Priceline Hotel: 3* NMA/ Grant Loop

[mmm08g]

Hi all.

Road tripping the Midwest in late June/early July and am looking to spend two days in Chicago from 06/29-7/01. I am not too familiar with the city, but would ideally like to be in downtown Chicago either in the NMA or Grant Park districts. However, I am willing to consider other zones that are safe and have easy commutes to downtown. My maximum amount that I would pay per night is 110$ and I am fine with 3* hotels with good ratings.

Thus far I have bid up to 85$, starting at 65$ and going up in 5$ increments... toggling between the NMA and Grant Park districts at 3* with no success. Any suggestions for what a more realistic price might be?

Second question, are there any other districts I should be looking at that would be convenient to downtown? For instance, what is the accessibility of the Medical District/Lincoln Park/etc? Also, would staying in a hotel in the O'Hare North or South districts be too much of a nuisance if I would like to spend most of my time downtown-- I recognize that the hotels are much cheaper out there but are not ideal regarding location.

[mmm08g]

90$ and 95$ were also turned down at 3* in Grant Park and NMA

[AaronJB]

If you're going through the Midwest and are going through Wisconsin, I'd suggest Madison and the nearby Devil's Lake area, as well as Lake Geneva (although Lake Geneva is more of a quick stop.) Just to the North of the Illinois/Wisconsin border in WI is also institution the Brat Stop, as well as Mars Cheese Castle a bit North of it.

In terms of Chicago, the issue if you're driving is that you're going to need to add at least around $25 + city tax per night if you're parking in a city lot or around $45-65 per night if you're parking at a hotel.

I think you're likely looking at around $110-125 for a 4* in either of the main zone/s (River North-NMA/Millennium-Loop-GP) downtown.

You're probably looking at around $45 for a 3.5-4* in the North Suburbs, but then it's a fairly short drive to a train station and a 35-45 minute train ride downtown. So it's about $45 + free parking + train cost (Metra train, which are nicer than the CTA trains) for the suburbs versus around $110-125 + $25 parking (or more if you park at the hotel) downtown.

The Lincoln Park area is a very nice area and worth visiting, but there's very few hotels there which results in less in the way of discounts. Same with the Medical District area, but the difference with the Medical District area is that there's really not a whole lot around - at least Lincoln Park has a wide variety of restaurants and nightlife (as well as the Zoo.)

The suburbs are much less expensive, but it takes some time to get downtown (although the Metra trains are comfortable) and with a couple of days it becomes whether you want to stay downtown to really optimize the time.

Let us know your thoughts and we would be happy to offer further suggestions.

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

[mmm08g]

Thanks for your reply.

We will be staying outside of Chicago the night prior and were planning on leaving our car overnight at the airport (should be between 9-20$ a night) to avoid expensive downtown parking rates.

My current plan is to add Lincoln Park as a district and bid up to 110-115$ with a minimum 3* rating. If I can't get a hotel at that price, I will reconsider staying out in a burb or by the airport to save money.

Any idea of what the commute is like from the Medical District to the more central zones?

[thereuare]

My current plan is to add Lincoln Park as a district and bid up to 110-115$ with a minimum 3* rating.

As you can likely get a 3* hotel in the NMA or Loop zone for this amount why are you including Lincoln Park in your bidding since that would be less convenient then the other two zones?

Let us know if you first want to try for a 3* hotel up to $115 in only the NMA or Loop zones before including other zones, and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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