Priceline Hotel: Bidding Advice 10/14 - 10/18?

[legalos.aragon]

Going to Chicago for a conference (10/14-10/18), would like to stay in the Loop or River North Area for max bid of $125/night. Over the past couple of weeks, I've bid up to $125 for 4* without any luck. This is the first time on Priceline that I haven't been able to get a hotel with a relatively high bid before. Any ideas for bidding?

Thanks.

legalos.aragon

[AaronJB]

The Fall and Winter can be quite busy/pricey at times in Chicago and unfortunately, these dates look to be on the high side - I think you're probably looking at as much as $140-150 (and possibly a bit higher than that, if hotels are not aggressively discounting due to something going on) for a 4* in either of the two main downtown zones - NMA-River North or Millennium Park-Loop-GP. Sunday/Monday are slightly better than Friday/Saturday but all four nights are expensive - if you look up all four dates on HOTWIRE, there's a 4* on the Mag Mile/Streeterville zone for $172, but if you look up the last two nights alone, the 4* showing is $145, the first two alone $182.

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