Priceline Hotel: DT chicago hotel for 4

[Karincia]

I am new to Hotwire or Priceline. I need help bidding and wining a hotel in down town Chicago for 4 ppl. My husband and I are traveling with another couple to Chicago in May 4-7. We are driving there and would love to get a hotel offering free parking and room with 2 beds.

Thank you for any suggestions:)

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

A few notes/questions:

Parking downtown at hotels is extremely expensive - city lots are expensive, but less so. City lots are generally $20-25, hotels are generally $45-55, although as much as $65. Parking in the suburbs is free and hotels are significantly cheaper, but you would have to take the Metra in (35-45 min, although the Metra trains are nice.)

What would be your desired budget per night? These dates are unfortunately very expensive downtown - I believe there may be a convention going on. (Edited to add: actually, looking at Expedia, I don't know if there's going to be anything much available for these dates - the majority of hotels downtown are sold out for the first two of these nights; the last night is somewhat better but still expensive. The only option HOTWIRE has for all three nights in downtown is a 3* for over $300.)

Are you looking for two separate rooms or four in one room?

Which zones would be acceptable?

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

[Karincia]

Well, last time we visited Chicago we stayed at Omni and payed $35 for parking per day,after military discount I believe. We were hoping to find a hotel with free parking this time. The reason to stay in downtown is to avoid traveling between hotel and the city. It looks like 45 min transit travel between suburbs and downtown? However, as you mentioned, most of downtown hotels are sold out:( I am not familiar with the zones surrounding downtown Chicago, therefore, wouldn't know a nice area to look for a decent hotel. $300 per night is out of the question. We are comfortable spending $100-$130 per night.

One room with two beds is just fine.

As far as zones go, anywhere safe, and nice, relatively close to downtown.

[thereuare]

We were hoping to find a hotel with free parking this time.

Downtown it's not going to happen. As noted above you can park separate from your hotel and it still may not be cheap, but will likely cost less than parking with your hotel.

One room with two beds is just fine.

PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel, and you could receive a room with only one bed. While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request. Is this a risk you're willing to accept? If not, HOTWIRE may still be an option as they allow you to search for up to quad occupancy and ensure sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search (although this usually means two beds, the second 'bed' could be a sofabed, rollaway, etc)

Let us know 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.

[AaronJB]

The Restaurant Association show happens during this time period, which is causing the huge issue as it's one of the biggest conventions of the year in the city. The majority of the hotels downtown are sold out, at least for the first two nights (as of this morning, HOTWIRE has nothing downtown when searching for 5/4-6 or 5/4-7). The third night is somewhat better but still quite expensive. However, not only is downtown nearly sold out for the first two nights, there is also spillover into the closest suburbs - Skokie and Evanston - where most hotels are also sold out, aside from an old Best Western for nearly $175 regular rate and a 2.5* HOTWIRE property for $114 that has not yet been ID'd, but I believe may be the Comfort Inn Skokie. With only a few days left until these dates, unfortunately I think there's not likely to be much change in downtown availability.

The options that I'm seeing (including the North burbs; if you are coming in from a different direction, you may want to stay out in another suburban area, but in all directions with Chicago, there's the city, then little in the way of hotels until you get towards the outlying burbs.

1. Stay in the burbs for a couple of nights for cheap, then move downtown for the last day (which is still very expensive). Whether or not this move is worthwhile is really going to differ from person-to-person.

2. Stay at the 2.5* in Skokie (which may be the Comfort Inn Skokie.) This is more than usual for this property, but with people coming in, Skokie is seeing overflow traffic. In this case, it's a fairly short drive to the Skokie Swift station, then it's 8 minutes to Howard on the Yellow Line and 22-30 minutes or so from Howard to downtown (depending how far into downtown) on the Red Line. On weekdays during the rush hour, you may be able to catch a Purple Line train from Howard, which is a PRICELINE EXPRESS train that makes no stops until you get closer to downtown.

3. Stay further North. What appears to be a possible match for the Crowne Plaza Northbrook is showing for $66 and what may be either the Renaissance North Shore or Westin North Shore for $89. In any of these cases, you would drive to a nearby Metra (some of the properties may have shuttles) and then it's about a 40-45 minute trip downtown. There is no switching, it's a straight trip downtown on the Metra. Metra trains do not run as often as CTA trains and are more expensive, but are also quite a bit nicer, with two levels, more comfortable seats, bathrooms and conductors. They end at one of two large stations downtown.

3a. If you are willing to risk not getting two beds (which is *still a risk, but possibly less of a risk in the suburbs*), you could probably get a 3.5* in the North burbs for around $45-55 using PRICELINE.

Let us know your thoughts and then we can offer further suggestions.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Karincia]

First of all, Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and suggestions:)

What are your thoughts on driving our car between the suburbs hotel and the city center, and most importantly parking situation in the city? with all the activity happening that weekend and all, what are the chances of finding a parking?

[AaronJB]

Public transit is easy, but if you do want to drive and park, there should be no problem with parking downtown. There's plenty of city lots and privately run (Standard Parking, Central Parking or other companies) garages. There's also both expressway and street route options into the city.

Please let us know which path you would like to take in terms of hotel and we would be happy to offer further suggestions.

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

[Karincia]

I found a hotel on hotwire and am hoping for you to id it for me. It is a 3-star Hotel in O'Hare Intl Airport ORD North This Hotel features the following amenities: Free Parking, Airport Shuttle,Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Golf Nearby. It is $64 per room per night. Thanks in advance

[AaronJB]

This listing has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board. I'd guess it *might* be a new amenity set for the Holiday Inn Rosemont, but it could also be something else. If you do decide to stay near ORD, do try to look for free parking amenities, as a number of properties in the ORD do charge for parking. Additionally, it's about 50-55 minutes or so from the O'Hare area on the Blue Line CTA.

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