Priceline Hotel: Downtown hotel for 5/20-5/23, prefer 4*

[credomk]

Hi,

I'm trying to find a hotel in downtown Chicago (Loop or NMA area) for this weekend, 5/20 through 5/23. Ideally we'd like a 4*, although from comments I've read on this forum it looks like the 3*s in the NMA area are worth pursuing too. We'd prefer to be downtown as that is where we'll be spending most of our time, and I'd like to be able to get back to our hotel at least once during the day without wasting tons of time.

When we planned this trip we didn't realize it was during one of the biggest conventions of the year. We were hoping to spend about $150/night on a hotel (ideally less), but it looks as though that is not feasible right now. In the past few days I've tried bidding and rebidding (Priceline) on these two areas for 4* hotels, initially starting at $126 and so far having gone up to $193.

Any advice on my next step? My thoughts were to try one more time for a 4* in these areas but then will try lowering to a 3.5* level for NMA, then a 3* level. What is reasonable to bid for these levels? Am I still looking at $200+?

If I can't get something downtown I'm willing to try for the Hotel Orrington (3.5*) in Evanston-Skokie, based on recommendations, though it would be less convenient. What would be a reasonable bid for this area?

I've tried Hotwire a few times but haven't seen any good deals, and most of the areas we want aren't showing any availability at all.

Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions, and advice! I've been very impressed by this forum (and am doing my searches through the links provided).

Cheri

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I'm afraid that at the moment you are likely looking at $200+ (or at least close to it) for a 3* or higher rated property.

The last nite of your stay is not expensive at all, it's only the first two nites are very expensive... is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

For example for 5/20-5/22 HOTWIRE has a a 3* for $237/nite (i'm guessing the well reviewed La Quinta Downtown which includes breakfast)... then for 5/22 there are 4* hotels for $100-$125/nite. Averaging these at $275 for the first two nites and $100 for the last nite you're at ~$192 (which you have already tried for a 4* property)

Let us know your thoughts and/or questions and we'll take it from there.

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

EDIT TO ADD: actually, if you're willing to change hotels each nite i think you can do even a bit better... ~$140 for the first nite, $260 for the middle nite, and $100 for the last nite (all 4* rated properties). I know not ideal, but these are very expensive nites in the city and not sure how much you're willing to weigh convenience vs. budget.

[AaronJB]

The Orrington at the 3.5* level in the Evanston-Skokie-Niles zone is a good suburban option usually, but unfortunately in this case it looks to be effected by "spillover" from downtown and rates are quite high. We would be happy to offer suggestions if you want to proceed, but I'd think that a PRICELINE rate will either be higher than normal or it would not surprise me if the hotel did not have any discounted inventory, given the demand (other Evanston hotels appear sold out.) If you are driving, I think you could get an extremely cheap rate further North in the Deerfield area on PRICELINE - I'm guessing $37-45 at the 3.5* level in that zone. That would be a 40-45 minute train trip from that area, but it's a very nice area and the "known" 3.5* properties in the Deerfield zone are very nice. Longer trip into the city, but it depends on what price would make that worthwhile (if you would be interested in staying that far out at all.)

Please let us know if you have any questions.

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

[credomk]

Thanks to both of you for your responses. We are flying into O'Hare and out of Midway, so staying farther out isn't ideal (though I will keep that in mind for a future trip when we will likely drive). I've booked the Blackstone Renaissance as a backup option if I don't find anything else (booked through Priceline but not name your price, $249 plus fees, total $862.05 for three nights, though I found after the fact I could have booked directly through the hotel's site with my AAA discount and gotten the same price). I can cancel through Thursday noon if I find something better.

I'll try searching for at least Sunday night at a better rate. Switching hotels every night might be more hassle than it is worth at this point. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'll update the post when we have our finalized plans in place. Thanks again for your assistance! What a great forum.

[credomk]

I wanted to update with our final plans. Given the nature of our trip (pregnant, last getaway before baby arrives), we decided to book a known quantity and got a decent (for this particular very expensive weekend anyway) deal by calling the Hotel Monaco directly. I've since seen a few deals on Hotwire that were tempting, but one of them I was pretty sure was the Hotel Felix, which upon reading reviews didn't really fit what we wanted for this weekend, and another appeared to be the Doubletree, whose website showed only smoking rooms available. Because of those factors, we decided to stay with the Hotel Monaco instead of risking one of the Hotwire options.

However, for future trips I will definitely be visiting BetterBidding again and will recommend it to others seeking great deals on hotels. Thanks again for all your help!

[AaronJB]

Thank you for closing the thread, and enjoy your stay. While there are tons of restaurant options, I will note that the South Water Kitchen at the Monaco is a pretty good option if you don't want to go far, and there's a Giordanos at 135 E Lake right nearby for pizza.

[credomk]

Thank you for the suggestions! We're looking forward to exploring the many dining options. :-)