Priceline Hotel: Your opinion required on NMA vs MPLoop

[gqboy]

Hi All,

Great resource here. I've been reading on a lot of your winning bids and require your opinion. My gf and I will be visiting Chicago for the first time. Between NMA and MPLoop, where would you rather stay and why? I'll probably try to bid for a 4*. To give you an idea, we are in our late 20's - early 30's. We'll probably be on our feet most of the time checking out restaurants, sights, buildings, etc... Why is one area better than the other?

Please share your input. :)

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

In terms of Chicago, the NMA-River North zone is generally more popular, given that this area is well-known for shopping and has considerably more going on at night (definitely a wide variety of restaurants). This area is definitely recommended for those who plan to be out later into the evening.

The Millennium Park-Loop-Grant Park area is definitely closer to museums and does have some shopping options during the day along State St., but much of this area can be quiet or very quiet later at night (past around 8:30-9:30pm)

The NMA-River North area is generally (not always, but mostly) mildly-to-moderately more expensive. If you are going to be out later at night though, I'd really only recommend the NMA area.

During the day, it's really quite easy to get from the NMA area to the Loop area, whether walking if it's a nice day or via public transit. Chicago's definitely a walkable city, and it's not that vast.

If you're in your 20's-30's, I'd also suggest a trip up to the Lakeview/Lincoln Park area. I'll definitely recommend Reckless Records on Broadway in that area (an incredible used music store) and Buffalo Exchange is a very popular thrift store in the area (and there are lots of other similar thrift stores nearby - given the high amount of 20-30 somethings in the area, what these stores offer is often targeted towards the 20-30 age range. It's also not a terribly far walk to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

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

[thereuare]

While the NMA zone is usually preferred, the Loop zone usually becomes an option due to budget... while NMA is more lively, the Loop (which can get quiet at nite) is still do-able when rates are cheap enough vs. NMA.

What are the date(s) of your stay and expected budget per nite?

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

[gqboy]

Thanks for the replies so far. BTW, I meant to post this in the "Priceline/Hotwire Hotel Lists and Tips for Illinois" forum but posted here by mistake. Please move if possible. I'm planning on staying from Oct 21-25 and is budgeting around $100/night. Historically, is this time usually high or low for hotels in NMA and Loop? I'm taking in as much information as I can but there's just so much to do in Chicago! :)

[gqboy]

After going through the list of hotels on "Priceline Hotel List - Illinois", some of the 3.5* in NMA aren't too shabby. However, is it just me or do I only see a lot of people winning 4* in NMA? Is there a huge drop off from 3.5* to 4*?? Curious....

[AaronJB]

Many automatically go for 4*, but as with any major city, there are some 3.5*'s that are an improvement upon some of the 4*'s and some 3*'s that are better than a few of 3.5*'s. I think there's a slight chance of a 4* in the Loop accepting for $90-100, but unfortunately, I think a 4* for these dates is probably going to take $110-125 (and possibly a touch higher if hotels are not aggressively discounting for this busier period) in either of the main downtown zones.

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