Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* Chicago (Mag Mile-Streeterville) Embassy Suites Lakefront

[melissa1979]

First, I have been reading the post below for the same dates :).

I am trying to figure out the best bidding scenario.

-Would need 2, perhaps 4 rooms.

-Would prefer Mag Mile (I think)--we are traveling with a baby and toddler ourselves, and one of the other rooms will have a baby.

-Max budget is $80 per room.

-3 stars or higher

Is it more difficult to get 4 rooms then 2? Do you think we would have better luck with Priceline or with Hotwire? I worry that they would not give away that many rooms at such a discounted price.

I have read up on rebidding, the winning bids on PRiceline and hotwire, so I think I am ready to book, just looking for a little more guidance.

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

How many adults would be in each room? PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy/1 bed. If you require more than 1 bed, then HOTWIRE would be the best option; if you only require 1 bed, then PRICELINE would be the best option in this case.

Rates in Chicago are around average for these dates, so you may be able to get 4 rooms if needed. Would your desired budget per night be $80 "all-in" per room/per night, or $80 + taxes/fees per night? There are some very nice 3* properties in the River North-NMA zone on PRICELINE, although the one property that is a bit of an issue is the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, which is out of the way in the West Loop area.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[melissa1979]

Two adults in each room.

$80 + taxes and fees/room is our max budget.

So do I understand correctly that the 3* Holiday Inn Mart Plaza would not be in my search zone if I search for Mag Mile?

Thanks for your help!

[AaronJB]

If you do bid 3* in the River North-NMA area, the Holiday Inn does fall within the bounds of that zone - that would be the only problematic (in terms of being out of the way) property at the 3* level in the River North/NMA area.

[melissa1979]

Okay, thanks!

If we book through HOTWIRE for 2 adults and 2 children, will it mean two beds?

Thanks for your help!

[AaronJB]

If you search for 2/2 on HOTWIRE, it will guarantee bedding for the whole party; while that is likely 2 beds (especially in Chicago), it could also mean 1 + sofabed.

There is a 3.5* Mag Mile/Streeterville w/breakfast, fitness, business, laundry, internet for $122. On the detail page for this listing, there is a 4.5/5 tripadvisor rating, which would likely mean this is the Amalfi. While more than what you were looking to spend, if you were looking for 4 rooms and could compress to 2, this would be a very nice property, solid location and free breakfast would be included. If this is the Amalfi, it is one of the nicest properties in the city.

You may be able to score a 3* in the River North-NMA area for as low as $65. That is a lowball estimate, but worth trying. If not, you could increase by $5's until successful.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[melissa1979]

We are down to needing just one room for our trip dates 5/12-5/16...the rest are too nervous to try and book through priceline/hotwire.

With our budget (100ish all in), and there not seeming to be much offered in that price range in MM on hotwire, I am thinking our best bet is priceline. Is this correct? The rest of our group is staying at the Comfort Suites and then either at Hotel Sax or Club Quarters or 71. Oh, and I am using the links from here, even for my (constant) searching :).

Also, any recommendations while we are there? We arrive at noon on the 12th and actually do not leave til the 18th. Two adults, and two children, ages 2 and 8 months.

Found this on hotwire

3.5 stars

fitness

highspeed internet

still collecting data from guests

$89

MM

any guesses?

Thanks again for all the guidance!

[AaronJB]

PRICELINE does not guarantee 2 beds, but if that is okay, then PRICELINE would be the best choice in this situation. $100 all-in would be about an $80 bid.

The hotels that your group are staying at are located around the river, which is where the two main PRICELINE zones in the downtown area (River North-NMA and Millennium Park-Loop-Grant Park) meet. As a result, if you were to bid on either zone, you could possibly wind up at the opposite end of either zone from where the rest of your group is staying. You could look at this in a positive light, in that if you were, for example, to get a hotel at the North end of the River North-NMA area, that could provide a rest stop for the rest of your group in a different area from where they are staying (to use an example, if you were to head North of the city to the Zoo, your hotel would be between theirs and the zoo.)

All that said, I'd start with a bid of $80 for a 3.5* in the River North-NMA area if you were going to bid for the entire stay.

HOWEVER:

An alternate idea is that I do see (when searching for 2 adults/2 children only) what would appear to be the Embassy Suites Lakefront for $89 on HOTWIRE for $89 for 5/12-15 only. This appears as a 3.5* in the Mag Mile/Streeterville zone w/Suite, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Complimentary Breakfast, Hi-Speed Internet, Business. This would be a bit more than you were hoping to spend, but it would be a great deal for this property and offer free breakfast/evening reception. It would also be reasonably close to the hotels the rest of your group is staying at. Additionally, this would also provide a larger suite w/kitchenette, and there's a giant grocery store across the street.

You could do the Embassy for 5/12-15, then try to get a different property for 5/15-16.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[melissa1979]

Oh my gosh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for the suggestions! Booked on HOTWIRE for three nights at $89/night and confirmed booking at Embassy!

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success.

I'm really, really glad you were able to take advantage of this ES deal, as not only will it work out great in terms of what it offers (larger room, free breakfast/evening reception), but it's also a stellar location and an astonishing discount off regular rate ($251 is the lowest non-refundable rate on the website for these dates; $279 the lowest refundable.)

Location-wise, there is a Dominicks Grocery directly across the street. This is a really nice Dominicks store - you do need to be signed up for their Fresh Values program (free, takes a couple of minutes) to get most of the in-store deals (of which there are plenty.) You could bring back snacks and drinks to the fridge in the room, but I'd also highly recommend this to those who are staying at the Sheraton in your group, as there's nothing in that hotel in terms of vending machines/reasonable snacks/drinks.

The other option that I'd also highly recommend is Fox and Obel Gourmet Market and Cafe (fox-obel.com), which is an upscale cafe/market (sort of like a Chicago version of Dean and Deluca in NYC) - the cafe serves a really nice breakfast/lunch/dinner and it's fun to browse around the market.

The Zoo is an absolute must - it's free and a terrific zoo. The interesting aspect of the Lincoln Park Zoo is also that some of the buildings are landmarks and impressive from an architectural standpoint. There's also the Peggy Notabert Nature Museum (admission fee) right near the North entrance of the zoo. The Notabert has a lovely live butterfly exhibit.

Both of the main boat tours (The Chicago Architectural Foundation and the Wendella) leave from the Michigan Ave bridge, which is only a few minutes walk from the Embassy and Sheraton.

I wouldn't recommend spending much time at Navy Pier, which is an easy walk East of your hotel - it's a tourist trap. However, the views are pretty and if you wanted to take breakfast out there in the morning, it's a nice place for an "urban picnic" in the morning to have breakfast looking out over the water and the view of the city.

If you have any questions at all, please do let me know and I'd be very happy to offer suggestions on what to do in the city.

Thank you for sharing your result with the board and please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.

[melissa1979]

I wanted to come in and give a little review:

We stayed at the Embassy Suites for the first three nights of our trip and then at the Sheraton.

The ES was perfect. Room was exactly what we needed, plenty of room, the reception and breakfast were wonderful. We visted the grocery store right across from the ES nearly everyday. Thank you for recommending that to us! Compared, for $35 dollars more, the Sheraton was not worth it, but was still a good location for our needs.

We bought a 5 day train/bus pass and figured out the bus system pretty quickly and were all over town with my 8 month old in a baby carrier and our 2 year old in a decent size umbrella stroller. Every where we went, everyone was so helpful. People would grab our toddler as he got on the bus so that we could get situated, a bus driver even stopped her bus at a stop that wasn't hers to ask us where we were going and if we needed help. Went to the Children's Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, played for hours at the Lego Store, Millineum Park, Field Museum, and the Institute of Art. We could have stayed another week and still not done everything. It was a wonderful vacation and we look forward to going back.