Priceline Hotel: 2* Chicago (NMA-River North) Red Roof Inn

[Gopiku]

Hi!

I was looking for some general tips/strategy. I want to be in Chicago in June/July for a couple of days (3 night maybe) and needed it to be the dirt cheapest possible. I think I'm looking for a 2*-3* in downtown (Loop/NMA). Since I'd like it to be dirt cheap, I'm flexible with my dates/days. If anyone has answers to the following, please help me out!

1) Around 4th of July - cheaper or more expensive?

2) Might splitting stay result in cheaper rates?

3) Tuesday through Thursday nights generally cheaper, right?

4) Might it be cheaper to start my stay on a day a big convention ends?

5) Does a 2* in Chicago downtown get me into an undesirable/unsafe hotel/area?

I'd like to pay $35-45/night. Is this doable? Will appreciate any helpful tips to help me zone in on what/when to bid on. I've used this site in previous years so I'm familiar with the re-bidding strategy. Will remember to use BetterBidding's PRICELINE link!

Thanks!

G.

[AaronJB]

Good evening. :)

Around the fourth of July is generally more reasonable in Chicago, although the fourth itself is sometimes more expensive, but the days either before or after (although often before's better) are reasonable.

Splitting the stay isn't always necessary, especially if the rates are cheaper overall. Days of the week do not always make a difference.

If you're bidding on a 2* in either of the main areas (River North/NMA or Millennium Park-Loop-Grant Park), you won't end up in a bad area, although some of the results may not be too great. I can't imagine many of the possible 2*'s downtown - the Red Roof and possibly Hojo may be possibilities in the River North/NMA area; I'm guessing the Travelodge/Best Western may be a possibility in the MP-Loop-Grant Park area; there may be others, but not many. You may also get bumped up to 2.5*.

3* is really a better option if possible - there are some really terrific 3*'s in the River North/NMA area. Is your budget $45 + taxes/fees or $45 "all-in"?

Do you have a set of particular dates in mind?

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Gopiku]

Thanks for responding, Aaron! Good evening to you too! :)

I was looking at 6/8-6/11 or 6/15-6/18 (checkout date inclusive) primarily but wouldn't really mind deferring a couple of weeks if it'd afford me decent savings. My dates are flexible except that I probably want in the middle of week to save on transportation costs to Chicago and attend to some work-type stuff. I was thinking that $45 would be before taxes and fees. Of course, it goes without saying that it'd be awesome if it included everything, ha! Who wouldn't like that! But I'd to avoid budget-creep if I could.

I saw that a big convention was ending on 6/8, so was wondering if that was going to be a good date since capacity might be created.

G.

[AaronJB]

6/29-7/2 seems like a particularly good set of dates to try if you are looking for 3 nights.

Unfortunately, $35 would be very unlikely, even for the 2* properties. You could certainly try $40, although a winning bid would likely require at least $45. I'd suggest trying 3* first, as if you could secure a 3* for within this price range (it very well may not be enough, but it would be worth trying) that would be a terrific result.

Please let us know if you have any questions before bidding.

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

[Gopiku]

Yeah, probably have to up the bids a bit. I tried up to $40 for 2-3 nights Tuesday through Friday over the month of June and the dates you recommended but nothing yet. I see Hotwire has a 3* "North Michigan Avenue - Water Tower - Gold Coast area Hotel" for 6/29-7/2 with Bed choice, business center, smoke free, and restaurant for $67/night. Wonder what that'll go for on priceline.

There's not much room for rebidding zones under 3*, so kept varying dates. Will try upping the bids a little - this might take some time! :)

--- maybe that was boutique, not business center?

[thereuare]

I see HOTWIRE has a 3* "North Michigan Avenue - Water Tower - Gold Coast area Hotel" for 6/29-7/2 with Bed choice, business center, smoke free, and restaurant for $67/night. Wonder what that'll go for on priceline.

Unless you have identified this property you don't know that it even participates with PRICELINE, or if it does, if it would also be rated 3* by PRICELINE... it could be 2.5*, making this an apples-to-oranges comparison.

There's not much room for rebidding zones under 3*, so kept varying dates. Will try upping the bids a little - this might take some time! :)

You actually could re-bid a fair amount of times each bidding cycle, using your TWO re-bid zones:

$30 NMA

$33 NMA re-bid zone1

$35 NMA re-bid zone2

$30 Loop

$33 Loop re-bid zone1

$35 Loop re-bid zone2

$38 NMA and Loop

$40NMA and Loop re-bid zone1

$43 NMA and Loop re-bid zone2

The dollar amounts are not suggested bid prices, they're just for example to see where you would increase the bid price and where you would use the same amount as used previously. You could also gain yet another bid in the bidding cycle, but it would involve a lot more time as it would requiring a lot of opening / closing of the browser... and given your date flexibility doesn't seem necessary.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Keep us update and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

[AaronJB]

I'm guessing the 3* in question is the Tremont, which is 2.5* on PRICELINE. Not a great hotel, but great location.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Gopiku]

Thanks, thereuare. Could you tell me when a closing of the browser and re-logging on to the Priceline site becomes necessary? That's something I haven't figured out.

Thanks,

G.

[thereuare]

You need to close the browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE when you want to UNcheck a zone. Once your bid is rejected, the zone(s) you have previously selected are checked but greyed out, meaning that you can't UNcheck them. By closing the browser and re-access PRICELINE, duplicate bid rules still apply, but you're able to start with a 'clean slate' and select only the zones you want.

Using the example above:

$30 NMA

$33 NMA re-bid zone1

$35 NMA re-bid zone2

**you would need to close the browser here and re-access PRICELINE... otherwise you wouldn't be able to select only Loop on your next bid (ie- not including NMA or re-bid zone1 or re-bid zone2)

$30 Loop

$33 Loop re-bid zone1

$35 Loop re-bid zone2

**you would need to close the browser here and re-access PRICELINE... otherwise you woudn't be able to UNcheck re-bid zone1 and re-bid zone2 in order to not include them when you bid NMA and Loop on your next bid

$38 NMA and Loop

$40NMA and Loop re-bid zone1

$43 NMA and Loop re-bid zone2

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Hope the above clarifies this a bit, but if not post back and i'll try to break it down further, one step at a time.

[Gopiku]

Oh, this was so horrible. Spent like and hour and a half doing all manner of combinations.

I essentially tried the following first with 3*, then 2.5* for 6/1 or 6/2 - 6/4 or 6/5.

$41 NMA

$42 NMA Franklin

$44 NMA Hyde Park

$41 Loop

$42 Loop Franklin

$44 Loop Hyde Park

$45 NMA and Loop

$46 NMA and Loop Franklin

$47 NMA and Loop Hyde Park

This was after yesterday's attempts up to $40. It's all a bit imprecise but I tried dozens of combinations, so I can't really list everything I did.

Then, I tried just NMA and Loop and varied dates for 2* starting from $41. I changed to two nights after hitting $45. I was able to get Red Roof Inn Chicago Downtown for $47 for 6/1-6/3.

Thanks a bunch everybody!

[yellowdog]

Gopiku

Congratulations on your success!

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

Great to see that everything worked out for you.

Enjoy your stay.

Yellowdog.

[AaronJB]

This property gets some mixed reviews, but the location is fantastic - if you're looking for the lowest price and just a place to sleep, this is an excellent result. There is a Dominicks Grocery location nearby at 255 Grand Ave (sign up for the Fresh Values card to get the sale prices) and a Trader Joe's at 44 East Ontario - both will offer cheaper snacks/drinks.

[Gopiku]

Yeah, lowest price, a bed, and cheap food somewhere :-) I'll check out the grocery store, thanks! I read that some of the rooms have microwave and a small fridge... it would have been great if I had that but I think I read on their website that there might be a surcharge involved. Their website says room type is "Superior King".. maybe that gets something.

I also noticed while looking up reservation on their site that per night rate is 42.99. Since taxes and fees are on top of $47 I'm paying, PRICELINE takes that extra $4 as profit too? I wonder if $43 would have been accepted although I must have tried figures around that value but now can't be sure.