Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (Millenium-Loop-Grant Park) Hotel Burnham

[merluza]

Hi,

After 3 weeks of conservative bidding for a 4 star hotel in the Millenium and NMA area, my bid was accepted today.

Over the last 3 weeks, I started every 24 hours with the same bidding strategy: first Millenium-Loop zone, then adding the NMA zone for 5$ more. I started at 60$ in the beginning, and the last few days, I started at 90$. Considering I still had plenty of time, I did not try the free rebidding zones but played safe and only picked the zones that I was interested in.

Today I started at 95$ with the Millenium-Loop zone, got a counteroffer of 117$, rejected and added 5$. Offer accepted at 100$.

I'm happy with the result, considering the prices on Hotwire are quite high for these dates (starts at 170$ for this zone) and rates on their own site start at 260$. In addition, the Burnham hotel apparently has great reviews on Tripadvisor.

I used the PRICELINE link to start bidding :)

Thanks for this great site!

[yellowdog]

Congratulations on your success!

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding :)

Nice going with the counteroffer! Sounds like a nice deal.

Enjoy your stay!

Yellowdog.

[AaronJB]

With the Burnham, you're getting one of the most architecturally unique hotels in the city; it's a beautiful restoration of the Reliance Building, which is considered by many to be one of the first "skyscrapers" when it was built in 1895 by DH Burnham.

[merluza]

Hi Aaron,

Glad to hear that. I was kind of hoping to get a historic building such as Palmer House, but this one is even nicer then!

[AaronJB]

The Palmer has a gorgeous, very historic lobby. However, the "historic" feel doesn't really extend to the whole rest of the hotel, whereas it does more at the Burnham. If you want to see the Palmer lobby, you can walk in and check it out - it's only a couple of blocks South of the Burnham.

[witraveler]

I believe the Burnham is a Kimpton hotel. They do a marvelous job restoring/creating smaller boutique hotels. I've stayed in a couple and they've been wonderful. The customer service has been great as well, plus there's free wine in the lobby in the early evening. Enjoy!

I've stayed at the Palmer House and have to agree that the historic bling does not extend to the rooms. I found the room to be just fine, but it was definitely older and not at all glamorous. I'd take any of the Kimptons over the Palmer House any day.

[merluza]

Thanks! Indeed, Burnham is part of the Kimpton group.

I certainly look forward to staying there. I've been doing some research about the Reliance building and its architecture. It looks marvellous. I could not have hoped for a better deal than this.

I've seen wins here for the Hyatt or Palmer House at 60-80$, but I do not mind paying a bit more to get the Burnham then.

[AaronJB]

PRICELINE bidding is quite date specific - the Hyatt and Palmer wins are primarily recent stays, while your Burnham stay is further out. The Burnham is also a fairly rare win - it isn't reported here all that often.

The Burnham for $100 is still quite excellent, though - September can be fairly busy in Chicago (conventions). It's also my favorite time of the year weather-wise in the city.The Burnham website is showing $260 a night for these dates.

Definitely take a look in the Palmer lobby though, it's a very easy walk from your hotel. You're also an easy walk to both the Art Institute and the Chicago Cultural Center.

If you are interested in architecture, you may want to consider a Chicago Architecture Foundation (http://www.architecture.org/) tour - whether a boat tour or a walking tour.

[merluza]

Yes, off coure you're right about my comparison of rates.

:).

Thanks for the website, great tip, I put it in my favourites. And we will check the lobby of Palmer House too.