Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (North Michigan Ave - River North) Whitehall Hotel

[brenthost]

This is my first post here.

This is for our sr. class trip with students who have never been out of our state. I'm really leary about doing hotwire for this, but if i can narrow it down that would help. Thanks

I need help figuring out the hotel.

4/14-4/19- 3 rooms 8 adults

4 stars

Mag Mile & Streeterville area

85% Recommended

Amenities: Boutique Hotel, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Resturants, Business Center, High Speed Int.

I've read it could maybe be Sax, Swissotel, or Felix

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The above matches previous reports for the Hotel Sax, Hotel Felix, and Hotel Palomar. Of the three i think the Hotel Sax is the most likely outcome, although yous should at least be prepared for any of these.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[Frogger85]

This may be helpful..But if I was leading a group in Chicago..I would use the PRICELINE link and go for the Hyatt Regency on Wacker. This forum will give you advice on how to

bid. This is a full-service 4 star hotel (check out the website) but the big thing is it's a huge hotel that host conventions with multiple dining options ect.. The smaller

hotel (boutique) would not be the best for students they are much smaller and low-key (so to speak) so your going to stand out. People that pay published rates of over $150 per night

might not be keen on students. The Hyatt had huge groups of tourists and the like so a group of students is nothing new. Which I've seen all the time when I have stayed at the Hyatt.

I've stayed in downtown Chicago many times and the Hyatt is just as good as any other 4/3.5 star hotel. And you might win it for under $65 per night which would save you some money

for other stuff (Downtown Chicago is not cheap).

Also getting double bed rooms should not be a big deal since the hotel is huge. Last, this is the Hyatt on Wacker (In the center of Downtown Chicago on the river) not the

Hyatt Mccormick Place (to far away from downtown) or the Park Hyatt (which is near the Water Tower and is a 5 star hotel and priced that way).

Anyway good luck

[brenthost]

Wow, thank you for you help! I'm new to this website. I like the hyatt regency opportunity. You don't feel like its to far from shopping and what not? I'm going to try and figure out how to get that hotel. Is there a specific place on the forum where I can find it?

[AaronJB]

While the Hyatt is seen fairly often on PRICELINE as a win, there is no way to guarantee a particular property or increase the odds of a particular property when bidding on PRICELINE. Additionally, there is also no way to guarantee 2 beds, as the service only ensures double occupancy/1 bed. When using PRICELINE, one has to be willing to accept any property at the star rating selected in the zone selected - while you may be able to get the Hyatt, you could also wind up at the Palmer House, a historic property with smaller-than-average rooms, or one of several other hotels. Additionally, while the Hyatt has been seen as low as $65, that is generally during slower periods (now, for example.) Prices do tend to turn higher in April.

We would be happy to offer suggestions regarding PRICELINE, but while PRICELINE would be less expensive than HOTWIRE, the service is more opaque and, unlike HOTWIRE, there is no way to make an "educated guess" as to which hotel you may possibly get - it would definitely be more of a risk. Additionally, with HOTWIRE, one can indicate up to four per room, unlike PRICELINE, which only guarantees double occupancy.

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

[crito]

You might try Last Minute Travel.

I see the James there for $121/night for your dates. (If you're interested, I or someone else can tell you how to positively identify hotels on Last Minute Travel even though it is nominally an opaque site.) The James is more boutique and so (I agree) not quite so teen-friendly, but if your charges are fairly well-behaved it would be a really good option.

There are a couple of other good-looking options on Last Minute Travel, too. Check it out.

Oh, and I doubt you could win the Hyatt for $60 for those dates. Maybe for February.

[brenthost]

I would love to read more about LMT. Also, how do you know the 5* is james? how do i bid to get the hyatt or palmer? i've tried finding helpful tips but I can't. any help is much appreciated.

[Frogger85]

I checked this sites calenderofwins for your travel dates from last year. There is a bunch of wins for the Hyatt with a low of $54 and a high of $65. So even if it turns out to be

a busy weekend I can't see it being more than $70 per night. Plus if you bid now I bet you will get a better price. The Hyatt has to be priceline's number one hotel, it's all over

the calender of wins. In fact, I have to avoid the Grant Park zone or I would win it everytime unless I overbid on purpose (which I don't do). Ignore the published rate for

the Hyatt it means nothing in regards to the amount you bid. The Palmer is in the same zone but seems to be more of the $80-90 winning bid range. You will win the Hyatt first if you

go low.

Granted there are no sure things, but the Hyatt is a close as it gets for Downtown Chicago. Every zone has 1 or 2 hotels that dominate the bidding with lowball rates. The Hyatt is

the hotel in the Grant Park Zone, NMA/River North is a bit more competitive but the Hotel Felix is common (you don't want that hotel..very small)and it seems like the DoubleTree

Mag-Mile has emerged as a great deal (that hotel would work for you) perhaps they have decided to go the Hyatt route and go lowball to fill rooms.

My advice would be to bid at the 4* level in the grant park zone, use your rebids but don't go higher that $65. If you add the NMA zone you'll have to add 3.5 * to get the

DoubleTree Mag-Mile. But if you add the NMA zone you risk the Felix but $65 is a bit low for that Hotel.

Last thing, considering that number of nights..I gotta tell you that you should split your stay (2 nights/3 nights). I think a 3 rooms/5 nights is a tough bid, that's like

15 rooms at a lowball rate for a hotel...that might not happen. You may have to bid on 2 nights first then the last 3. This is what I would do. I've won the Hyatt 2 nights

in a row before. Just bid the same way..or mabey you might want to switch hotels..5 nights is long time in the same hotel.

P.S. The Hyatt is right in the middle of Downtown, the perfect jumping off point for site seeing...Regards

[Frogger85]

This may not apply..but if you plan on parking..it's going to cost you. The best deals are the Millenium and Navy Pier garages (average of $25 per 24hrs). The Hyatt is

about 3 blocks for the Millenium Park Garage's north exit (it's a huge underground garage with the park on top). Navy Pier would be an option if you stayed at the

DoubleTree Mag-Mile.

I hope this info is not needed.

[thereuare]

You can read more about LMT at this Last Minute Travel thread.

In terms of bidding for the Hyatt or the Palomar, you can't bid on a specific hotel, when you use PRICELINE you need to be able to accept any hotel in the zone at the star rating (or higher) that you selected.

As well, i don't necessarily agree that the Hyatt is a lay-up and that if you bid you will win this property. While the Hyatt is a very common win, we certainly do see other hotels received in this zone. I also caution against using PRICELINE (especially in large cities) when more than double occupancy is needed, as it is not guaranteed. While the Hyatt is a large conference hotel, it is still up to the front desk staff to decide if they're willing to accommodate any requests for room(s) with two beds... and much of their ability to do so will be based upon occupancy levels at the hotel during your dates of travel. As noted above there is also a chance that you receive something others than the Hyatt, and the hotel you receive may not have a large number of rooms with two beds, or they may consider such rooms an 'upgrade' and insist upon an additional fee (if they do have the occupancy and are willing to allow you to upgrade)

Lastly, i'm not so sure you would want to SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID. While it may be fine for somebody traveling on their own or with their own family, i wouldn't want to do it while chaperoning a group of students. It may be difficult enough to keep all of them inline and/or organized when you're out and about in the city, having to coordinate them all packing-up their things, meeting in the lobby, then moving to another hotel wouldn't be a productive use of time, imo (especially when check-out time at one hotel is likely a few hours before check-in time at the next hotel)

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

That's my .02 ;)

[Frogger85]

One overall last comment...If you bid in the Mill/Loop/Grant and NMA River North Zones at the 4/3.5 and even the 3 star levels you really can't miss..there all nice hotels.

[brenthost]

Thank you for all the advice, its an information overload. Through reading it appears that I am most likely going to get either hyatt or palmer for the loop and the felix or double tree for Mag Mile. We have stayed at the double tree and we loved it there, perfect location. I guess I'm just going to have to take the plunge and try it all out. if you have any more tips feel free to share. This is seriously an awesome website

Also, we will be staying out at o'hare on the 19th, which is the night before we fly out. Would love to let the students swim, is there any tips for that? if no pool, just some general tips for bidding out by the airport.

[thereuare]

Through reading it appears that I am most likely going to get either hyatt or palmer for the loop and the felix or double tree for Mag Mile

I'll re-iterate my opinion that you may get one of these hotels... or you may not. Expecting a specific hotel can be a proposition that leads to disappointment when using PRICELINE... better to set your expectations for a 'good hotel at a good price'.

Also, we will be staying out at o'hare on the 19th, which is the night before we fly out. Would love to let the students swim, is there any tips for that? if no pool, just some general tips for bidding out by the airport.

Again, if you're looking for a specific hotel, or specific amenities (like a Pool), then HOTWIRE is a better option and choose a hotel showing that it offers a pool (and then try to ID it to increase the chances that you're receiving a hotel with an indoor pool... as an outdoor pool in April in Chicago probably won't work too well). For this additional stay please start a NEW TOPIC (as this will enable us to edit the topic title of each thread for the hotel(s) ultimately won.

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

[crito]

Well, you're in good hands with Thereuare, but I'll toss in a couple more thoughts.

On O'Hare: I'm pretty sure all of the 4* Hotwire winnables have pools. The Inter-Continental does not, but it's 4.5* so you can avoid it. The Hilton is particularly convenient (located in O'Hare itself).

On LMT: browse the link that Thereuare gave you. But briefly, the way I know that 5* is The James is that it includes photos, which I recognize. There are other tricks you can use to be 100% certain even if you don't recognize the hotel from the pix (and don't feel like researching every possible hotel to see if the pix match!). Those tricks are outlined in the Better Bidding thread Thereuare linked.

[Frogger85]

I agree with all those preaching caution, when you bid..you get what you get. Using this sites calenderofwins is very important. It seems like some hotels free up rooms once

in a while (an example is the Mag-Mile Marriott..it will just show up some times). So all you can do is look for the commmon winners. But sometimes a new one may show up.

From only what I see..it seems to be the same hotels play lowball the most on PRICELINE and HOTWIRE. By lowball I mean that they are being won for decent amount less than a

comparable hotels.

Priceline:

Fake examples: 4* star Hyatt Regency is won for $63...while the *4 Sheraton Towers..is got for $78

4* Pamer House Hilton is won for $82..the 4* Swissotel is going for $98

4* Felix Hotel is won for $69..the Affinia Hotel ends up at $105

Hotwire: Rule of thumb is a $10 or more per night for the same hotel since your getting some clues.

You need to study the common winners and make sure they could work for you.

Some commons winners on both Priceline and Hotwire that lower priced than others.

4*: Hyatt, Felix, Sheraton Towers, Allerton, Knickerbocker, and Palmer.

3.5 *: DoubleTree Mag-Mile, Club Quarters, Sheraton Suites, and Silversmith.

The safest thing you can do is to only bid in the Mill/Loop/Grant Zone at the 4* level and start at wherever the red low bid/no chance warning stops. Just use your

rebids and creep up. Don't add *3.5 at all unless you can live with Club Quarters or Silversmith...if you add NMA/River North you may get the Felix instead of the

DoubleTree Mag-Mile.

If you have used free rebids this site has the info on how to do it.

My advice can only be taken in the vain of saving money...This site is great and has helped me pretty much get the lowest rates possible..but I get what I get.

Good luck once again.

[brenthost]

Bidding so far:

I've put in about 20 bids between myself and my wife.

4/14 - 4/16: I've bid every way possible went all the way up to $92, still nothing. Tried for the loop and NMA. plus adding lincoln,hyde, etc...

4/16-4/19: After much bidding I won a bid for Whitehall Hotel for $75 in the NMA area. I'm fairly pleased with this.

4/19-4/20: Ohare area: Bid up to $68 before I ran out of option. I've gotten bids for lower in the past.

WIll try again today. Any helpful strategies to finish this off?

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

The Whitehall is an older property and it does get some mixed reviews, but the location - half a block or so from Water Tower/Hancock and Michigan Ave - couldn't be any better.

We'll use this thread for the Whitehall stay; please start a new thread for each of the additional stay/s.

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.

[brenthost]

I ended up getting the whitehall hotel, I posted it on another thread. I got it for the price of $75