Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* Chicago (Magnificent Mile Area - River North) Doubletree Mag Mile

[Brie1195]

Stumbled across this forum trying to research the best way to get a good deal on priceline - I've never booked using priceline before and I'm a little nervous about getting a good deal on a decent room.

Boyfriend and I are meeting up in Chicago 19-24 (both coming from different cities). Since we're staying several days, I'd love to get a room under $125/night in either the North Michigan Ave - River North or Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area. It's his first time to Chicago. I was there a couple of years ago and stayed at the Palmer House Hilton.

Would prefer the hotel to be 3.5 or 4 stars. Definitely need wi-fi access in hotel for work purposes.

Any thoughts on whether one area would be better to book than the other?

Thanks in advance!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

I'd suggest staying North of the river if at all possible, given that the area has more going on at night and a wide variety of restaurants/nightlife.

While October is generally busy in Chicago, these date/s don't seem terrible. Are you looking for a particular kind of hotel? If you bid on PRICELINE, you have to be willing to accept any hotel at the star rating chosen in the zone/s chosen. With HOTWIRE, you can make an educated guess as to which hotels are showing. There are some 4*'s on HOTWIRE for these date/s around $125-130ish.

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

[Dirt Girl]

Newbie -

I was nervous too - but I tried PRICELINE for the first time this week to find a Chicago room for October 24-28. Better Bidding gave me a lot of assurance with their Hotel List. At least then, I had an idea of the sorts of places that each star was likely to represent. I chose Area 7 as I wanted to be closer to some of the architectural walking tours - but the fabulous CTA system, anything is convenient!

Priceline accepted my bid for a 4 star this morning for $116/night at the Hyatt Regency. I'm a happy camper as their instant deal showed a price of $169/night.

Best of luck!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Great deal for this very centrally located property and glad you are looking forward to your stay.

Let us know if you have any city questions.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could post the details of your win as a separate thread - thanks.

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

[Brie1195]

Thanks for the welcome. I will look north of the river - we are all for going out at night.

I feel like I'd get a better deal on PRICELINE but I'm nervous about ending up someplace shoddy. Guess that's the risk I have to take. :)

Thanks for the feedback on PRICELINE. Sounds like you got a great deal!

Thanks for the help.

[toledo]

Brie, I've used priceline dozens of times and have never gotten anything "shoddy". Chicago is a great city to try priceline, as all their 4* hotels are amazing, both north and south of the river. Don't be afraid.

[thereuare]

Brie1195,

If you're still not comfortable with PRICELINE you could also consider HOTWIRE where you can take a better guess as to the hotel you may receive before your purchase, and more importantly in your instance, use the percent recommended and tripadvisor ratings to give a bit more confidence that the hotel you purchase will be a 'good' one.

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.

[Brie1195]

Thanks for all the help. Used the HOTWIRE link to get a room. Although the rate is OK I'm kind of disappointed with the access to the metro and lack of wi-fi in the rooms.

Ended up with the Doubletree Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile - $127/night

Thanks again for all the responses.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you received a nice deal at this property. I would be surprised if this property did not offer wifi in the rooms (did you read that it is wired only??) and if the 10 minute walk to the train is too far you can use some of the $70/nite savings to take a taxi which i can't imagine would be much more than $5 or so.

Can you please add a reply to this thread with the amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view this information by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Thank you for sharing your results and using the HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[AaronJB]

This is a very nice area of downtown and if you are able to get a high floor room you may get a partial view of the surrounding area. This is not right near the subway, but it's actually a very nice, pretty direct walk - straight West on Ohio to State, then one block South to Grand (State/Grand). It becomes though, how much will you need the subway? Chicago is highly walkable (esp. in the Fall) and there's also buses going up and down Michigan Ave 2-3 blocks from your hotel. In some ways - although it really depends on where you are going and what you want to do - buses are preferable to taking trains - a bus from Michigan Ave will take you right by the Zoo, but if you took the train, you would have to walk over to the train station, then it's a definite walk from the Fullerton train station to the Zoo. Again, I do think walking is preferable (especially in the Fall, and Chicago's pretty walkable), but there are a lot of transit options, not to mention some great smartphone apps that are extremely helpful with Chicago bus and train transit, like CTA tracker and the Red Eye Chicago app (which is a free newspaper in Chicago - you get a transit tracker area plus local news in the app.

There's a ton of restaurants in the River North area around the the subway station mentioned above and - as thereuare mentioned - a cab ride from that area to this hotel is very quick.

Enjoy your stay.

[Brie1195]

Doubletree Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile - $127/night

3.5-star Hotel in Magnificent Mile Area - River North

This Hotel features the following amenities:

Fitness Center

Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply.

Pool(s)

Property offers at least one pool area; hours and dates of operation may be seasonal.

Restaurant(s)

Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary.

Business Center

Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply.

Internet access

Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply.

Aaron - I was checking the bus routes, just wasn't sure of the safety of the buses in Chicago. I did download the TransitTrackr app but will check out those other two. Thanks for the suggestions. I certainly don't mind walking but I think its supposed to rain a couple of days while we're there.

I did call the hotel to confirm they have both wired internet and wi-fi in the rooms for an additional 9.99 a night.

Thanks for all the help.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up.

[AaronJB]

Aaron - I was checking the bus routes, just wasn't sure of the safety of the buses in Chicago. I did download the TransitTrackr app but will check out those other two. Thanks for the suggestions. I certainly don't mind walking but I think its supposed to rain a couple of days while we're there.

I think, as with any major city, it's a matter of really being aware of your surroundings. The buses around downtown should be fine and hopefully the weather will hold up. I believe lake view is a paid upgrade at the Doubletree, but I'd suggest trying to ask for at least a high floor with partial city view looking the other way.

Let us know if you have any city questions.

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