Hotwire Hotel: 4* Chicago (Loop - Theater District) Wyndham Grand Chicago Riverfront

[Irrumater]

I will be traveling to Chicago with my wife and Daughter Feb 24-26.

We will be traveling by AMTRAK , so no car, and are attending a show at the Palace Theatre.

I have been researching and I found the following and would love some advice, feedback

In the Loop Theater District

4* 75.00 per night

Amenities from the Biddinghelper tool :

Free Internet

Pet friendly

Smoke Free Rooms

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Internet access

Spa Services

Accessible for the blind

Accessible for the deaf

Accessible path of travel

In-room accessibility

Accessible bathroom

Roll-in shower

This looks to me to possibly be the Hard Rock which would be awesome...central to the theatre and getting to Mag Mile in the cold

Could also be palmer house , but I don't see pool listed.

Also looking at Water Tower Area

4* for $55 a night

Amenities

Smoke Free Rooms

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Self service laundry

Internet access

Accessible for the blind

Accessible for the deaf

Accessible path of travel

In-room accessibility

Accessible bathroom

Roll-in shower

Which looked to be maybe the Allerton?

What do you think? Any other suggestions would be great as well, need to stay $75 or under plans are : Michigan Ave shopping for Wife and Daughter, and show at Cadilliac Palace Tuesday night

Thanks in advance

[thereuare]

I will be traveling to Chicago with my wife and Daughter...

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Are you including triple occupancy in your search as i'm only seeing the Water Tower property when searching for 2adults/0children... i'm seeing a different 4* hotel in this zone when searching for 2adults/1chid? (although in your reply please also confirm if your daughter is over/under 17 years old and qualifies as a 'child' for booking purposes)

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

[AaronJB]

Also, I'll add a couple of thoughts:

Chicago is very easy to get around and there are plenty of public transit options. The Amtrak station (Union) is in the Loop and the Palace is actually only a few minutes walk from Union. The Loop area does not have a lot of shopping and it is QUIET later in the evening, especially in the South and West Loop areas. The areas North of the river are further from museums, but offer more shopping and I think a lot more in the way of restaurants and nightlife. You can take a taxi to the Palace for the show and back, but if you are going to be spending a lot of the time North of the river, I'd consider focusing on hotels North of the river.

Additionally, while Michigan Ave. offers a lot of chain store shopping, the North neighborhoods (Lincoln Park, for example) offer more in the way of boutiques and high-end thrifts. It may be too cold to really do a whole lot (although hopefully not), but that's another shopping option that is more "treasure hunt" than downtown and at some of those stores you are likely to find better values than on Michigan Ave. (although there are things like Filene's Basement and Nordstrom Rack on Michigan Ave.)

One other little note: the Ogilvie Transit Center is about a block or so North of Union Station. Under the station is the Chicago French Market, an indoor food market with a ton of different vendors, including one of my favorites (Wisma). If you have time before heading back on Amtrak, this may be a fun place to get some food for the train ride back.

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

[Irrumater]

No sorry, I was only searching double , as our daughter isonly 6 and when in a hotel typically sleeps with us in a king bed or with her mom in a double.

This is how I typically search and purchase on hotwire.

Thanks for the other area shopping etc info, I know my wife is excited about Michigan Ave shopping so we will want to be close to that and the theatre

[AaronJB]

I think it really comes down to: if you are okay with one bed, would you consider PRICELINE bidding instead? If you bid for a 4* in the River North-NMA area on PRICELINE, you could possibly get a 4* anywhere in that zone. That said: I'm seeing 4*'s on HOTWIRE for $55 and clearly these are not busy date/s in Chicago. I'm thinking maybe you could get a 4* for between $45-50 in the River North-NMA area.

I'm seeing a fair amount of interesting options on HOTWIRE, not all of them at the 4* level. What appear to be the Doubletree Mag Mile, Indigo (which is a really cute property, although at the very tip of the North end of the NMA area, in the Gold Coast) and the Four Points Sheraton on HOTWIRE for $50-55. Those are all nice, more family-friendly properties. The Doubletree and Four Points are very well-located. The Indigo is definitely not centrally located, but if the weather surprises (which I hope it does) and is nicer than expected, it's not terribly far from the Indigo to the Lincoln Park Zoo (and there is a subway station around the corner.)

Let us know your thoughts and then we can offer further suggestions on how to proceed.

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

[thereuare]

No sorry, I was only searching double , as our daughter isonly 6 and when in a hotel typically sleeps with us in a king bed or with her mom in a double.

This is how I typically search and purchase on hotwire.

Not sure what locations you typically travel to, but ensuring triple occupancy can be a little tougher in larger cities (such as Chicago, NYC, etc) where real estate is expensive, rooms can often be smaller than in other parts of the country, and a higher percentage of rooms only have one bed (vs. places such as Orlando which are used to accommodating families and have a higher percentage of room with more than one bed in the room). If you want to search/purchase as double occupancy that's fine, but you at least need to know/accept the risk, since there are definitely hotels in this city where a 'standard' room is only one bed and rooms with two beds are considered an upgrade.

... and if you haven't yet, please read your messages.

Based up the comments and previous post(s) above, let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

[Irrumater]

That's good to know. Thank you. 1 bed will be fine for us, if needed.

I am leaning toward the loop theatre district. With The Knowledge That February In Chicago Is Going To Be cold, I Reasonably Sure We Will Be Using A Taxi Where Ever We go. Also we won't have a lot of time to explore, just Monday evening and Tuesday morning, early afternoon.

* rating is not as important to me as is a clean facility in a safe location as I am traveling with a child.

[AaronJB]

Does the idea of a hotel like the Four Points or Doubletree or Indigo (the Indigo is very cute, but not centrally located; the other two are more centrally located) sound more appealing or do you want to try for a 4* in the River North-NMA area via bidding? If you bid, you have to be willing to stay anywhere within the zone.

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

[Irrumater]

Four points and Doubletree both look good to me. I would prefer not to bid and worry about location

[thereuare]

Irrumater,

Please click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links, then reply to this thread and we'll continue the discussion for your trip above.

Thanks.

[Irrumater]

Well looks like purchase got pushed back to next weekend, so I'll check back then if anything changes on hotwire and if not I'll let you know what i ended up with

[AaronJB]

Let us know when you are ready to purchase and we can then discuss what is available at that point - you never know, but given how surprisingly low rates are for these date/s, I don't think you're going to see that much change.

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

[Irrumater]

Ok back on. doing some more digging I found this one intriguing, possible Wyndm RiverFront?

FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Boutique Hotel, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Business Center, Internet access, Spa Services, Accessible for the blind, Accessible for the deaf, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Handicapped parking, Roll-in shower

Feb 24-26 Loop Theatre District 4* $75 per night 2 adults/child

[thereuare]

Indeed, the Wyndham Grand Chicago Riverfront would be my best guess for this one.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[Irrumater]

Just booked and it was the Wyndham grand riverfront. Ended up at $75 per night.

full amenities list matches above.

Thank you for your help

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

I think you made a really good choice. This is a centrally located property - it's right by the river, with the Art Institute a tad South and Michigan Ave just over the bridge. There is a Corner Bakery right next to this property - I wouldn't recommend that as a "destination", but to me it's sort of like a "room service alternative" if you don't feel like going out. Wildberry is a breakfast choice a few blocks away (http://wildberrycafe.com/chicago.html), but there are tons of other restaurants within walking distance. If you would like any recommendations/have any questions please let me know.

Also, I'd ask if there was any way you could get a room facing the river. They could absolutely say no as that is an upgrade, but it's one of those "worst thing they could do is say no" situations.

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

Enjoy your stay.