Hotwire Hotel: 4* Chicago (Loop) Hotel Allegro

[waltero61]

Reserved yesterday for 8/18 - 8/23/05. 5 nights at $81 per night.

Listed under Chicago Loop (Downtown area).

Amenities were : Boutique hotel, restaurant(s), fitness center, and business center.

It's listed as a 4-star and also listed currently as a best value.

I agree. Any hotel in the downtown area for under $100 per night is highway robbery. On Hotel Allegro's site, the rooms for those dates go for $159 per night.

It's weird how the price on HOTWIRE fluctuates almost by the minute. Got it yesterday for $81. Checked about 10 minutes ago and it was $84. Checked again about 5 minutes ago and it was $82. Wonder what it'll be tomorrow.

One question : How does HOTWIRE get such great prices at great hotels for almost 50 % off over 4 months from the actual date of occupancy? You'd think that these hotels wouldn't release these rooms for such a steep discount this far in advance. Any opinions?

Thanks again to this site for providing such a valuable service !!!!!!!!!!

Walter

[AaronJB]

Congrats on the win - just for your info, there's a CVS Pharmacy and 7-11 around the corner if you need anything while at your hotel (instead of having to buy something in the hotel that you could get at one of those two places). There's also an "L" train stop right next to the 7-11.

[thereuare]

Congratulation and thank you for sharing your win.

The priceline fluctuations your seeing is completely normal, and done to increase opacity, as discussed in this thread in more detail: HOTWIRE PRICE FLUCTUATION.

Regarding the opaque services getting such great deals... the average hotel does not sell-out the majority of nites of the year. Hotels know when their peak days in the upcoming day will be and have a general idea of what type of occupancy levels to expect on any given day. For dates that they anticipate having low occupancy, they will release rooms to the opaque services in an attempt to monetize them.... for one they room goes unsold there is no recouping the lost revenue.

Hope the above explains both issues a bit.

Have a great stay and have fun in Chicago.

[waltero61]

Aaron,

Thanks for the tip, much appreciated. Me and my son are going on a baseball road trip and are visiting U S Cellular Field this August.

It sounds like you've been to the Hotel Allegro before. It sounds great. Any opinions on it?

I already had the Chicago Transit System mapped out before I bid on Hotel Allegro.

FYI, there's also a train that goes directly from O'Hare Airport to a couple of blocks away from the hotel for only $1.75 per person. We're only going to be there for 5 days and aren't renting a car, so this works out just great for us. The train that you mentioned also stops a couple of blocks from the stadium.

Thanks again, Walter

[AaronJB]

I've not stayed there, but I've stepped in - I'm trying to experience many of Chicago's hotels (in the meantime, have done lots of research on nearly all of them) and the Allegro is def. on my list, but I haven't worked my way there yet. Looks like a fun and funky hotel and you definitely got a really good deal. Have fun on your trip here and enjoy the game - I took a baseball road trip with my parents when I was little, only ours was a tour of minor league ballparks in Illinois and Iowa. Fun small-town journey.