PBA

My apologies, I have closed that thread off now.

Sorry I didn't reply at the time. Luckily I'd booked my domestic flights on Southwest so I was able to change them, and we changed the Chicago stay to the 05/24-05/28. I found a deal on the Sofitel, GB£65 a night which is around $93.

Free breakfast, free parking, smoke free rooms. I tried a bunch of offers on Priceline first but no luck (bidding up to $40 with this as my backup). Very happy with this win, lowest rate I can see elsewhere is $60. The same hotel (I assume) was listed on PRICELINE EXPRESS for $43 but Hotwire offered a room choice and PL didn't, it was worth paying the extra $2 to be sure I'm not sharing a bed with my bro :)

Thanks, actually I already posted a question in another thread. I know downtown Chicago pretty well as I tend to visit most years due to having family in Michigan, but I know nothing about the suburbs.

Due to bad planning I've booked flights for a Chicago trip during one of the biggest conventions of the year. We're going to be there from 5/15 to 5/19. I managed to get a great deal downtown on the first night, but the prices shoot up after that so we're looking to the suburbs. I don't want to have to hire a car while we're there so we'd need a hotel within walking distance of a CTA station. I read your article and Evanston looks like a good choice, though I was wondering if there's anywhere else you might suggest? The Evanston zone on Hotwire and Priceline also includes Niles and Skokie which don't look so convenient for getting downtown, so it looks like the opaque sites aren't going to be the way to go on this. I've found the Best Western University Plaza for $149 on ebookers, or the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago North for $230. Any ideas for other places to stay or places to look would be appreciated!

Originally bid GB£43, which was rejected. Offered a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal of £68 (total inc fees) which is the same price available on Hotwire. Instead added a free rebid zone and upped the bid to £46 which was accepted! Shocked to get the Hyatt, I was expecting a hotel nearer the southern end of the zone!

Accepted on my first bid so might have been findable a bit cheaper. They want $95 through their own website though so a 60% saving, and it's $10 cheaper than the cheapest hotel on HOTWIRE too.

No luck with 3.5* at $82, ran out of free rebid zones so started again with 3*. Annoyingly got accepted on my first bid, so maybe could have gone lower. Still paid under GBP100 for 2 nights which was my target so can't complain.

Subtotal

Tried GBP30, which was rejected. Email said I could rebid immediately if I paid GBP9 more. Ignored that, added a suburb with no 4* hotels & bid GBP31/$61, offer accepted!