)?

 

And yes, I booked using the HOTWIRE link on the site. Love your Bidding.Helper!

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Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you received the hotel you were hoping for and that this property will work well for your needs this trip.

Thank you for sharing your results and using the HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I think you made an excellent decision and were able to get a terrific price for this very nice property. The James is right off Michigan Ave and about a block or so North of Eataly, which I highly recommend checking out. You're also an easy walk to River North, which has a ton of restaurants to choose from. If it's a nice day and you don't mind a bit of a trek, it couldn't be a more straightforward walk to the Hilton - straight down Michigan Ave. The Palmer is not a terribly long walk - South on Michigan and then West on Monroe a little. The Palmer's lobby is absolutely stunning - probably one of the more remarkable hotel lobbies in the US.

 

Trader Joe's is right by the James, but there's also a couple of nice Whole Foods stores not too far away, one of which has a mini Raw (http://www.chicagorawfood.com/, reviews for other locations: http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-raw-chicago-2,'>http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-raw-chicago-2, http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-raw-chicago) location within the store. The Streeterville Whole Foods opened not that long ago and is a very slick top-to-bottom remodeling of the grocery that was already there. Eataly (http://www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/chicago/) though, is sort of a Bloomingdales/Nordstroms for Italian food. It's a great deal of fun to browse around.

 

Let me know if you have any city questions.

 

Enjoy your stay.

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Thanks thereuare! And AaronJB, thank you so much for great suggestions! I have seen Eataly in NYC and been wanting to try it, but have never had a chance. It is just around a block from the James, so think this is my chance! Raw looks yummy, too! Since you seem to be a Chicago expert, may I ask if there any local coffee shop/tea shop/cafe that you would recommend around the area? I know Starbucks is right there, but I always enjoy trying a good local coffee shop when I am on the road.

 

I like taking a walk, so if the weather is good, I will probably walk to two hotels. But I am considering to buy a CTA 3 day pass so that I can feel free to hop on trains and buses. Do you think it is worth getting it for $20? Am I correct to assume that I can use it to subways, trains and buses in the downtown/mag mile area? 

 

I will be staying in suburb on Friday, then take Metra to downtown on Saturday morning.  I am wondering if I should just take a cab from Chicago OTC to the James, or try a public transportation (it seems #125 will take me there without transfer). I will be with a carry-on size luggage -- do you think Chicago buses will allow for it?

 

I'd appreciate if you could share your thoughts. No hurries.

 

Thanks again!

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Chicago buses do allow for luggage, but it would be a very quick cab ride.

 

By OTC, I'm guessing you mean Ogilvie Transit Center. One real suggestion would be not to go out the front door if you get a cab, because that's what everyone else is doing. Once you get off the train in the track area, you should see stairs down. Once you get to the lower level, there is the Chicago French Market (which is a little gem of an area I think few people know about, 

 

Walk heading East and exit out on Canal. Walk half a block South to Canal and Washington and look for a cab at that point. If there isn't one, walk East on Washington and cross the river where you'll see the Civic Opera House and can try there. I usually see a cab not far after walking out the door on Canal, though.

 

I'm very familiar with the 'burbs as well and would be happy to offer suggestions there, too.

 

The CTA is $2.25 each way, so if you take it back and forth to the event each day, $4.50. The 3 day pass is $20 and you may not take transit to the event each day. So, I wouldn't buy it unless you plan on taking more than the trips back/forth to the event.

 

In terms of coffee, not far from your hotel I've liked Bow Truss (http://www.yelp.com/biz/bow-truss-coffee-roasters-river-north-chicago), but the Capital One 360 Cafe (http://www.yelp.com/biz/capital-one-360-caf%C3%A9-chicago-2) is an interesting Starbucks alternative. It is run by the financial company and they are able to offer financial products, but otherwise is a very pleasant, bright coffee place with free wifi and very reasonable prices.

 

Across from the Capital One cafe is a gorgeous Argo Tea in the middle of a park in a structure that looks like a greenhouse. Nearby Argo and Cap One, I also recommend Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter, a tiny cafe (http://www.yelp.com/biz/hendrickx-belgian-bread-crafter-chicago).

 

If you need nearby restaurant recommendations, any particular likes/dislikes?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Writing this at the James. Very happy that I got this hotel! I arrived today - IIt was a nice day, so I ended up walking from Ogilvie Transit Center to here with a luggage. It was a bit of walk (30-40 min), but a pleasant one along the river. The friendly front desk lady gave me a complinentary upgrade to a studio, which is like a junior suite. I had my first meal at Eataly. AaronJB was totally right - it's fabulous! Thank you again!!!

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