Priceline Hotel: need PL strategy for july four star

[dsr]

Can anyone help me figure out which hotel this is? also, is it a decent rate?

4 star hotel mag. mile

customer favorite

restaurant, fitness center, spa services, high speed internet access, business center.

for jun. 30 to july 2, I got $157 per night.

[dsr]

I have never used priceline or hotwire before, but I have a good understanding based on reading lots on this site. but I need help to formulate a specific strategy.

I need four rooms at a four star in downtown chicago (prefer north mich. ave-river north) but I'd take Millenium park. problem is, I need two rooms for june 30-july 2 and the other two rooms for july 1-july 3.

any suggestions?

also, I see a four star on hotwire for $156, slightly higher for the later two days, is this a good rate, or can I do much better with priceline?

[GM Mike]

What is your actual budget? What is your cancellable backup plan?

There's virtually no way to guarantee you get the same hotel for both pairs of rooms on priceline. However, depending on what you have for a backup, it may make sense to go ahead and bid for them anyway. If you can get both pairs in the same zone, they'll almost certainly be walking distance to each other. At the worst, you could all congregate at one hotel and then split up for sleeping. Do you plan to spend a lot of time in your room?

You may be able to do better with hotwire. If you run searches for both pairs and can identify the hotel in advance, perhaps using the hotwire hotel lists here, you have SOME chance they'll be at the same property. However, that's still a long shot.

So, again, what is your actual budget? Backup plan? Then you can determine the highest bid that gives you savings sufficient to risk not having the same hotels.

[dsr]

I'd like to stay under $140 per night. I haven't booked a back up yet but I was looking at the Whitehall at savingsbarn for 129 (or 119, not sure), but I'd like to do better than the Whitehall, it looked the spottiest of all the 4 stars.

[GM Mike]

Are you open to the high risk of getting two different hotels?

If yes, I'd go book a fully cancellable backup for all four rooms at the Whitehall now. Then let us know you've done that, and we can put together a strategy for two sets of bids. Whitehall is in the NMA zone, so we'll focus on getting you rooms exclusively in NMA. Worst case is they'd be about 15-20 blocks apart. If nothing pans out, you've still got rooms at the Whitehall, which is decent but not overwhelming.

What do you think?

[thereuare]

I was looking at the Whitehall at savingsbarn...

Do you mean at EasyClickTravel?

As suggested above, did you try running two searches on Hotwire (one for each set of dates) to see if the same hotel(s) appears for both set of dates? If so, what is the price, star rating, and amenities associated with the hotel(s) offered?

[dsr]

yes, sorry that was easyclicktravel, and the whitehall was available for 129.

I think I am not willing to split up our group, I would rather get a great rate for two of the rooms, and then do the best I can with the other two rooms after I know which hotel.

I'm a little nervous about the reviews for the whitehall, but I'm equally concerned with the Hyatt Regency, which I've booked as my backup at 149 per night. Tripadvisor is filled with reports of 50 and 60 dollar rooms there, so I'm surprised that it's not coming up on hotwire much cheaper, is it too expensive of a weekend? I'd be less upset with the Hyatt if I could have it cheaper.

I ran june 30 to july 2 and june 30 to july 3 through hotwire and got three hotels that look the same in each.

4 star n. mich ave=water tower=gold coast

rest. fitness center, hi speed internet, business center 2 nights for 143, 3 nights for 145

4 star chicago loop

restaurant, fitness, hi speed internet 2 nights for 147 and 3 nights for 134

3.5 star chicago loop

restaurant, pool, fitness, business center 129 for 2 nights, 112 for 3

can you help me identify them? do you think it is the same hotel for the 2 and three nights?

[thereuare]

I need two rooms for june 30-july 2 and the other two rooms for july 1-july 3

I ran june 30 to july 2 and june 30 to july 3

What are the correct dates for each stay?

[dsr]

2 rooms for june 30-july 2 and 2 rooms for june 30-july 3

[GM Mike]

2 rooms for june 30-july 2 and 2 rooms for june 30-july 3

That changes things. Have you considered bidding on 4 rooms for june 30-july 3, and just not using the last night on 2 of the rooms? What bid amount would make that a cost-effective strategy for you? Perhaps you should create a mock bid in priceline for 4 rooms june 30-july 3, but do NOT submit it. On the last screen, before you submit, is the total cost with taxes and fees. Then compare that to other options you have available, including:

1) Booking the Whitehall directly

2) Booking some other place directly you like better

3) Running Hotwire searches for the two sets of dates and seeing if you have a good chance of getting the same hotel -- this can be difficult in Chicago, as many hotels look alike on hotwire

4) Bidding for 2 rooms first then buying 2 more at full price - do this by looking at the full price rate at each of the known hotels in your * category and zone, based on our lists and also other hotels you know to fit in that category/zone that haven't been reported here.

Make a big chart. Then go with the option that makes the most financial sense, based on TOTAL cost. If it's bidding, we can help with a strategy, after you determine what maximum bid makes $ sense.

(For the record, the hotwire hotels you listed above are most likely:

4* NMA: Could be Ambassador East, Westin, Drake

4* Loop: W City Center, but could be Hilton Chicago or Hard Rock

3.5* Loop: Probably Palmer House - sometimes shows up without Pool tho, so might not be

This information is directly from the ILLINOIS HOTWIRE LIST on this site.)

[thereuare]

Yes, changes things considerably...

In addition to the above i will add one more option:

Buy 4 rooms for 6/30-7/2 (thru Priceline/Hotwire) and then book the last two rooms hotel direct once you know the property you receive. Of couse this involves a bit of risk that 1) the hotel you receive is not sold-out for the last nite of the stay where you need two rooms and, 2) that the price is affordable (which if it's not you can always look towards priceline/hotwire for the last nite and 'deal with' moving for the sake of the savings involved)