Priceline Hotel: 4* Magnificent Mile Bidding help needed 4/7-4/10

[jonesd_0407]

Hi I am new, and I read the guideline so hopefully will not leave anything out. That being said, please be patient with me as I learn :-)

I am travelling with my 8 year old daughter to Chicago April 7-10, 2011. I would like to stay somewhere near the American Girl Place. My preference would be a 4 star hotel in the Magnificent Mile area - we have stayed at Kimpton brand hotels in the past and loved them.

Would also love a breakfast included but it is not a make or break decision.

I also looked at hotwire there is a 4* $106.00 per night with bed choice, dining, internet and fitness showing in the streeterville/goldcoast area. I think this location might work but would find any advice helpful.

My goal is to stay under 125.00 per night.

thank you!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

I'm seeing a 4* in the Mag Mile-Streeterville area w/bed choice, fitness, business, restaurant, internet for $105 (the price you see may vary slightly.) That could be a possible match for the Hard Rock, Sheraton, Hyatt or Westin River North, as all of those have been reported with this amenity set in the past.

However, when one searches for 2 adults and 1 child, I see a different listing for $120 w/smoke-free, fitness, restaurant, business, internet. When I look on the detail page for the listing, I see a 4.5/5 tripadvisor rating (the tripadvisor logo w/4.5/5 circles shaded.) This listing has not yet been ID'd, but the high tripadvisor rating is a plus and my guess is that this may be the Westin with a new smoke-free icon in addition to the previously reported amenities.

Unfortunately, regular rate choices are limited on these dates, with the exception of the Affinia, which is $135 on Expedia (and coupon code FROST11 should take $10 off per night) That would put you very close to American Girl (a few pretty short blocks away.) The Affinia is superbly located, tucked just off Michigan Ave, right near the core of the shopping area (not far from the subway, either.)

It also depends on how far you want to be from AG in terms of walking distance; some of the hotels at the South end of the NMA-River North zone on PRICELINE or in the Mag Mile-Streeterville area on HOTWIRE may be as much as a 20-22 minute walk or so. However, those properties would be more centrally located in the city as a whole.

One family-friendly suggestion would be the combination of Lincoln Park Zoo (certainly a great value - free) and the Peggy Notabert Nature Museum (admission; they do have a terrific live butterfly exhibit), both right next to each other in Lincoln Park. Both are easy to get to from the Michigan Ave. area.

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

[jonesd_0407]

Thank you! in your opinion, do you think that the HOTWIRE 120.00 4* option that might be Westin would be a better option that trying to bid priceline? I am going to research the Affinia later tonight that looks promising as well.

I am leaning toward the 120 HOTWIRE right now, but wanted to check your thoughts first regarding PRICELINE.

thank you!!!

[AaronJB]

My thought is that you may - depending on how heavily hotels are discounting for these dates - be able to get a 4* in the NMA-River North area for between around $75-90 on PRICELINE.

The $120 HOTWIRE listing has not yet been ID'd, but the 4.5/5 tripadvisor rating (you can confirm that you are also seeing this by clicking on "see details" on the listing to go to the detail page, then scroll down the page and there should be a tripadvisor logo with 4.5/5 circles shaded right next to the logo) is certainly promising (the mystery property gets very good reviews) and would match the Westin's rating, so I do think that's a *possibility.* If the listing is the Westin (and again, it could be something else - this listing has not yet been reported to the board - I think that's a lovely Westin property directly on the river. It's centrally located in terms of the city as a whole, but it is something of a trek to AG. However, there are a lot of restaurants in the nearby River North area.

Note that the $120 listing only appears when searching for 2 adults/1 child. It doesn't appear when searching for 2 adults only.

The Affinia is a very nice property in a superb location; you're right in the middle of the Michigan Ave area and yet the side the street that this property is on should be reasonably quiet in comparison. The Affinia also gets a 4.5/5 on tripadvisor.

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