AaronJB

Highlights from Hotwire for 3/17-18 4*/Mag Mile/Wacker Drive - Amenities: Fitness/Business/Spa. $103 Could possibly be either the Swiss or Hyatt hiding some of their usual amenities, but out of the two, I'd lean towards it being the Hyatt. 4*/Loop/Fitness/Business/Restaurant - $114. Again, likely the Hilton. 3.5*/Loop/ Fitness/Business/Restaurant/Pool - $96. Probably the Palmer House. 4* - North Michigan/Water Tower/GC - fitness/business/restaurant/hi-speed - $134. Either the Drake, Westin michigan Ave or Ambassador East. 3.5* - Mag Mile/Wacker Drive - fitness/business/restaurant/pool - $117. Likely the Sheraton Towers. 3.5* - North Michigan Ave/Water Tower/GC - $139 - possibly the Whitehall. Notes: The Whitehall is on EasyClickTravel for your dates for $119 per night.

I'm guessing it's the Hilton Towers on South Michigan, just hiding some of the amenities that are usually shown with it.

The workers of the Congress have been on strike for the last few years. You can read about the whole situation here: http://www.congresshotelstrike.info/ I haven't stayed at the Tremont myself, but from the outside, it doesn't look too bad if you just want someplace to sleep. I'm seeing something that resembles the Tremont's old listing coming up for other dates, so this may still be something else (Seneca?) Either the Tremont or the Seneca, while not the nicest hotels in the city, are both in top-notch locations.

Oddly, there is a 3* North Michigan Ave/Gold Coast/Water Tower showing up for $100 on Hotwire.com. I've never seen it before on the service - it has the amenities restaurant/fitness/spa/golf nearby/business/tennis nearby/hi-speed internet. The hotwire rate is $100....but it says the retail price is a whopping $600. While it's not four*, it may be worth considering for the price. I would think, given the rates (and someone here will hopefully correct me if wrong) that a starting bid for 4* River North/NMA (if Priceline even has inventory, given the busy dates) would have to be in the neighborhood of $125.

There's plenty of great restaurants in Evanston and you also have the choice of getting a Metra train (metrarail.com) downtown instead of CTA, as the Metra trains do provide a more pleasant ride. It is a bit of a trip downtown, but if you have to stay outside the city, I think Evanston's the nicest choice.

Hotrooms.com has the Crowne Plaza Silversmith for $207 and Sutton Place for $199. Orbitz has the Travelodge Downtown for $95 EasyClickTravel has the Cass for $99. Quikbook has the W Lakeshore for $249. Travelzoo.com has a special for the Belden-Stratford (http://hotels.travelzoo.com/lodging-hotels/230022 for info)

- While it's *not* guaranteed, there shouldn't be much problem in getting a room with at least a moderately nice view. Without asking, I got a room on the 25th floor looking out at both the city and the lake. Although there are some rooms on lower floors that may not offer a view, most rooms either look at the city, the lake or the river. - Room service in the hotel is quite expensive (no vending), and a better choice would be a couple of blocks East at Fox and Obel, which is a lovely high-end corner grocery at Illinois and McClurg. They have plenty of snacks and prepared meals. There is also a very nice, although somewhat less ritzy grocery across the street of F & Obel. - There is also a Walgreens across from the hotel for snacks/toiletries, as well as PJ Clarkes restaurant. - I'd recommend joining the Starwood Preferred Program (at spg.com; free to join). While you won't get points for the room, you should get points for any incidentals, and it *may* help you in getting a better room selection, although that's not guaranteed.

It's not on PL as far as I know, but the Skyline Hotel in NYC has fairly cheap parking ($8 per day, but no in/out priveliges)

The Whitehall is in a very nice location; Michigan Ave. is half a block away, and the Hancock Observatory is literally right there. The closest subway station is less than a 5 minute walk at the corner of Chicago and State. Here is the most recent Frommers review of the Whitehall; it'll give you a better feel of the hotel - http://frommers.com/destinations/chicago/H24339.html The cheapest rate at the Whitehall Hotel website (http://www.thewhitehallhotel.com/) is $219 for your dates. If you haven't already, you can see room photos and more details at the hotel's website.

In terms of what EasyClickTravel offers, the Whitehall is $119 per night for your nights. While it gets a few mixed reviews, it's in a terrific location just off Michigan Ave. It's a historic hotel that's one of Chicago's longer-running properties (in other words, it used to be one of "the" hotels until all the newer, sleeker properties came along - see also the Ambassador East.)

If you want to stay NW of the city, I would recommend staying at either the Residence Inn on 530 Lake Cook Road in Deerfield, IL or Courtyard Marriott down the road at 800 Lake Cook. Deerfield is a suburb NW of the city. I'm guessing you're coming in on the highway (I-94?) which goes right by that area (there's an exit about a mile away). There is also a Metra (larger commuter trains w/bathrooms) train station right there (I believe it's 600 Lake Cook; it's called the Lake Cook Road station), as well. That would be about a 45 minute train trip into downtown. Additionally, Northbrook Court, a high-end (essentially a suburban version of a Michigan Ave. mall) mall is about a mile East of there, and the Chicago Botanic Gardens (you could certainly spend half a day looking around there), which are really quite beautiful, is about 2.5 miles East on Lake Cook. There's another couple of malls right around where the hotel is, as well as a few restaurants, so it's definitely in a populated area. While this wouldn't be as optimal as being right downtown, it is a very suburban area and would allow you easy access to the expressway and public transit downtown. On Expedia, the Courtyard (Called Courtyard Marriott Deerfield) is $74 per night for your nights and the Residence is $89. Although it's not near the train station (it's about a 5-7 minute drive from where the Residence and Marriott are), the four-star Renaissance Marriott North Shore is $84 per night (Nonrefundable advance purch. rate) for your nights. Information: Metrarail (metrarail.com) Northbrook Court (http://www.northbrookcourt.com/) Chicago Botanic Gardens (http://www.chicagobotanic.org/) _______________________________________________ Otherwise, If you do try for 3* River North/NMA, while you do have the possibility of getting the Holiday Inn Merch Mart, you also have the possibility of getting the Holiday Inn City Centre, which is in a great location and is quite nice for a Holiday Inn. Additionally, while there are *no guarantees*, the Holiday Inn City Centre is one of the few downtown hotels (it seems) that does have a lot of 2-bed rooms. While the Millennium Knickerbocker isn't one of downtown Chicago's finest 4-stars, it is better than the reviews give it credit for (it should either be rated boutique or 3*), and it is in a great location. Lot of history, too - once served as a prime hangout for Capone. The Ambassador East (formerly Omni until it was bought recently) is a nice hotel in the Gold Coast neighborhood. There's quite a few restaurants around, and Michigan Ave. is not far. A wall in the lobby area has signed photos from many of the movie stars that have visited from over the years. It's also on a tree-lined street in a residential area, so street noise isn't quite as much a factor there as other hotels. Additionally, if you wanted to walk from there to Lincoln Park Zoo, it's about a 15-minute walk due North.

Probably your best bet for the nicest stay would be to book regular rate, as there's a Residence Inn in Schamburg, and RI's are generally quite nice (that one gets good reviews.) There's also, I believe, a Marriott Suite property and an Embassy Suites out that way. It's impossible to guarantee a suite hotel via Priceline, although Hotwire displays available Suite hotels with an icon in the amenities listing. I have no idea what it is, but I looked up on Hotwire the Schaumburg/Ar. Heights area for 3/1-23 (as an example), and a 2.5* Suite Hotel popped up for $38 per night. Certainly the cheapest Suite option, I'd think. Let us know if you have questions.

Awesome! :) Glad I could help! The other nice thing about the Palmer House is that about 3 or 4 different "L"/subway stations are located within a few blocks of the hotel. The lowest price I see on hilton.com for the Palmer House for June 21-24 is $251, so you did get a good deal. Additionally, the Alamo on LaSalle is closer than I realized, so walking there (or a very brief cab ride) should be no trouble.

It's probably a combination of a little too early and a little low. I could be a bit off, but I would think that, given the rates I'm seeing for your dates and the fairly popular early August time period in the city, a bid of more around $95-100 would be more likely to be accepted, if there is priceline inventory for August at this time. Do you need to be in a certain area of the city to be near the confrence? What would be your max budget per night? If nothing seems to work with Priceline this far out, myself and others could probably suggest a cancellable back-up, then you could continue w/Priceline, but know that you had a place if, for whatever reason, Priceline doesn't net you anything.

I ended up getting the Knick for visiting friends and was nervous, but they have a pretty nice corner room and it looked fine to me. However, some of the rooms are quite small (as mentioned above) and I'm guessing some of the rooms may be hit-and-miss in that some may be more worn than others. Still, great location and a lot of history (a hangout for Capone, etc.)

What appears to be The Palmer House (description on the hotel page starts with..: "Ideally located in the heart of Chicago`s LOOP, This hotel offers modern conveniences combined with over one hundred years of elegance....") is showing on easyclicktravel.com for $189 for 21-24. That would be a perfectly fine hotel - in terms of shopping, it's a couple of blocks from Marshalls (or soon to be Macy's, I guess). Given what I'm seeing in terms of rates due to the convention, it'd be a fine back-up if you want to continue bidding on PL orjust a fine choice in general if PL doesn't work out. It's not right near the car rental, but you could very easily take a pretty short cab ride from the hotel there. The subways are not dangerous, you just need to use common sense like any other big city. I wouldn't travel on them later at night, but they're fine during the day.

You know, this is one of those times when I don't agree the bad reviews. I'm certainly someone who believes that everyone has the right to their own opinion, but I actually liked this hotel. The staff was especially nice (probably the most genuine and friendly I've encountered in a downtown Chicago hotel, aside from some of the Marriott properties), the room was small (but I knew that going in - it's an old hotel that the W redid; I believe it used to be called the Midland) - but well laid out and the bed was the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever experienced. I also liked the fact that there was a DVD player in-room to use. Room service food seemed noticably better than the usual, and I've certainly seen more expensive room service in downtown hotels that aren't as nice. Again, I think people have every right to their opinion, but the only fault I encountered here was that the room was a little dusty in the corners/behind things. The other thing is that the W Hotels have their own "hip" style, and it's definitely unique. Despite not being in the "target audience", I actually found myself enjoying it. Some people, understandably, won't.

Of the two, I'd recommend the Palmer. More central location with more around it, yet still not far away from the main colleges in the area. What college are you visiting?

Tremont.

Downtown on Priceline (Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park) essentially means "South of the river." Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to find anything on Priceline; Hotwire only has 1 hotel available for that night - a 2*. The only reasonably priced hotel I can find downtown is the Red Roof Inn. Otherwise, most of the 4* hotels that are usually $150-250 are $350-550.

First, it's really impossible to offer specific suggestions without exact dates you plan to travel. In terms of Priceline, the Holiday Inn Merch Mart is in the River North/North Michigan Ave zone on PL and the Mag Mile/Wacker Drive area on Hotwire, both offering it as a 3*. If you plan to have more than 2 people per room, while some hotels will accomidate Priceline customers when it comes to more than 1 bed, some will not or not be able to. The downtown area does offer quite a few attractions (the Art Institute, Sears Tower, Millenium Park, the Museum Campus just South of there), but it does get very quiet at night. If you're looking for an area that stays more active later into the night, I would concentrate your efforts on the area North of the river (Mag Mile/Wacker Drive or Water Tower/Gold Coast on Hotwire, or River North/North Michigan Ave on Priceline.)

From the looks of Hotwire prices, a Priceline 4* bid in either main downtown area will take around $65.

I'm guessing it's probably the either: A. The Hilton Towers, hiding the pool amenity. B. The Hard Rock

Well, if it doesn't work out, please come back and let us know, and we'll try to work out alternate hotel arrangements.

Now that the Omni Ambassador East is no longer an Omni (it's just "The Ambassador East"), it has yet to be seen whether or not the hotel is still participating with Hotwire or PL. While it's been reported a lot in the past, I haven't seen anyone report winning it since the recent change.