Priceline Hotel: Chicago (11/8-11/10)

[Gator4]

Hello all,

I am looking for some priceline bidding advice for an upcoming trip to Chicago. I will be in the city Friday November 8 and I will be checking out Sunday November 10. I am hoping to stay in a 4 or 4.5 star hotel in either the Lincoln Park, McCormick Place, Millennium, and North Michigan avenue areas on priceline (#3,#4,#7,#8). I am hoping to stay for somewhere in the $150-$175/night range but would like to spend less if I could get away with it. Any advice on bidding would help, I have had success with the name your price option on priceline before, however, after reading some posts on this site I may not be using it to its full potential.

Thanks

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Just to confirm, do you mean for 2014?

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

[Gator4]

Wow, really messed this up.

I am actually looking to travel Friday NOVEMBER 8 through Sunday NOVEMBER 10 2013. Sorry for the confusion.

[Gator4]

Hello all,

I am looking for some priceline bidding advice for an upcoming trip to Chicago. I will be in the city Friday November 8 and I will be checking out Sunday November 10. I am hoping to stay in a 4 or 4.5 star hotel in either the Lincoln Park, McCormick Place, Millennium, and North Michigan avenue areas on priceline (#3,#4,#7,#8). I am hoping to stay for somewhere in the $150-$175/night range but would like to spend less if I could get away with it. Any advice on bidding would help, I have had success with the name your price option on priceline before, however, after reading some posts on this site I may not be using it to its full potential.

Thanks

[AaronJB]

I would really strongly suggest not staying in the McCormick Place area - there is not much in that area; it's really convenient for those coming for a convention but not much else. Additionally, while Lincoln Park is a very nice area, it's not right by downtown (especially the North end of the zone.) Lincoln Park is not a bad option if it's substantially more reasonable than downtown, but personally, I'd recommend staying downtown (Millennium Park or River North/NMA zones) and then visiting Lincoln Park.

This is not a particularly busy set of date/s (as Chicago goes) and there is definitely no need to spent $150-175 per night. There are a handful of 4* choices on HOTWIRE for around $110, as well as 4.5* choices around $140-160. There are also PRICELINE Express choices within your budget at the 4* and 4.5* levels (around $110 and $150), but with PRICELINE Express, you can take 5% off with the FALL5 coupon.

It becomes what is more appealing - PRICELINE Express and HOTWIRE are moderately more expensive, but you can likely make an educated guess as to which hotels are showing or at least narrow down to a few.

PRICELINE bidding is cheaper but you have to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone chosen at the star rating chosen. I'd guess you're likely looking at $85-90/95 for a 4* in either of the downtown zone/s for these date/s, but I'd start lower.

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

[Gator4]

Thanks for the advice.

Other than knowing which hotel you will be staying in, are there any other benefits to using Express or Hotwire? Can I really go wrong bidding on priceline? I am not too particular about any hotels in particular, I just would like to stay in a reasonably nice hotel that is centrally located.

I guess all in all I am wondering if I am really risking anything by bidding in the Millenium Park and North Michigan Avenue areas? Is one zone better than the other as far as hotels go? Also, should I bid on one area at a time or both at the same time when i bid?

Thanks

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages and clicking each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links... then reply to this thread and we'll continue the discussion for your trip above.

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

Thanks.

[Gator4]

Thanks for the advice.

Other than knowing which hotel you will be staying in, are there any other benefits to using Express or Hotwire? Can I really go wrong bidding on priceline? I am not too particular about any hotels in particular, I just would like to stay in a reasonably nice hotel that is centrally located.

I guess all in all I am wondering if I am really risking anything by bidding in the Millenium Park and North Michigan Avenue areas? Is one zone better than the other as far as hotels go? Also, should I bid on one area at a time or both at the same time when i bid?

Thanks

[AaronJB]

With PRICELINE bidding you could end up at the bottom end of the Millennium Park area (not central and there's not much going on at night, but at least a reasonable walk to the museum campus.) There's a few 'lesser' properties at the 4* level, such as the Allerton in the NMA area.

Personally, if its within budget - and I think you could certainly get a 4* well under the desired budget you mentioned earlier - I would recommend the NMA area over the Millennium Park zone, especially if you plan to be out later in the evening.

Do you want to go for the cheaper 4* (which I think could be had under $100) or for 4.5* (which I'm guessing will probably take more towards the $125-135 neighborhood)?

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

[Gator4]

Sounds like the NMA area is what im looking for. As far as priceline goes, what is the difference between a 4.5* and a 4* in the NMA zone? Am i getting some bang for my buck or are the 4* hotels in the area pretty much offering a similar value?

I shouldnt need a ton of ammentities, just hoping for a nice hotel to relax in while i am not out and about the city for a couple days.

Thanks again for all the help.

[thereuare]

You can see all the hotels reported to the board at each star level in the Priceline Hotel List.

Let us know what star rating you'd like to try for first, and your maximum bid, and we will suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... and please click each of these previous links before replying.

Thanks.

[AaronJB]

I shouldnt need a ton of ammentities, just hoping for a nice hotel to relax in while i am not out and about the city for a couple days.

There are some very nice hotels at the 4.5* level (James, Sofitel, Omni), but the Intercontinental is really more of a 4*.

However, if you do not need a ton of amenities and are going to be out a lot of the time, I'd much rather suggest trying to get a 4* under $100 and saving the money vs what you'd pay for a 4.5* on a nice dinner out somewhere or something else.

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

[Gator4]

In the past when I have used priceline, I have always accepted the first option that met my bidding parameters. After doing a little research on the hotels that meet my criteria (NMA area, 4-Star) that people have won and posted here, I noticed that I prefer the location of a few of them to others in the same zone.

While bidding on priceline, do you only have one shot at a hotel that meets your parameters within a zone?

For instance, will the hotel be disclosed to me before I am committed so that if I am not thrilled about the location of the hotel I win, I can bid again within my same parameters in the same zone to win a more preferred location? I am certainly not trying to nitpick, however, if starting my bidding process a little higher gives me a better chance at preferred hotels in the area i would certainly be apt to do so.

Also, AaronJB you seem pretty familiar with the area, is there anything you would consider a "must-do" for a weekend in Chicago?

Thanks

[AaronJB]

The hotel will not be shown before purchase. If you bid for a 4* in the River North/NMA area (for example), you have to be willing to accept a 4* anywhere within that zone. There is no way to increase the odds of getting (or avoiding) a particular property or properties. If you try to bid higher, you'll likely overbid for the same hotel you would have gotten at a lower price.

HOTWIRE is a better option in this case as while it's somewhat more expensive and not guaranteed either, at least you can take an educated guess as to which hotels are showing based on the information given.

What general location/area are you interested in?

In terms of things to do, what are some things you like to do?

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