Hotwire Hotel: 4* Chicago (The Loop) Palmer House Hilton

[Legendteri]

Please help. I have never used Priceline before today and made a losing bid for a 4* Chicago hotel for 3/24 - 3/27. We want very much to be in Millenium Park, Loop or Grant Park area and if possible would prefer the Hyatt Regency Chicago ( although I know there is no way of guaranteeing this). I made a losing bid of $52 and am asking the wise people of betterbidding for a re-bidding strategy. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

[valencia]

I am not a moderator but you need to be realistic about amounts. Check the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins to see what is the average price for this area. $52 sounds very low to me, but I haven't followed the Chicago wins. You can do that in a search.

Also, check HOTWIRE.com through the link here. You may find something you are happy with in that area without bidding or if bidding fails. A PRICELINE bid may be lower than Hotwire prices but not usually half price or anything. Maybe 20% or so.. just a guess. So, I see the Hotwire prices around $125-$140 for a 4*.

read up on free bids at Priceline Re-Bidding Explained. This way you will be able to make more bids and combinations of bids to max out your possibilities.

( that is an area that at the moment of bidding has no hotels in the star level or above that you want.. so you can add that to your zone and get another bid). Be SURE to understand this before using it.

I hope the experts come on soon to give you a plan!

[thereuare]

As noted above your $52 maximum bid thus far is not likely realistic for these dates... what is your maximum bid for this stay?

As well, while the Loop zone is usually cheaper than the NMA-River North zone, for your particular dates i think the NMA zone is actually a little cheaper... would this zone be acceptable as well? If you're willing to include NMA-River North i suppose you're likely looking about $100-$120 to be successful at the 4* level... probably more if only bidding the Loop zone.

Let us know your thoughts, maximum bid, and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[Legendteri]

As noted above your $52 maximum bid thus far is not likely realistic for these dates... what is your maximum bid for this stay?

As well, while the Loop zone is usually cheaper than the NMA-River North zone, for your particular dates i think the NMA zone is actually a little cheaper... would this zone be acceptable as well? If you're willing to include NMA-River North i suppose you're likely looking about $100-$120 to be successful at the 4* level... probably more if only bidding the Loop zone.

Let us know your thoughts, maximum bid, and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

Yes I looked at past wins for that area and saw several PL wins in the $50-70 range. Perhaps I looked too far back. I think my bid won't go much above $100. We were mostly going to go to the museums and Navy Pier and perhaps some shopping, but I think we wanted to be closer to the museums. As of this moment, there is a deal on Hotwire for $118 for a 4 star in the museum campus area. According to the amentities list it might be the Hilton Chicago Towers or the Hyatt at McCormick Place. Either one I would be happy with if we did get one of those. There is also one on the Magnificent Mile that I think is the Hotel Felix and unless I can get that pretty cheap, I would pay more for another hotel on Hotwire.

[AaronJB]

It's really a matter of seasonality. $50-70 is relatively easy from January to around early March. After that, rates start ticking up as the weather gets nicer. The issue with the potential Hyatt McCormick is that that is quite a ways South of the city. While there's transit nearby, it's definitely not walkable to downtown. The Hilton, on the other hand, is a little out of the way in the South Loop but otherwise still downtown and fine.

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

[Legendteri]

It's really a matter of seasonality. $50-70 is relatively easy from January to around early March. After that, rates start ticking up as the weather gets nicer. The issue with the potential Hyatt McCormick is that that is quite a ways South of the city. While there's transit nearby, it's definitely not walkable to downtown. The Hilton, on the other hand, is a little out of the way in the South Loop but otherwise still downtown and fine.

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

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. Do you know much about the Hotel Felix and its location ? I have a hunch it is on Hotwire right now for $128. Not bad, but I read that it had small rooms and not that nice.

[AaronJB]

The Felix was a budget property that was given a considerable makeover a few years ago. I think the issue is that it was an older property to begin with and they probably didn't (couldn't?) do anything about rooms that were smaller-than-average for the city. I think the location's great, but the hotel has certainly gotten mixed reviews. If the potential Felix is showing at $128, I'm guessing you're likely looking at $100-110 (maybe $115) for a 4* win in the River North-NMA area on PRICELINE (although not necessarily the Felix, it may be something else.)

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

[Legendteri]

The Felix was a budget property that was given a considerable makeover a few years ago. I think the issue is that it was an older property to begin with and they probably didn't (couldn't?) do anything about rooms that were smaller-than-average for the city. I think the location's great, but the hotel has certainly gotten mixed reviews. If the potential Felix is showing at $128, I'm guessing you're likely looking at $100-110 (maybe $115) for a 4* win in the River North-NMA area on PRICELINE (although not necessarily the Felix, it may be something else.)

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

Thanks again for all the great info. Do you by chance know if the Felix is within walking distance of the museums or at least Navy Pier ? I haven't been to Chicago in 12 years so I can't really remember.

[AaronJB]

It's a trek to the museums, but there really aren't many hotels near the museum campus, and if you're closer to the museum campus, you're then a trek from Michigan Ave. You can take public transit either all or part of the way to the museum campus. I would recommend taking the Red Line subway to Harrison, then walking on Congress East towards the lake, past the Buckingham Fountain, then along the lake the remainder of the way.

I wouldn't recommend spending a great deal of time at Navy Pier; it has a couple of positives, but otherwise it's largely a tourist trap. I often recommend the Zoo (which is free) and the surrounding area (Old Town, Lincoln Park.)

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

[Legendteri]

It's a trek to the museums, but there really aren't many hotels near the museum campus, and if you're closer to the museum campus, you're then a trek from Michigan Ave. You can take public transit either all or part of the way to the museum campus. I would recommend taking the Red Line subway to Harrison, then walking on Congress East towards the lake, past the Buckingham Fountain, then along the lake the remainder of the way.

I wouldn't recommend spending a great deal of time at Navy Pier; it has a couple of positives, but otherwise it's largely a tourist trap. I often recommend the Zoo (which is free) and the surrounding area (Old Town, Lincoln Park.)

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

Actually I just booked the Palmer House for $106. Thank you again for all your information and for this great website. With its help I was able to make a faily educated guess that I was getting the Palmer House for $106. I don't think that is too bad considering PL had it listed for $299 a night.

Thank you again for all of your help. We will be using this site again in Oct when we go to Chattanooga.

[Legendteri]

Just booked this a few minutes ago through Hotwire. Amenities listed included Fitness Center , Restaurant, High Speed Internet, Pool, Business Center and Spa.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Excellent deal for this property and a good location (still a good walk, but a nice walk down Michigan Ave, then through Grant Park - certainly less of a walk than the Felix) if you plan on going to the museums often during your stay (although I will note that this may be Spring Break for some schools and if you do plan on going to the museums, I'd start early before the crowds.

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

Enjoy your stay.

[Legendteri]

Thanks. I thought I was posting about my Hotwire win on another board but I must have messed up somehow.

[thereuare]

Your 'win' and previous thread were merged into one... all threads for the same stay should go in the same thread. In the current format, users can then see the entire journey of what it took to receive a win. If the threads were left separate often the original threads has no conclusion (as users often only post the win to the new board and don't follow-up their previous thread) and then future readers, who only see the 'win' thread, think the win came easy and on the first try.

Have a great time in Chicago and thanks for sharing your win with the board.