Thanks Aaron
Chicago turned into a bit of a nightmare. I booked 1 night initially but couldn't get a further 2 nights in the same accommodation and didn't really like the idea of moving. I then found an absolute bargain given the prices of downtown hotels at that time for my dates (or so I thought) when the hotel Blake came up via another website at $155 per night so I snapped it up. Fast forward a few weeks and I emailed the hotel to ask something, they had no record of my reservation! After a lot of digging, it turned out the hotel Blake I was booked into was one in New Orleans!! Fortunately, it wasn't my fault as what I'd booked clearly showed Chicago so booking agent, to their credit, pulled out all the stops to resolve.
Upshot is I'm now staying further out than I wanted to (The Willows hotel, Lincoln Park area) at a rate of $125 per night (this includes taxes)......I haven't dared look at Chicago hotels on PRICELINE or HOTWIRE since so if prices have plummeted and I could have been in a better area for a comparable rate, I don't want to know, ha