redez Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 Hello, I'm looking for a hotel room in Chicago for July 21-23. I am going to "name own price" on Priceline. Could you please advise on which zones are most desirable between Priceline zones 1-4? Thank you! Link to comment
AaronJB Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 I would recommend staying around the river or north of it: the Downtown-River North area, the Downtown-Millennium Park area or the Mag Mile-Gold Coast area. If you need help bidding, please let us know your desired star rating and budget per night. I'm very familiar with Chicago and happy to answer any hotel or city questions. Thank you for keeping us updated and let us know if we can be of any assistance. 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. Link to comment
redez Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 Great, thank you! We are looking for a 3* or 4*, max budget of $150 per night. Any bidding advice would be appreciated! Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 At current rates i think you're likely looking at $150-$160 to win a 3.5* or better in one of the zones above... a 4* will cost slightly more at $160-$170/nite (both are room rate before taxes/fees); i don't think you will save much (if anything) by trying for a 3 star property. What would you like to try for first... a 4 star hotel up to your maximum budget, then if rejected try for a 3.5*... or is the goal the least expensive 3* or better? We will of course start the bidding lower than the price ranges above where we would expect you to be successful, but are you able to increase your budget to either of the upper ends above or do you need to hold firm with the $150 bid amount? HOWEVER, i would suggest one other option, i see on HOTWIRE: 4.5* HOTWIRE Magnificent Mile - Water Tower for $159.00 Free Internet Pet Friendly Boutique Smoke Free Fitness Pool Restaurant Hi-Speed Internet Childrens Activities ==> from the Hotwire Hotel List this matches previous reports for the Viceroy Chicago which would be our best guess for this one. While this may be about as far north as you would want to stay to still be considered a 'good' location, this hotel is currently the #6 best reviewed hotel in chicago and gets an excellent 5.0/5.0 TA rating. 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. Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there... or let us know how it goes if you take the HOTWIRE offer outlined above. PS- note that PRICELINE has been moving around / hiding the Name Your Own Price bidding page... the easiest way to current access is thru the bidding tab of our BiddingHelper.com tool or thru the form we have set up here: www.BiddingForHotelRoooms.com Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
AaronJB Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 I'd go for the potential Viceroy without hesitation. That area (the Gold Coast) is very nice, lots of activity (a lot of restaurants and nightlife) and easy walk from that property to a nearby Red Line subway. The Gold Coast is at the top of the zone area, but easy access to the subway and a brief walk to the top of the Michigan Ave shopping area. The hotel has been getting great reviews since opening not that long ago (5/5 on tripadvisor), too. No guarantees with room assignment on a HOTWIRE reservation, but given the hotel and given the surrounding neighborhood, if you can request a high floor looking East, there's a chance you'll have some view of the lake in the distance. Also, I think that's just a good deal in general given what rates look like on these dates. Article on the hotel: http://www.chicagomag.com/travel/September-2017/Viceroy-Hotel/ 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. Link to comment
redez Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 Thank you! Let's try a 4 star hotel up to our maximum budget, then if rejected try for a 3.5*. We can go up to $160/per night. My mother is coming and is somewhat limited in walking, so paying a little more for a centralized location is fine. We'll keep the Viceroy option in mind though. Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 3 hours ago, redez said: My mother is coming To confirm, is it just the two of you, are you bidding on more than one room, or do you need more than double occupancy? And i'm also not 100% certain i agree with your approach... What if you bid up to $160 at the 4* level and win the Ambassador Chicago or at the 3.5* level win The Hotel Indigo Chicago Downtown Gold Coast, both of which would not only be lower rated than the Viceroy (and i'm also seeing the highly rated Sofitel for a similar amount) but both would also put you further north than the Viceroy. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
redez Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 One room with 2-beds. It will be me, my sister, and my mother. Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 I edited my post as you replied so please see the part i included above: 20 minutes ago, thereuare said: And i'm also not 100% certain i agree with your approach... What if you bid up to $160 at the 4* level and win the Ambassador Chicago or at the 3.5* level win The Hotel Indigo Chicago Downtown Gold Coast, both of which would not only be lower rated than the Viceroy (and i'm also seeing the highly rated Sofitel for a similar amount) but both would also put you further north than the Viceroy. 14 minutes ago, redez said: One room with 2-beds When bidding on PRICELINE all that is guaranteed is a room that will accommodate double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel and they may not be able (or willing) to accommodate your request for a room with 2 beds (or they may want an additional fee for triple occupancy and/or a room with two beds). In a family friendly location, such as Orlando for example, most hotels are built with a majority of rooms with 2 beds to accommodate families, but the risk of one bed in the room increases in large cities (NYC, Chicago, etc) where hotels cater to business travelers and a high percentage of rooms only have one bed. A better approach would be to use HOTWIRE where you can search for up to quad occupancy or use PRICELINE EXPRESS for a hotel that shows a BED CHOICE (and where one of the bed choice options is a room with two beds... technically your reservation is still only for double occupancy, but i don't know of anyone who has yet had an issue checking in with triple/quad occupancy when a specific room type was booked and that room is designed to accommodate the number of guests in the group) You may decide to take the risk and still bid on PRICELINE anyway, but an option when searching HOTWIRE for 3adults is: 4.5* HOTWIRE River North for $164.00 Free Internet Boutique Smoke Free Fitness Restaurant Hi-Speed Internet Spa ==> The Godfrey Hotel Chicago is my best guess here Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there. 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. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
redez Posted July 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2018 I think we want to go for the Viceroy... Do I just access Hotwire via the link in this thread? Do you think they will accommodate 2 beds if I call and ask? Thank you Link to comment
redez Posted July 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2018 I just called the Viceroy and they only have Kings available for that weekend... So maybe the Godfrey on Hotwire or we will bump down to 3.5*.... Is there a 5% off code for HOTWIRE, or only PRICELINE? Thank you Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 6, 2018 Report Share Posted July 6, 2018 Only PRICELINE EXPRESS has a coupon code available now... all codes would be posted in their respective Priceline Coupon and Hotwire Coupon pages. 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. Let us know what you decide and how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
redez Posted July 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 I just booked through your HOTWIRE link and got The Godfrey Hotel! Thank you again for your awesome help with our trip!! Link to comment
AaronJB Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 Congrats on your success. Very nice deal for this boutique property, which is in a great location in River North. I'm very familiar with Chicago and happy to answer any city questions. Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches. Enjoy your stay. Link to comment
redez Posted July 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hello, I just returned from my weekend with my mother and sister in Chicago and wanted to update you on our hotel. As shared above, we were booked for a room for 3-guests at The Godfrey. When we arrived The Godfrey informed us they only had a room with 1-bed available and that they couldn't do anything to help us because they were sold out. They referred us to Hotwire, saying it was Hotwire's fault since we booked through them. Hotwire was awful. No joke, the solution from Hotwire was that one of us slept on the floor and they would give us a $50 credit to use on Hotwire at a later date. After I told Franz at Hotwire that one of us sleeping on the floor wasn't an acceptable solution, he continued to tell me that all the hotels were sold out. I was on the phone with Hotwire for about 40 mins when he found a room at the Omni that had a pull out couch as the 2nd bed option and was only a 10 minute walk. I told Franz we had already booked a non-refundable parking spot near The Godfrey and it was pouring rain. He said as a compensation Hotwire would pay the price difference for the hotel room and suggested they were doing us a favor by finding us a new room! He couldn't have cared less about the Hotwire Guarantee or any customer service. He refused to give us any refund or even pay for parking at the new hotel. I just wanted to follow up with you about our situation. Thank you for your help, and hopefully this was a rare mistake for Hotwire and they will be willing to help follow through on their guarantee when I share this experience with them. Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Thanks for the follow-up, but sorry to hear you encountered an issue this trip. Now that you have returned i would start by thinking about what you believe is fair compensation and then give HOTWIRE a call.... my suggestion would be the cost of a roundtrip taxi from the Goddfrey to the Omni (as you certainly could have kept your car in the pre-paid spot and taken a taxi to the Omni and then back at the end of your 3 days) along with a $100 credit to use on a future HOTWIRE trip This would be inline what is typically offered when a guest has a confirmed reservation at a hotel but the hotel does not have a room available when they try to check-in and the customer needs to be 'walked' to a different property (typical compensation when getting 'walked' is roundtrip taxi fare and the first nite free... so you could push for taxi fare and $164 refund, although you may need to try to work with them a bit and accept $150, $100, and/or the 'refund' in the form of Hot Dollars to use on a future trip) Good luck and let us know how you ultimately make out. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
redez Posted July 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Thank you for the helpful advice! I will let you know. Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 You're welcome... good luck! Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
redez Posted July 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 I just got off the phone with Hotwire and after 45 minutes they now say they are NOT going to give me the $100 Hotwire credit. She said they can't do that and the only thing they will consider is a possible parking refund if I email the receipt. She said she will request a call transcript and evaluate it to see if the first guy actually said that he could give me a credit. Worst customer service ever. They also tried to put the blame back on The Godfrey saying it was their mistake and I should contact them for compensation. Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 26, 2018 Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 Perhaps you had a previous phone call that you didn't mention, but i'm not sure at what point somebody offered you $100 credit and you agreed to accept it (and if they did, it sounded like this was resolved and not sure why you needed to speak with them again this time) When speaking with HOTWIRE next time i would indicate that you paid them and therefore are their customer... you need to resolve it with them (and they can figure things out between them and the hotel... as they are the hotel's customer) If HOTWIRE transmitted the correct occupancy to the hotel then it very well may be the hotel's fault, but that doesn't mean that you have to deal with the hotel (as they did not receive payment from you and therefore can't refund your payment (since they didn't receive anything from you... so there is no payment of yours to refund)). Good luck. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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