toledo

This is now a 4* again? It was a 3 or 3 1/2* when I was booking in August. I don't like how Priceline is raising star levels. This one is not a 4*. It has terrible reviews.

Since when did this become a 4 1/2 *? It was a 4* when I booked on Priceline in August. I don't like how PRICELINE is changing star levels.

Brie, I've used priceline dozens of times and have never gotten anything "shoddy". Chicago is a great city to try priceline, as all their 4* hotels are amazing, both north and south of the river. Don't be afraid.

Add this to your hotel list. It's a new hotel. This was a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal. The amenities listed were free breakfast, restaurant, and fitness center. It has a 9.0 approval rating. I began by bidding $50, $55,and $60 for a 3 1/2*, but got a message about raising my bid by $24. I felt that this "name your own price" was the Doubletree, because of the lower approval rating, and really didn't want to go any higher.

Oh, crap! I forgot to use the discount code for my bidding today. AU39CDSU worked for me yesterday.

am so excited! I've stayed at this hotel before, paying full price. It's great. Hotel and rooms have lots of character and they offer a nightly cocktail hour. Earlier this month, I stayed at a sister property, Hotel Burnham, that I also booked on their web site. Yesterday I began bidding at $80 and bid up to $130 with no success (Also bid 4* in Franklin Park, Hyde Park, Midway Airport, Midway Airport North, and Skokie because there is no 4*). I wanted the MP area because we're going to try and catch a show after we drop our daughter off at the train station, which is also in the MP area. All the hotel rates are really high for this weekend, as it's Labor Day weekend. Today I started my bidding again at $80 and won it right away. I guess it pays to be patient.

I'm adding another night to a Chicago stay. Was hoping to get the Westin again, but oh well.... Began bidding at $80 yesterday and got the message, "If you can raise your bid by $27 ($107/night)". I stopped bidding at $90. Today, when I tried again, I got the message, "If you can raise your bid by $18 ($98/night)". In both cases, I ignored the message and upped my 4* bid by $2 increments, using the Franklin Park, Hyde Park, Midway, Midway North, and Skokie areas. I knew that only NMA/Mag Mile had a 4*. Taxes and fees were another $21.58.

I'm the one who got $58 next weekend. I really want to add a few nights earlier next week, so your info is very encouraging. It looks like bidding at the last minute may get me those low rates. Thanks.

Oh, sorry Aaron. Could you change my date to 8/18? Thanks. It really is a good deal.

Sunday night stay. Began bidding at $80 (using your link) and immediately got the message, "If you are willing to raise your bid by $15...", so knew I was close. Bid again at $82 and won. Taxes and fees were an additional $21. Web site rate was $259. Approval rating is 87%, whereas the Express Deal offer had a hotel with a rating of 9. Amenities seem to match, so do you think this is the same hotel?

It's being offered again. I'm 99.9% sure these Express Deal amenities are for the Comfort Inn University. They are free breakfast, free internet, free parking, pets allowed, airport shuttle, business center, fitness center, and 8.0 approval rating.

This was a really odd booking. My conference is at the Marriott, so I started bidding at $40 on a 4*. I bid up to $60, to no avail. Then I checked the Marriott web site and found out that they were sold out for my stay, which is actually 8/20-8/25. I would rather stay at the Hyatt Regency because of its tripadvisor ratings. The next thing I see today, is that the Marriot has been lowered to a 3.5*, so I wouldn't have gotten even if they did have availability. My AAA membership gets me a rate of $117 (tax included), with two $17 breakfast buffets, for 8/20-23, but then the rate jumps to $132 for the remaining two nights. Checking tripadvisor, I see that several discounters, including Priceline have a rate of $69 for 8/23-25, so I decide to bid again for those nights, alone. I started at $50, but got the "If you're willing to up your bid to $67...". I slowly raised my bids, using all the surrounding areas that don't have 4*s, until I hit $58 and it was accepted. Then I got the message saying I could add on two nights on either side of my stay. I tried for the two earlier nights at the $58 rate, only to be countered at $124. Yeah, right! Taxes and fees added another $11.46/night. The odd thing about this booking experience is the hotel web site had the best rates during the week, but Priceline had the best rates on the weekend

I'm so sorry I didn't write down all the amenities. Now it's gone. The combination of the area,free breakfast, airport shuttle, and 70% make it pretty identifiable. Next time I'll write down all the amenites AND use your link.

This was a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal. With the code "SUMMER", I saved an additional 5%. I already had a reservation at this hotel for $111 per night. When I saw the area,70% approval rating, airport shuttle, and breakfast,I knew this was Comfort Inn. I wasn't daring enough to try bidding, as the 2 1/2 star property only had 3 amenities, so may not have been the Comfort Inn. This hotel is right by campus, which is where we're going. I felt a little guilty calling the hotel to cancel my "full-price" reservation. I forgot to use your link, but used it several times this week when checking HOTWIRE and PRICELINE for my Chicago trip.

Last night I bid up to $150 for a 4* in the NMA area for Aug. 2-4 and got rejected each time. I bid up to $200 for a 5* in the NMA area and also was rejected. All Priceline's "regular" hotel rates were also outrageous, but I know it's Lollapalooza weekend. I tried the tripadvisor search and $231 came up for the Hotel Burnham. It's one of the top-rated hotels in Chicago, a few blocks from the park, and one of the lowest rates out there. I jumped on it. It is on their web site under Special Offers - Packages and Promotions.

Thanks, AaronJB. I had a feeling Hyatt might try something like that. So misleading, IMHO. I usually win Hyatt on PRICELINE, but would like to try something different. That Expedia deal is a possibility, or I may continue to bid 4 1/2 stars, while hoping for the Conrad. We have a car, but love staying in the city. I'll post my results here.

This is a 4* in the Millenium/Grant Park area. Amentities listed are restaurant, airport shuttle, business center, and fitness center, 8.0 approval rating It's $277/night on Aug. 2-4 (Lollapalooza). Who would claim they have an airport shuttle? Thanks.

I'm trying to identify a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal. Thanks.

Isn't this hotel in the NMA area?

There's a new hotel that Hotwire has given out. It's called the Langham. It's in that area and is 5*. Let us know how your bidding goes.

Good to know there's something available. My kids are booked at University Center, a dorm near Grant Park, at $52 per person, including breakfast. I'm thinking about going, but don't think my husband wants twin beds, nor my kids want us in the same building. I'll post if I win something.

Are they still giving out the Intercontinental in the 4* category? I believe that is really the only hotel that is close to the main clinic area. I stayed there last summer and found self-parking for $10 in a lot that was diaganol from the hotel. Here is my review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g50207-d278080-r135017493-InterContinental_Hotel_Cleveland-Cleveland_Ohio.html

This was a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal. I figured it was the Staybridge Suites because the Guest Review Score was a 9+. The amenities listed were free breakfast, free internet, pool, free parking, business center, and fitness center. The rate on their web site was $159, so it wasn't a big savings. I thought I might be able to get this while bidding, but the 3* it was showing had fewer amenities, like no breakfast, and only a 7+ Guest Review Score. I believe that this may have been the Four Points Sheraton. I used the code "SUMMER" to save an additional 5%, but with taxes and fees, the nightly total came to $146.

I almost fell for this trick, too. I couldn't figure out why none of the three hotels had ALL of the amenities listed. Thanks for posting.

I bid $50-60 every day for a week, using the south and west zones as free rebids. Finally, on the day OF the stay, I got the message, "If you're willing to raise your $50 bid by $9.....". Knowing I had at least two more chances, I bid $53 and it was accepted. With taxes and fees, the total came to $69.05. The regular rate listed on the web site was $154, but $127 with my AAA discount, so I am :) A couple of interesting observations are that a 4* was never listed under "Express Deals", yet every day it was listed as best deal when bidding in Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach is odd in that it has so many independant hotels. I think this makes it difficult for PRICELINE and HOTWIRE. Hotel rates really went up during the last two days, probably because "Bike Week" just started.