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

[lint]

My wife and I will be flying to Chicago June 18-25. this is our first time there and looking for a 4* in the NMA (or Loop) areas, as we don't want to spend our vacation commuting on the L if we can avoid it. I've already bid up to $185 on Priceline for NMA and the Loop (started at $120 using perms) and no luck. There's a 4* Priceline Express deal for $237/night. Maps and hotels shows 4* starting at $260. I was really hoping to keep it under $175/night, but am I being unrealistic?

I've been placing bids via your PRICELINE link

[AaronJB]

Unfortunately, this is a very busy period in Chicago. I'm seeing a 4* boutique in the Gold Coast area for $195 on HOTWIRE - while not central (it's a couple of minutes walk N of the top end of the NMA area), the Gold Coast is a very nice area w/restaurants and nightlife. It's also a pleasant walk to the Old Town area and not a bad walk to Lincoln Park Zoo from the GC. I was hoping that this would be an instance of a few busy date/s during this period and a few not-so-busy dates (splitting the stay), but unfortunately these date/s look busy straight through.

Would the Gold Coast hotel be of interest?

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

[lint]

I was also considering O'Hare as I know a few people who have stayed in the area for conferences and really enjoyed it. Our only concern is the time that it will take to get down to the downtown area (~1hr) but we are planning on seeing a variety of sites. The savings seems significant as there's a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal for a 4* O'Hare South for $74. That's a significant savings, but would it be worth the inconvenience? We're interested in site seeing and restaurants. We're not nightlife people.

How are 3* vs 4*?

At least we saved money on our flights

[AaronJB]

O'Hare:

Pros: A lot of hotels so rates are usually lower due to competition.

Cons: Not a walkable area. It takes a long time to get downtown on the CTA and an hour on the "L" each way isn't great (especially over several days.)

If you want to save money by spending some time near ORD, maybe split your stay and spend part of the time by ORD and part of the time downtown. Would splitting the stay be of interest?

I usually recommend the North Suburbs (while the area around the hotels isn't walkable, this area at least has some sights as well as a wide variety of restaurants and shopping), but unfortunately, whatever is going on on these date/s has spilled over into the North Burbs, as those areas unfortunately also appear more expensive than usual.

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

[lint]

We are certainly open to splitting the stay. 3 days and 4 days should work. What do you mean by the North Burbs?

[lint]

decided to bid again today for the same dates in NMA since I saw some Priceline and hotwire express deals for just over the $180 mark. $121, $13, $142, $153, $161, $167, $172 bids rejected, $177 bid accepted for the Allerton Hotel Chicago. Location is excellent, though my wife wanted a pool. A little more than I really wanted to spend, and maybe I should have waited a little longer? But it's done, and now we can plan the rest of our trip.

Thanks for the help, and I bid through the PRICELINE link

[yellowdog]

Congratulations on your success!

Thanks for using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding :)

We hope you're satisfied with the outcome and will like the Allerton Hotel.

Enjoy your stay.

Yellowdog.