Priceline Hotel: 3* Chicago (NMA-River North) Holiday Inn Mart Plaza

[Bob Loblaw]

...and possibly August the 5th-6th as well.

Need a family friendly hotel because we are travelling with 1 year old twins (they sleep in pack and plays so double/king does not matter).

We would like it to be in and around attractions. From reading a recent post, it appears the North River area would be my best option. I guess my question is- based on recent wins, what do you think my best option is for what I am looking for- a 3*, a 3.5* or a 4*?

We fly into O'Hare Tuesday and are staying at my sister in laws outside of Chicago (Lindenhurst) that evening and are just going into Chicago to spend a day or two checking out the city and then go back to her house and fly out on Saturday.

We want to go to a Cubs game on Wednesday @ 1 p.m................never been to Wrigley. As a first timer with young ones, are the bleachers suitable? Is that the way to go? I have read about these rooftop spots, are they good for a first timer, family friendly? Just wondering if you have any insight on what are our best options for this.

We also want to go to the Lincoln Park zoo, do some shopping, try hot Doug's, Frontera and some Chicago deep dish pizza. Are they all within walking distance? How about getting to Wrigley from the North River zone? Walking or subway?

Also, a plan of attack on Priceline for the star rating we should go with. What should be our starting bid and what the re-bid zones are?

Thanks in advance. Have a good day.

[Bob Loblaw]

It seems the Courtyard River North has been the 3* win most often lately after a review of recent wins. Does it suit our needs?

How about opposed to the 4* Sheraton and which seems to get a fair amount of wins for that rating?

[AaronJB]

Good morning. :)

The Lollapalooza Music Festival does run in Grant Park downtown from 8/6-8; while that does not appear to have any effect on 8/4-5, 8/5-6 does appear a bit more expensive with people likely coming in the day before for the 3 day music festival.

There are one or two iffy properties at the 3* (the Ambassador East, although I actually think this is a nice hotel and the hotel's history is - I think - kinda neat), 3.5* (Allerton, although the location is A+) and 4* (Sheraton, which is not terrible - I didn't think the service was great and the property is really a rather bland convention hotel - great location and nice views from some rooms, though) level in the River North-NMA zone. I'd consider the remainder of the 3*-4* properties in this area good-to-great. While many try for the 4*, I actually think some of the 3*'s - such as the Indigo and the two Courtyards - are very nice hotels.

The 3* Holiday Inn Mart Plaza is not as convenient in the West border of the River North-NMA area, but this hotel was given a major renovation a year or two ago and is right next to an "L" stop to head North or South into the Loop. It's about a 15 minute walk to Michigan Ave, although shorter to the River North area (which has a wide variety of restaurants.)

The Courtyards have been seen more often lately, and I think both possible Courtyards (there are 2) are both well-located and nice examples of the chain.

There's no way to guarantee which hotel you may get via PRICELINE, but I'd be happy getting a majority of the 3* or higher hotels at PRICELINE rates in this zone. The ones I would not be as pleased with wouldn't be terrible.

The Zoo is really a must; the Lincoln Park Zoo is free and the Peggy Notabert Nature Museum (admission) is just to the North of the North Exit of the Zoo. That is a more family-friendly nature museum with a beautiful live butterfly exhibit.

I would not recommend the bleachers at Wrigley, which are general admission and not as family-friendly (there does not appear to be bleacher seats available for this game when I search online, though.) My 2 cents on Wrigley is that if you're a huge baseball fan, then it's worth going for great seats. If you're going primarily for the experience of seeing a game at Wrigley, then more reasonable seats are just fine. Do use the Red Line to get from downtown to Wrigley, and I would recommend going early to avoid the crowds - there are a number of restaurants in the neighborhood, as well.

You would definitely have to take the "L" from downtown to Wrigley. In terms of getting to the Zoo, if you were able to get a hotel towards the North end of the North Michigan Ave area, it's walkable. Otherwise, I'd take the bus or "L". If it's a hot day, I would just take public transit.

What would be your desired budget per night for hotel?

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

[Bob Loblaw]

It would be nice to get it for 100$ taxes in but we can go a little higher if need be.

[thereuare]

It would be appreciated if you used the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your future bidding and travel purchases.

Thanks.

[Bob Loblaw]

It would be appreciated if you used the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your future bidding and travel purchases.

Thanks.

I am confused.....I always use your link to start my bidding.

[Bob Loblaw]

Holiday Inn Mart Plaza 3*

Had tried bidding the other night on 4* and 3.5* to just over 100$ with no luck so after reading some posts here, we thought a 3* should be suffice so I started at 80$ tonight and got it on my first bid (perhaps should have started lower I guess).

80.00

19.84 tax

99.84 total

Hotel website is listed for 161.00 plus tax.

Think this will be OK for our needs?

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Nice deal for this recently renovated (it won chain renovation of the year in 2009) Holiday Inn property.

In terms of Wrigley, there is a Brown Line station right outside of this property (Merchandise Mart station.) Take that North to Fullerton and then change there to the Red Line and take that the remainder of the distance to the Red Line Addison stop - Wrigley is a couple of blocks West. The restaurants of the River North area are also not a far walk. Michigan Ave. is about a 15 minute walk, but it would be a very quick cab ride.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE link.

Enjoy your stay.