Priceline Hotel: Chicago Help 9/13-15

[skskeeters]

Which is better for a young family? 9/13-9/15. We plan on going to the Shedd Aquarium and Navy Pier, and would like to be able to walk around and be close to restaurants/coffee shops/maybe a park? We'll be using taxis for transportation. It sounds like the Millennium Park-Loop-Grant Park area would be closer to most major attractions, and might save us a little in cab fare, but would be still be able to grab a bite to eat and/or sit and have a cup of coffee after we were done for the day (around 7-8pm)? Also, do you have any suggestions for kid-friendly places we should check out while we're there? Thanks for your help!

[skskeeters]

I bid both the NMA zone and the Loop zone up to $135 (starting at $105) and all of my bids were rejected. Our trip is one week from tomorrow. Do you think we'll have a better or worse chance of our bid being accepted as we get closer to our date? I don't want to go above $135 per night, and would prefer to keep it under $125/night if possible...

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

The River North/NMA area is a more family friendly area, and does have a wider variety of restaurants open later in the evening. The Millennium Park area is closer to museums, but there's multiple public transit options if you are headed to the museums from the River North/NMA area.

The problem with these dates is that they are extremely busy, and I believe there's a convention going on during the period - when searching for 2 people on HOTWIRE, the only downtown property is a 4* non-discounted regular rate listing for $409. When searching for 2 adults/2 children on HOTWIRE, there are no hotels available downtown.

If you look on Expedia, there is not a single available hotel downtown when searching for 2/2.

I would be happy to help find a hotel in a surrounding area - some of the suburbs are quite nice - but the downtown area is extraordinarily busy for these dates.

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

[skskeeters]

Thanks for all your help! I'll be terribly disappointed if we can't book a hotel room in the downtown area (this is our first family vacation, and our last for a very long time - baby #2 is due in December) and I really wanted to be right in the middle of everything, but it is what it is. I'll keep trying for another day or two, and then I think we'd better consider other options. What area(s) would you recommend that wouldn't be too terribly far from everything? The money we save on the hotel can go towards cab fare :) .

[AaronJB]

Definitely a bummer and unfortunate that these dates are extraordinarily busy downtown (and that traffic has spilled over into outlying areas, some of which also look pricey.) To offer a few thoughts:

* The problem with Chicago in terms of hotels is that the main group of hotels are downtown in the main two downtown zones - once you leave that area, there are very few hotels until you get further out into the suburbs.

*. The Willows is $154 per night on Travelocity. This property is an independent boutique in the Lincoln Park area, and is - I believe - one of a trio of properties run by the same group - Willows, City Suites and Majestic. I've not stayed at this property, but it does get good reviews on tripadvisor It is not right downtown, it is in the Lincoln Park area just to the North of the city. This is a nice area, and the Lincoln Park Zoo is only a few minutes walk away. It is still a fairly good distance to get downtown, but this would be a neighborhood of the city, rather than further out in the suburbs. Given how bad downtown is for these dates, I'm actually rather surprised that the Willows is available. According to Travelocity, this property offers free breakfast.

* I would also be happy to offer suburban suggestions, but it becomes very difficult if you are not driving; if you are coming in from an airport, quite a few suburban hotels are difficult to get to via public transit or in some cases inaccessible by public transit. Additionally, without a car, it's hard to get to some of the sights that the suburbs offer.

There is an 80,000 person convention on these dates, which is causing all the problems - hopefully some availability will open up in the next day or two, but I think prices may remain high.

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

[skskeeters]

I think we're going to have to cancel our train tickets and drive (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we do not have to pay fees or penelties for canceling). I don't really see any other option at this point.

I tried to find The Willows on Travelocity - I was just going to go ahead and book at the going rate - but could not find it. I called them, and they said they are completely booked for the month of September?

With only 1 week to go, and nowhere to stay, I think we're going to have to look for someplace in the suburbs. If I can't find someplace nice in the next 2 days we're just going to cancel our trip. Planning it has been more complicated than I thought it would be. It's just bad timing, but we're firm on the dates, and I never imagined that we'd have such a hard time finding someplace to stay. I probably called 30 hotels today, and was told by all of them that they have no availability.

[AaronJB]

In terms of the suburbs, the North suburbs (which I recommend, as there's reasonably easy access to public transit, some really nice sights, such as Wagner Farm and the Chicago Botanic Gardens, the latter in a 'burb despite the name), as well as malls and restaurants. It's also a very nice area, in general. Unfortunately, this area seems to have gotten the spillover from downtown, and - at least on HOTWIRE and regular rate - rates are higher than normal for these dates. You could get a better deal via PRICELINE, but you may be stuck with one bed. In this area, I'm seeing what appears to be the Crowne Plaza Northbrook for $92 on HOTWIRE; while that former Radisson did not initially get good reviews, reviews appear to have improved recently. I'm also seeing the Holiday Inn Express Deerfield for $69 on HOTWIRE.

HOTWIRE also has a couple of properties in the Arlington Heights area - to the NW of the city - for $45-55, as well as a few options in the SW burbs, such as a 3.5* for $116 in the Lombard-Oak Brook-Downers Grove area and another 3.5* in Lisle/Naperville for $96; these are nice areas and the Brookfield Zoo is not far away. It's also not bad if you're coming in from this direction. However, it is a trek to downtown from here.

Which direction would you be driving in from?

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