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Priceline Hotel: 3* - 4* Downtown Chicago - Need Help!


grizparker
By grizparker,
in

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My wife and I are trying to plan a summer vacation for June 9th - June 15th. We're fairly flexible about the length of stay but have to leave on the 8th or 9th. I've been on the "vacation" trail now for several weeks...trying to hunt down the biggest bang for the buck. Although we've narrowed it down to Phoenix, Chicago, or Los Angeles....I think we've decided on Chicago.

Unfortunately (but fortunately) the Chicago Blues Fest is going on during the weekend we arrive, so I'm not sure how much this will impact our room prices.

We would LOVE to stay right around North Michigan Ave/ Magnificent Mile / Loop areas in a nice hotel. However, our budget puts us at spending no more than $125/night.

I've looked at maybe resorting to staying out by Midway or OHare in one of the lesser expensive hotels, but would really enjoy something better. As long as we are in a "safe" part of town with easy access to the train, because we will not have a vehichle.

So far, here's the best I've found...(after taxes and fees)

$144 - Easy Click Travel - Tremont Downtown Chicago

$85 - Hotwire - Four Points Sheraton Midway

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I've also been checking out the vacation packages. I'll be leaving out of Dallas, TX on the 9th. All vacation packages I've looked up are for 6 nights.

$1360 - Hyatt Regency Chicago

$1354 - Belden Stratford

I've only been to Chicago once and it was 10 years ago. I don't remember the whole Chicago area all that well, so if anyone has any ideas of good places to stay where I can get cheaper prices OR knows of any other good deals, PLEASE let me know and I'll be grateful.

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Could you stretch your budget to $150?

You could book the following:

6/9-6/11: Quikbook has the Affinia (formerly the Fitzpatrick) for an average of $150/nite

6/11-6/14: Quickbook has the same hotel (but different room class) for $159/nite

Essentially the above gives you a hotel with great views (#21 out of 157 Chicago hotels) with an excellent location.

If the above is sufficient you can then try to save money on the last nite by staying near the Airport (and be close for your flight home... if that is how you're traveling)... or simply cut your trip one day short (but that's no fun... but at least it costs a bit less and can maybe make the above rates do-able).

If you do stay the last nite at the airport, you may have to change rooms mid-stay (but the 2nd room is larger than the first) and then another hotel near ORD... so don't know if that fits into your "only want to change hotels a maximum of twice" or not. Of course when you check-in you can see if they can give you the larger room for all 6 nites, if available.

Let us know your thoughts on the above. If you do book it, please use our Quickbook link for each reservation (ie- book the first two nites using our link, then return here and click again to book the second two nites)

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I haven't stayed at the Affinia (yet), but it's certainly a terrific location - a block East of the center of the North Michigan Ave. shopping area. Close, but "tucked away" enough so that it's less hectic around the hotel. There's also a nice Corner Bakery a block South (across of the Wyndham.) I believe the Affinia rooms have refrigerators (could be wrong, you'd have to confirm) and there are two or three large grocery stores within about a 10-15 minute walk of the hotel (a Whole Foods about 10-15 minutes West and a Dominicks and the Fox & Obel Market about 10-15 minutes South.) You could get food and bring it back to the hotel.

Fox and Obel website: fox-obel.com

Corner Bakery website (menu, etc.) - http://www.cornerbakery.com/

Corner Bakery has very nice breakfast/lunch/dinner options - I guess you could call it "upscale fast food."

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Thanks! You guys are awesome!

I'm certainly looking into this hotel (and will use your Quickbook link if I book), but if anyone else reads this post and would like to contribute any more information, please do. I will be booking in the next week or two.

Anyone that knows of any less expensive yet great deal/location hotels, feel free to post!

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I believe that Quikbook is refundable (although you'd have to read the fine print.) What you may want to do is book the Quikbook hotel now if it is refundable, then start bidding up to that point. If you don't get anything via Hotwire or Priceline, then at least you have a backup. If you do get something more in your budget via Hotwire or PL, then make sure to cancel the Affinia in time.

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Do not stay by Midway. O'Hare is not only a much nicer area to stay in, but there's a much wider variety of hotels, including some pretty nice ones. You could also stay in Northbrook, which is VERY nice, although a bit more complicated to get to/from the airport (easy to get from Northbrook to downtown, though.) It's about a 40-45-minute "L" train ride from ORD to downtown.

It's about a 40-45 minute Metra ride from Northbrook to downtown. The Chicago Botanic Gardens (chicagobotanic.org) are also near Northbrook (despite the name, they are in the 'burbs), and quite beautiful to visit in the Summer. One could spend half a day (if not more) browsing around the Botanic's many gardens (the Botanic is about a mile wide and 2.5-3 miles long.) About 1/2M east of the Botanic is the famed Ravinia Outdoor Concert Hall (ravinia.org), which has concerts of varying acts (from classical to pop) late Spring into Summer.) Ravinia does attract very big name acts and lawn tickets are generally not that expensive.

The nearby towns - Highland Park, Lake Forest - are also quite lovely to browse around. The North suburbs are very upscale, so you would definitely be safe in Northbrook even late into the evening.

You may want to try to get a cheap (and really, most of the hotels in the area are very nice) hotel via Priceline in Northbrook or Glenview (next door to Northbrook) then rent a car (via bidding on PL.) Drive to the Northbrook hotel and then, drive to the nearest Metra station (there's multiple in the area, so you wouldn't be too far from one.) Park at the station and ride the train in.

The Metra trains are also quite a bit more comfortable (bathrooms, larger seats, etc. - in other words, like Amtrak but not meant for longer distances) than the CTA trains.

Just throwing out an idea.

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My own thoughts:

Don't sit on this too long... you already know that this is a tough period in Chicago, and the Quickbook offers need to be 'split' as a reflection of that demand. If you sit, that option may disappear.

If you choose to stay near the airport, you have two choices:

1) Book direct: you can choose the hotel you want and the savings (i imagine) will not be much vs. the deal offered above

2) Opaque Supplier: you will save money over the above, but you can't choose your hotel or exact location, so i don't see much value in your research for a hotel near the airport/train since you won't be able to pick that property anyway

Regardless of which of the above two options you choose for a stay near the airport, the hotel will not be adjacent to the train station. Therefore you'll need to be taking the hotel shuttle to the airport (as per their schedule), wait for the train, and then taking the 50 minute (if i recall correctly) trip into the city... then do the same thing on the way home. Essentially you're looking at least an hour each way door-to-door and think about commuting two hours everyday of your vacation vs. walking out of your hotel room and heading to where you want to go... not to mention having the option to easily stop back at your hotel during the day to rest, drop off shopping bags, shower before dinner, etc, etc.

If your budget can't afford the above, i'd highly consider splitting your hotel 3x during your stay and staying at least the bulk of your stay in the city... it just makes for a much more enjoyable experience.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Very well noted. I had no idea that the train ride was 40-60 minutes into town. That does pretty much make up my mind on where I would stay. Downtown it is.

I like the idea of maybe staying the last night in the airport area. I could probably save a good $60-$80 or so and it would be an easy trip to the airport the next morning anyway.

I look to do something soon and will post my results back here.

Thanks.

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  • 1 month later...

***I'd like to start this off by saying that I think you guys rock (thereuare) and have been incredibly helpful in the past for me! Thanks in advance!***

Let's set it at 3.5* or 4*

I had planned a trip to Chicago, but now it looks like we're having to change plans for Los Angeles instead. I'm more of an "East Coast" vacationer and don't know much about the west coast. We plan on staying roughly a week in LA. We must leave on either the afternoon of 6/8 or the morning of 6/9. The return dates are +-2 days flexible. I will have to rent a car for the week (I'm assuming) because there is too much to see and it's too spread out for cabs to be cheaper. I'll kinda have to figure in the cost of the car parking when looking for a hotel....some places charge an arm and a leg for parking!

What I know:

I know the closer to the water and the closer to the hills......the nicer. However, I also know that this also means $$$$. Obviously, I'm looking for the best for the buck. I've found the following hotels by looking around a little today (price after taxes):

$98 - Wilshire Grand - Downtown

$105 - Westin Bonadventure Downtown

I also found a great package deal on hotwire for the Mariott Downtown but about 10 minutes I searched again and it was gone. :)

What I don't know:

Is Downtown a good place to stay in Los Angeles?

Is it worth any extra money to stay out in the Santa Monica or Beverly Hills area?

Or, is it worth the money you save to stay out by LAX airport?

Is a car really needed or is there other forms of transportation that is more convienent?

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With all of this said...even if these are the best deals, I will definitely try bidding through Priceline to undercut these prices. What would be the best strategy for this? I've listed the areas below in the order of preference (although if someone suggests negatively about a certain area, then I'm fine changing it around).Currently, my budget after taxes is pretty close to $100. Mainly because I've got specific hotels that seem decent already available for that price.

Santa Monica & Marina Del Rey

Beverly Hills - West Hollywood

Hollywood

Brentwood - Westwood

Culver City

Downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles Airport (LAX)

Redondo - Manhattan Beaches

Thanks,

:) grizparker

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I don't know the area well enough to comment as far as which zone(s) are best, so let's give it a few days and hopefully somebody who know the area well will reply... if not, bump this thread in a few days and we'll try to advise you how to go about researching the zones.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I'm a newbie on this board, but I've lived in Los Angeles all my life so I can answer your questions.

Downtown can be a good place to stay if you are going to do things like go to the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion or the New Music Center, or museums. Downtown is a lot cleaner than it used to be and is more user friendly. However, after dark, many parts become a ghost town because, people just don't do much hanging out in downtown.

I've stayed downtown when I've had conventions I had to be at for 4 days and I've bought hotels on Priceline and once I got the Omni for $65, which is a great hotel, and once I got the Millennium Biltmore Hotel for $71, which is nice, but a much older hotel that has been renovated. The lobby is great, but the rooms have that old time feel to it. What was really interesting is that the contestants from American Idol were staying there and I could hear lots of practicing.

Beverly Hills and Santa Monica Hotels are nice, but everything around is expensive, so if your are on a tight budget, these areas are hungry for your money.

I would suggest Century City. I've gotten the Century Park Plaza for under $100 a couple times on priceline when I was there for an event. I live out in the valley, and I wanted to get a hotel and get ready for the event and relax and not have to drive home afterwards. Century City is very central in Los Angeles very close to Beverly Hills and closer to the beach than downtown. Westwood is also nice. It's very much college town and it's a great little area with ton of movie theaters and shops and restaurants.

You will definitely need a car to get around. Every thing is just so spread out and public transportation is not very good in Los Angeles.

If you stay out at the airport, you are actually pretty close to the beach (but you will still need a car to get there), but it is so far from everything else that some one on vacation would like to be close too. It's just really boring out at the airport. Century Boulevard is just one big row of hotels and parking structures.

Hope that helps.

Majorca

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As an enthusiastic but infrequent visitor to L.A., I will echo most of Majorca's comments. To answer your questions:

Is Downtown a good place to stay in Los Angeles?

Not really. Worth a short daytrip, but not a lot there, not very central, and parking will cost a lot. But the deals you have found do sound good to me, especially if they include parking.

Is it worth any extra money to stay out in the Santa Monica or Beverly Hills area?

Santa Monica is a great place to hang out in, lots to see and do, lots of interesting little shops and such. But it is as far west as you can get, so again, not very central. Beverly Hills is where Century City is, so it is a good area to bid. Probably the most central, but also seems like the most congested area, traffic-wise. If you go down to 3* you can sometimes get lucky and find good bargains here.

Or, is it worth the money you save to stay out by LAX airport?

I've done this a few times. It can be very cheap and parking will be less expensive, but as Majorca pointed out, all there is is planes and hotels and car rental places. Expect a 20-30 minute drive to/from the hotel each day. Culver City cuts that commute by at least 10 minutes, but is probably the least interesting place to stay.

Is a car really needed or is there other forms of transportation that is more convienent?

Oh, you'll need a car!!

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I'm a newbie to BetterBidding....

Will also be In LA around those dates (8-15th June) and wandering where best to stay in the city as tourists on holiday from Australia.

We'll be doing the touristy things (Hollywood, Universal Studios, Venice Beach, MOCA, shopping etc) as well as catching a show at the Hollywood Bowl and trying to get into the studio audience for Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Hotwire currently has a 3.5* hotel in Downtown LA for $74 but worried about lack of after hours local restaurants etc. Don't want to be stuck in a relative ghost-town after dark!

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I looked at all the hotels available on HOTWIRE and given the things you would like to do, If I were choosing, I would pick the 3 star hotel in Burbank/Universal city for $96. It's very close to the Universal City Walk which is always a happening location close to your hotel, it's very close to Hollywood and the Hollywood Bowl. Downtown is easily accessible from this location as well, and so is NBC studios in Burbank where the Tonight show is recorded. And as a couple of other people have mentioned, parking downtown is very expensive.

Good luck with your trip.

Majorca

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