4* Chicago (NMA-River North) Millennium Knickerbocker, $105 ... 5/29/10-5/31/10 Options

[austin_res]

I noticed hotel prices on hotwire were creeping up for Memorial Day weekend, so I decided to start bidding. My preferred zones are:
North Michigan Ave - River North (X)
Millenium Park - The Loop - Grant Park (Y)

For 4* bidding in Chicago, the rebid zones are:
Franklin Park Area (A)
Hyde Park ( B )
Lincoln Park (C )
Midway Airport Area (D)
Skokie - Niles - Evanston (E)

I started bidding at $75 and by using permutations, I can get lots of rebids so I added $1 for each rebid. My bidding strategy for NMA: 75 X, 76 XA, 77 XB (restart browser), 78 XBA, 79 XC (restart browser), 80 XCA, 81 XBC (restart browser), 82 XBCA, 83 XD (restart browser), 84 XDA, 85 XBD (restart browser), 86 XBDA, 87 XCD (restart browser), 88 XCDA, 89 XBCD (restart browser), 90 XBCDA. At this point, I decided to try bidding in the Loop.

My bidding for the Loop: 70 Y, 71 YA, 72 YB (restart browser), 73 YBA, 74 YC (restart browser), 75 YCA, 76 YBC (restart browser), 77 YBCA, 78 YD (restart browser), 79 YDA, 80 YBD (restart browser), 81 YBDA, 82 YCD (restart browser), 83 YCDA, 84 YBCD (restart browser), 85 YBCDA, 86 YE (restart browser), 87 YEA, 88 YEB (restart browser), 89 YEBA.

Since I had already bid up to 90 in NMA, I decided to include both zones from here on out. I saw a 4* hotel on Hotwire in the Magnificent Mile zone going for $129, so I figured I could hit the target price using permutations of the rebid zones.

Both Loop and NMA zones: 90 XY, 91 XYA, 92 XYB (restart browser), 93 XYBA, 94 XYC (restart browser), 95 XYCA, 96 XYBC (restart browser), 97 XYBCA, 98 XYD (restart browser), 99 XYDA, 100 XYBD (restart browser), 101 XYBDA (got a counter offer to add 22), 102 XYCD (restart browser), 103 XYCDA (again, got counter offer to add 22), 104 XYBCD (restart browser), 105 XYBCDA (ACCEPTED)

As you can see, bidding took a long time but I got a hotel with great reviews for the exact minimum price. $105 isn't too bad given it is a holiday weekend in Chicago (which typically means much higher rates) and regular rate for the Millennium Knickerbocker is $214 and the prepaid/non-refundable rate on the hotel's website is $160.

I saw on the hotel list that the Millennium Knickerbocker has been undergoing remodeling. How is that going?

[yellowdog]

Congratulations on your success!

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding

Enjoy your stay.

Yellowdog.

PS. I can't help you with your question regarding the remodeling.

[austin_res]

I just called the Millennium Knickerbocker and was told the remodeling was completed within the past year and the entire hotel is now renovated.

[AaronJB]

The remodeling was completed and the reviews have improved considerably since (although I didn't think it was a bad hotel previously.) It's an older, quite historic property - it was previously the Playboy Club (in the '70's) and was at one point rumored to be a Capone hideout.