Priceline Hotel: Chicago - River North, Streeterville or Navy Pier in June

[jubilee1]

Hi all

 

New to this site and to Priceline, would appreciate some help.  I've been trying to find a hotel at a decent price in Chicago (above areas) between 1st and 4th June.

 

I have already booked (then cancelled) a hotel in west Loop area (after seeing people say it wasn't a great area to stay in), some apartments in the Loop with terrible reviews and the Rafaello (because I erred when working out the exchange rate in my head and it was more expensive than I wanted to pay) - I'm in the UK

 

I now know that I definitely want to stay in either of the 3 areas above.  I want to be close to bars, restaurants, hop on/hop off buses, the boat tours etc.  I also know that I don't want to spend 2k to stay there!  What I don't know is how popular June is for hotels around that area and if my expectations are too high.  So what I would ideally like is:-

 

Star rating - 2.5 would do

City and Zone - Chicago, River North, Streeterville or Navy Pier

Dates - 1-4 June 18

Rate - $200 (is this completely unrealistic?)

amenities - none.  The location is the important factor.  We won't have a car.  I think all of the areas I've mentioned would be good as a base to get to the John Hancock etc

 

Express deals not bringing anything less than $350 up.  Will I have any chance with bidding?  And can you bid this early?

 

Thanks

 

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding.

 

IMO, the area to the West of the Loop is growing with more restaurants. However, as someone familiar with Chicago the West portion of the Loop area itself is still kind of remarkable in that it's the downtown of a major city and there's little activity on nights and weekends (it's not unusual to see things like Starbucks and McDonalds closed on Saturday and/or Sunday.) The West portion of the Loop is very office-heavy and when those offices let out, the area gets pretty quiet.  That said, from a tourist standpoint the West Loop (and if you stay even further to the West of the Loop) puts you a good distance away from a lot of sights.

 

Unfortunately, rates are sky high for these dates and while they don't have a visitor count listed, it looks like it may be because of the American Society Of Clinical Oncology convention at McCormick. You can bid this far in advance, but given the looks of the rates, I don't think you're going to be able to get anything at $200. Staying outside the city is not optimal, but would certainly be cheaper. Are your dates flexible?

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[jubilee1]

Many thanks for your quick response AaronJB.  Our dates are set as we've booked flights into O'Hare and they're no longer refundable.  We've also got the rest of the trip mapped out (17 night road trip via Niagara falls and ending up on Boston).  Chicago is the only location I'm struggling with (well that and the one-way car rental fees, ouch!!)

 

If I need to look further afield, is Lincoln park a reasonable area and is it easy to get to the touristy areas from there on public transport? Thanks

[AaronJB]

You could actually probably get something in the $65-80 range in the North suburbs, although that's really best if you have a car - otherwise, it's too difficult with public transit because you would really have to go all the way downtown and then all the way North. If you had a car, you could drive directly to the hotel from ORD then you could drive to the local Metra station and take the train in (about 40-45 minutes, but the Metra trains are very nice.) That would be a substantially cheaper option but would require more effort and travel time. The North burbs are very nice with a lot of restaurants and a few attractions, including the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Ravinia Music Festival.

 

Or you could stay by O'Hare, which is probably going to be *slightly* more expensive but would still be under $100 and potentially (depending on star rating/zone) be under $85.

 

I like Lincoln Park a lot; it's pretty easily accessible to downtown via L and is really more of a neighborhood; it's a lot of local shops, local restaurants.

 

I do see the Buckingham Hotel (which is an extension of a well-regarded downtown athletic club) regular rate on PRICELINE for $140 for 6/3-4 only, unfortunately. However, that is a pretty fantastic deal for a property where the room may have a view given where the property is (the rooms are on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange building.) PRICELINE is showing 1 room left available. Please use the site's PRICELINE link if you are interested, but this would mean having to look at other options for the other dates. Core areas (River North, Millennium Park, Loop) unfortunately are very expensive for this period, particularly 6/1-3.

 

Let me know if you have any city or hotel questions. Thank you for keeping us updated with what you decide.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

 

[jubilee1]

Thanks again.  I've booked 1 night (via your link) but opted for the rate with free cancellation up to 31st May.   I will keep looking and, if I find something within budget where I want to be for all 3 nights, I can cancel.  However, if I don't and have to book somewhere further afield, we can at least enjoy 1 night in the city.

 

Thanks again for your help

[thereuare]

If you see something for all 3 nites feel free to add to this thread, if you decide to keep the solo nite and need help with the remaining nites, feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

 

Thank you for using the board links for your purchase(s).