Jenga

Sorry, I typed the wrong date range in the header. Should be 4/4/09-4/5/09. :) I'm looking for a place to stay with my mom and this keeps popping up on HOTWIRE. I can't match it from the list, due to the lack of a restaurant. Checking non-opaque prices at other properties, I was wondering if this looks like the Marriot Downtown-? 4/5/09-4/6/09 3.5 * $113 Fitness Business Center High-speed Internet No Trip Advisor info. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

Just to follow-up, we ended up making this a day trip and not staying over. Thank-you to everyone for your help!

Thanks so much, Aaron. Looking at Quikbook and Priceline non-opaque, I'm afraid the Avenue looks more likely than the Affinia, just based on price. I'm not jumping up and down about the Avenue so we may just grab SpringHill Suites on Dearborn, which is $89 this weekend and gets my husband one night closer to elite status. Do you guys have a Marriott affiliate link? I'll post back with our final decision to close the thread. P.S. When I typed in Q-book it autolinked; I'm not sure if this is the link you guys actually want to use.

I can't figure out which hotel would have these amenities based on the list. Can anyone help? Feb 7-8, 2009 $73 4* NMA- Water Tower - Gold Coast Smoke-free Fitness Pool Restaurant Business Center High-speed internet Tennis Also marked as "Best Value." No Trip Advisor info. Any insight appreciated. (I will use the HOTWIRE link if I book, natch) Thanks!

I've also experienced this problem intermittently for the past few months. It seems to be the worst with Firefox. I've been having better luck with IE, but it still hangs up a lot. No ideas on a fix, just commiseration :-(

Just to add a note about the Southwest/Verona zone, since I know future travelers may click on this thread: Trip Advisor only maps 3 hotels/motels in Verona -- all of which have pools: Holiday Inn Express Inn and Suites (a new property w/good Trip Advisor reviews); Country Inn and Suites (also decent reviews); and Super 8 Motel. Be aware that you're really outside of Madison with any of these choices and a 10-15 minute drive into the city.

Rates looked good, so we decided to add a second night in Chicago to our existing 10/31-11/01 trip. Since on HOTWIRE I could see a 4* (likely Hyatt) for $79, as well as what looked to be the 3.5* Doubletree for $83 -- both of which would have been acceptable -- I decided to see if I could do even better using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link: 4* MP/Loop @ $45: rejected + re-bid zone @ $50: rejected + re-bid zone @ $55: rejected + re-bid zone @ $60: ACCEPTED :) Check-In Date: Saturday, November 1, 2008 Check-Out Date: Sunday, November 2, 2008 Hotel Name: Hyatt Regency Chicago 151 East Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60601 312-565-1234

I didn't want to leave this thread hanging. We have postponed this trip. Thanks!

Thanks, thereuare. I just tried again (with BB's PRICELINE link) using the above and was rejected. Since even the non-opaque rates are pretty low for this Feb long weekend, I'm going to keep at this with the low price point. (My user name could be "StubbornInWisconsin"!) I will post back as I have progress :)

I've noticed others posting about HOTWIRE listings that include an average rating and number of reviews from TripAdvisor. I don't see this when I'm looking at Hotwire myself. Is this information buried someplace I'm not looking, or is this only viewable to certain forms of HOTWIRE accounts? Any insight appreciated. Thanks!

Could I ask for help with a bidding strategy (and price point) for 4* Chicago NMA Feb 5-8, 2009? Using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link, I've bid as high as $75 and been rejected. This surprised me because Hotwire has a 4.5* Mag Mile and a 4* NMA for $99. I know there's no direct correlation between the two services, but I thought HOTWIRE price that low would translate into lower winning bids on Priceline as well. My maximum for PRICELINE would be $80. I'm looking for a 4* NMA. I understand how to use rebidding, I'm just wondering if I'm overlooking something here, or maybe if I'm bidding too early. You guys have been at this longer than I have. Any insights or advice appreciated (I am ready to bid). Thanks!

Using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link, I bid the following: MP/Loop: $60 (rejected) + rebid zone: $65 (rejected) + rebid zone: $70: ACCEPTED! Delighted that I can continue my tour of Chicago "grand hotels," since I had a delightful stay at the HIlton Chicago last month, again by using this board's fabulous advice (and PRICELINE) link :) Friday, October 31, 2008 Check-Out Date: Saturday, November 1, 2008 Hotel Name: The Palmer House Hilton 17 East Monroe Street Chicago, Illinois 60603 312-726-7500 Your Offer Price: $70.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $70.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $18.28 Total Charges*: $88.28

Just to follow up, we took the Madison-Chicago MegaBus and were pleased overall with the results. The bus stop is an odddly located Park'n'Ride en route between Minneapolis and Chicago. As such, it was about 35 minutes late arriving here to pick us up -- not a big deal now but this would be a drag in the winter months, since the waiting area is not well-protected from the elements. Once we hit the road, though, it was 2.5 hours, exactly as promised. This was a big improvement from the other local Chicago shuttle, which makes so many stops that the trip time is closer to 4 hours. I booked ahead and got a discounted tickets for $15 each (instead of $26/per), which was also welcome. No Wi-Fi that I could ascertain -- this was an older bus. The client

Thanks, terrific info! We have an airport coach to O'Hare here, which also includes a downtown add-on, but it makes tons of local stops and doubles the time of the trip to 4+ hours. I was interested in MegaBus since it goes expresss and gets to Chicago in literally half the time. I had no idea about the Wi-Fi -- that might close the sale for me! MegaBus's ticet prices are actually higher than our other option (unless one bids super early and gets a discounted ticket), and it leaves from a very inconvenient Park-n-Ride location about 20 minutes outside town -- but I may try it out this weekend to take advantage of the shorter travel time. I'll post back if I do. Thanks again for the tips!

I'm wondering if anyone has tried MegaBus? I'm specifically looking at a route in/out of Chicago, but would be curious to hear any experiences. How's the clientele? I was wondering if it's nice ride or if I'm likely to encounter dicey passengers. Thanks!

Thanks, thereuare, AaronJB (and all!). We decided to switch to just Friday night, October 3rd. I had actually hoped we might get the Sheraton, since I think I see it on Hotwire for a reasonable price. But I knew when I added the Loop that we might get the Hilton, which is actually fine given our Saturday event location. Although they offered the "extend your stay screen" after the win, when I tried to do so they informed me no rooms were available at my price. 10/3-10/4/08: Hilton Chicago @ $85 Using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link: $65: 4* NMA (rejected) $70: added MP/Loop (rejected) $75: added re-bid zone (rejected) $80: added re-bid zone (rejected) $85: added re-bid zone: ACCEPTED! Hilton Chicago 4 Star Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area 720 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60605 312-922-4400 Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $85.00 Subtotal: $85.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $20.79 Total Charges*: $105.79 *Prices are in US dollars. Thank you to thereuare and everyone who posted for once again helping us to get a great rate! :)

GM Mike, thanks so much for the info. That's a great price at ORD! I'm still trying for downtown. Just got rejected again up to $100 for 3*, bidding Loop, NMA, and re-bid zone. For the past few days Orbitz has had the Central Loop Hotel at $161 and Club Quarters-Wacker at $189 (Better Bidding has anOrbitz link under the Support tab, BTW, if people are interested in grabbing one of these). At those prices, I thought I might Priceline this for $100 or under, but so far no such luck. I'll keep at it, using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link, and will post back if I have success! :) (Thereuare, Orbitz was auto-linking, but I wasn't sure if it was your own affiliate link so I changed the spelling.)

Thanks, thereuare. I was rejected on both. I'm going to give this a few days and then try again. We're visiting Chicago for a Sat. afternoon event and we live only a few hours away, so we may just nix the Sat. night stay and head back that night, since Saturday is what's jacking up the price. I will update with final result when I have it; will start a new thread if our dates change. Thanks, as always, for the bidding advice! P.S. -- I did use Better Bidding's PRICELINE link, as always :)

Thank so much, thereuare; I realy appreciate the step-by-step help! I just bid through all three scenarios -- using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link, of course -- and was rejected on all bids, up to and including the final $100. I just checked and am still seeing Club Quarters on Hotwire around $200. I know I can't guarantee that's what I'll get, but that Club Quarters on Wacker is in a convenient location for me. Unless you think it's unwise, could I ask for advice on a 3* bidding strategy? I think this would have to be just Loop (since I'm not crazy about some of the NMA 3* properties). I'd stick with the $100/night ceiling; prefer not to split bids for this trip. Let me know if I've forgotten anything. Thanks!

Thanks, I am indeed ready to bid. MP-Loop-Grant Park preferred (3* or 4*), with NMA (4* only) a 2nd choice. Right now $100/night is my maximum. I'd prefer not to split the bid. Any advice on a bidding strategy much appreciated. You have helped me greatly with wins in both NYC/JC and Chicago in the past!

Sorry to leave this thread hanging :) This trip is on hold; we're going to re-evaluate closer to the date.

Hi, guys! I'll be in Chicago again 10/3 - 10/5. While I prefer 4*, I noticed on Hotwire that what looks to be the two Club Quarters locations -- which would be fine -- at $209 (Mag Mile) and $203 (Loop). This made me think it might be worth bidding as low as 3* on Priceline - ? I know I can't guarantee the hotel. Is there anything too icky at this star level to risk a bid? I can go as high as $100/night, but of course would prefer much lower. Prefer not to split bid. Can do other nabes if necessary. Is this enough information to request help with a bidding strategy? Thanks!

I got the Hyatt for $60/night, which is exactly what I wanted :) Looking at the likely NMA hotels (some of which I didn't want), and seeing Aaron JB's note about the Loop-area Hyatt (a reliable hotel for me), I used Thereuare's bidding strategy but just flipped the order, staring with the Loop instead of NMA, and also really low-balling it because I am cheap! Bids, using Better Bidding's PRICELINE link: 4* Loop $55: REJECTED But Priceline came back with a "Try again right now offer" if I raised my bid by $15, without the usual additional items to change. It wouldn't accept less than a $15 increase, so I went back to the bidding strategy. Added one re-bid zone, raised bid to $60: ACCEPTED! Hyatt Regency Chicago Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area 151 East Wacker Drive Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $60.00 Subtotal: $120.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $26.26 Total Charges*: $146.26 They also offered to allow me to extend my stay for the same rate, just FYI. A big thank-you to Better Bidding! I feel so much more confident when I have a bidding strategy in front of me. This trip is on my own dime, so the good rate (and advice) are very much appreciated.

Thanks, AaronJB. Much appreciated -- and will happily use the Better Bidding links once I'm ready to book.

ThereUAre: Thanks for your question. I'd like the least expensive 4* in NMA or the Loop, initially maxing out at $100/night. I hope this gives enough clarification for a bidding strategy. (I also updated my previous Louisville post, per your request.) Thanks, AAron JB -- the prices are a big help. I'd really like to avoid the Millennium Knickerbocker. Do you think Priceline will flag this with an opt-out since its under renovation? I remember getting some sort of option like this on either Hotwire or Priceline when bidding on an "under renovation" hotel in the past, but I don't remember the details.