Priceline Hotel: 4* Hotel in Chicago Downtown

[panamera]

Hello,

I'm new to this website and I've been reading some of the posts about bidding on priceline for a 4* hotel. Really great information!

I'm looking for a 4*+ in the downtown Chicago area (River North/Magnificent Mile/Loop/Grant Park/Millennium Park) from 9/25 to 9/27. A queen/king sized bed would be great as there's two of us. I would like to spend less than $150/night.

Through BB I also learned about last minute travel and found the Blackstone Renaissance (this hotel was revealed by joining lmtclub-a BB post had a promo code to join for free!) for about $157. I've seen recent posts for this hotel with winning bid that's below this amount and were for weekends too.

Does anyone know if bidding on priceline would have a lower price? I tried a few days ago starting with $95 then increasing by $5 to $105 after selecting two areas and 4* and 3.5*, but no success. Also, what type of hotel would you usually end up with on priceline for a 4*? Any suggestion is much appreciated! Thank you!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Rates for these dates are not high and you should be able to do better then $159/nite for a 4* hotel (HOTWIRE even has a 3.5* property for $86/nite)

What are your priorities in terms of star rating, budget, and zone? Are you willing to pay more for a 4* vs. a 3.5* OR is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this trip? Are you willing to pay more to stay in the NMA area vs. the Loop (or vice-versa) OR is your goal the least expensive hotel in either zone?

Let us know the above and we'll see what your options are.

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

[panamera]

Thanks for the info! I'm looking to stay in either the NMA area or the Loop (so either option is comparable). I would much prefer a 4* hotel or better in those areas and willing to pay more (up to $150). I used the Blackstone since it had great reviews online and had 4.5* on priceline I think. So yup, people's reviews and star rating is more important than budget. Also, the two of us really like boutique hotels (with some character/history) :). Thanks again!

[shadymike13]

My wife and I have have been to Chicago the past 3 Decembers and have named our on price via PRICELINE on all stays - generally a Wednesday - Sunday. Before taxes we've never paid more than $105 a night and have won the Conrad, W Hotel, and the Marriot on Michigan Ave. Hope this helps!

[panamera]

That is awesome and good info! Conrad is one of the hotels I was looking at too, and it looks great. I've been hesitant to rebid or bid low and end up with a hotel that I wasn't sure of. So I don't know what would be an appropriate price to start with and what wins are common priceline for a 4* hotel.

[AaronJB]

Bidding is really on a case-by-case basis, and different date/s result in different prices and inventory - what another user may have gotten for different dates does not reflect what it may take or what is available for your date/s.

However, if you are looking for something in particular or a particular "feel"/atmosphere, I'd much rather suggest HOTWIRE, where you can make an educated guess as to what's showing, whereas on PRICELINE if you bid for a 4* in the River North-NMA area, you have to be able to accept any 4* in the zone/s chosen. There are a lot of different 4*'s in both of the two downtown zones.

When searching for these date/s on HOTWIRE, I'm seeing potential matches for Hotel Sax ($139), James ($192), Hyatt Mag Mile ($109), Ivy ($173), what may be the Drake, Knickerbocker or Sutton ($148)

The price you see will likely differ slightly - if any of the above are of interest, please let us know and we would be happy to point them out on HOTWIRE. Or, please let us know if you would rather bid on PRICELINE instead.

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

[panamera]

Thanks for the recommendations! Yup, that's why I've been hesitant about bidding on PRICELINE (accepting any 4* in those two zones). So I think you are right in that I probably need more of an idea what that hotel is. I was looking on Hotwire and the $148 hotel does look interesting and I was trying to figure out which one it is. I'm also tempted to go with the Blackstone I'm still seeing on Last Minute travel for about $151. I'll keep checking Hotwire though and see if rates go down in a few days, but if not, I'll book by mid-next week the latest!

[AaronJB]

Is the Blackstone listed as available on LMT or "On request"?

It's too bad the Burnham is not showing on HOTWIRE (unfortunately, it rarely ever does), as if you are interested in boutique properties with character and history, that property is a highlight and a smaller property - it's also more centrally located. The Blackstone has great history, as well.

One recommendation is to walk into the lobby of the Palmer House in the Loop - that's an incredibly historic property, but the lobby is the real stunner, and if you happen to be walking by it, it's worth stepping in.

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

[panamera]

I found the Blackstone listed as available on LMT after signing up as a club member (free with promo I found on BB) :).

I would love to stay at the Burnham! When looking at boutique hotels, I was especially interested in that one, Monaco, and Palomar since I've stayed in a Kimpton hotel in NYC (ink48) and was very impressed. I understand though that those hotels must be harder to come by.

Funny that you brought up Palmer House because I was looking into that too for it's architecture (and like you said the amazing lobby - almost booked it on LMT for $131), but felt the rooms were not as updated.

[AaronJB]

Yep, the rooms at the Palmer do not have the same appeal as the lobby, but the lobby is easy to stroll into and really is like stepping back in time.

The Hard Rock Hotel, while absolutely not a property with a boutique or historic feel, is in the famed Carbon and Carbide building, on Michigan Ave. The Silversmith is a another property in the Loop where the interior doesn't have the feel, but is another historic property to take a look at if you pass by - it was built by Daniel Burnham and Co. There are some other historic properties, such as the Drake, and Ambassador East, although the latter I think unfortunately has been completely revamped into a modern boutique and probably has little of the property's prior historic (there were suites named for the celeb guests who commonly stayed in them and a wall of photos from over the years - not sure if they are still there) feel (the Pump Room restaurant at the Ambassador East, which has an insanely rich history - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pump_Room,_Chicago - was also revamped.) The Knickerbocker on Michigan Ave was, at one time, a hideout for Al Capone and, in the '70's, the Playboy Club. Finally, the Intercontinental has a fascinating history as well - the pool was one of the first public pools built on a high floor and you can feel the history in the beautiful pool area.

The potential Hyatt Mag Mile on HOTWIRE is a very good value for $109 - I've stayed at it and liked it when it was (until recently) the Wyndham - but it definitely doesn't have any history. It feels like a very nice office building was turned into a hotel.

Additionally, I'm seeing what appears to be the Doubletree for $86 - no history, but nice value.

What appears to be the Hotel Lincoln in Lincoln Park is showing for $99 as well, but that is definitely not downtown - it's in the Lincoln Park area, which is a nice area to the North of the city. The hotel is right across from the park and the zoo. Again, not downtown, but if you are looking for something very different, it's a nice area.

Let us know if you have any questions before booking or if you decide to go with the Blackstone.

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

[panamera]

Wow, thank you for all that information! It's great to hear about the history behind the hotels and will give us some ideas when we do our own walking tour of the downtown area for sure. I think mostly we are still interested in staying downtown as we would like to visit the art institute, the bean, john hancock tower, walk around the city/park, eat, and maybe a jazz bar. Still a lot to plan though for things to do.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know what happens!