Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (NMA-River North) Millenium Knickerbocker

[Candilea]

I was booking 2 nights in late March (26 & 27th) on Priceline...

First bid--4* in River North/NMA, $60, not accepted

Re-bid--added Loop area, same $, not accepted

Re-bid--added Skokie area, $70, accepted with the Knickerbocker.

I wasn't too excited with this result, based on reviews, but knew that it was a likely possibility. Also, I don't mind smaller, older places, since you often get that in larger cities...and this will have more character than, say, the Sheraton Towers.

I've got the Sheraton Towers 3 different times on Priceline, at $100, $90 and $80. I suppose, if I'd started off higher, I might have gotten it again, but I wanted to try something different. Ah well, I'll be very close to the shopping, and it is still a great deal for Chi-town!

[GM Mike]

Welcome to betterbidding --

If it makes you feel better, after exhaustive discussion here, there's no concensus that bidding higher necessarily increses your chances of getting a particular hotel. It may be that $70 is below what the Sheraton will accept. However, bidding $80, you may still have gotten the Kickerbocker, and paid too much for it.

You may have been able to shave off a few more $ with a strategy using free rebids. In the future, if you'd like advice, feel free to post a strategy before you bid and we'll critique it for you.

Don't worry about the Knickerbocker. It's a fine hotel. Great bar in the lobby. Some rooms are quite small tho, so I'd try to check in earlier in the day if possible.

Location is fantastic for shopping. Enjoy it.

[Geddy Lee]

$70 for a hotel room on Michigan Ave. in Chicago isn't bad. There are a lot of flea bag hotels and motels in far less desirable places that cost more.

[AaronJB]

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.)