emills Posted February 16, 2007 Report Posted February 16, 2007 I would like to get a 4* hotel for one night on March 24 in the Loop area. I bid $55, and it was rejected. I then bidded $60 and added another location and it was rejected. Hotels seem to be running fairly high that weekend. Any advice? Thank you.
AaronJB Posted February 16, 2007 Report Posted February 16, 2007 Based on prices, I think a 4* in the Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park area may require as much as $100. If you don't mind a 3*, the Club Quarters downtown is only $89 on Expedia. If you wanted to try bidding for that, I'd start bidding for a 3* at $55.As for bidding for a 4*, I would start at $76 and keep working up little-by-little
thereuare Posted February 16, 2007 Report Posted February 16, 2007 Would a hotel in the NMA zone work for your plans? It would help with a bidding strategy giving your more opportunities.Do you have a maximum bid in mind? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
emills Posted February 16, 2007 Author Report Posted February 16, 2007 NMA would be fine too. I think I would not like to go too much higher than $125.
thereuare Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 I don' think you'll need to go that high as HOTWIRE has a 4* in the NMA zone for $111, so we'll use that as your maximum bid amount.When bidding 4* in Chicago you have 2 re-bid zones available. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.I'd start with the following...Select 4* Loop...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* NMA...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* NMA and Loop...Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $95Any questions feel free to ask.Good Luck and let us know how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
emills Posted February 17, 2007 Author Report Posted February 17, 2007 Thank you for the great advice...unfortunately I did not get a room. Perhaps I should wait for a bit, or just go with Hotwire?
AaronJB Posted February 18, 2007 Report Posted February 18, 2007 The Hotwire $111 listing is likely the Ambassador East, which is a hotel located in the Gold Coast area, just North of the North Michigan Ave. area. I like that area, as it's near the lake, has quite a few restaurant choices and is generally a bit more peaceful (the AE is on a street lined with beautiful apartments.) However, if you need to specifically be downtown (your post mentions the Loop), the Ambassador East is the furthest North of the main city area hotels on Priceline/Hotwire. What you would do to get downtown is walk 4 blocks W/SW to the "L" at Clark/Division and then take about a 10-12 minute ride South. Not a bad trip; just letting you know before you book what is potentially the AE if you need to be in the loop for business or other reasons. From a tourist standpoint, it's a very nice area._________________________________________________________________________The only other things I can suggest would be on easyclicktravel.com:Chicago Hilton and Towers for $111.81The Whitehall for $90.The Hilton and Towers is on the flipside of the city from the Ambassador East, in the South Loop area. It is an easy walk from there to the Museum Campus, Sears Tower and the Art Institute, but a ways (although you can certainly take public transit) from Michigan Ave. shopping.The Whitehall gets some very mixed reviews, but its location - half a block from the center of the Michigan Ave. shopping area - is excellent.
AaronJB Posted February 18, 2007 Report Posted February 18, 2007 If you like either of the EasyClickTravel options, those are refundable (although read the exact fine print) so you could grab one of those and see if anything else comes up between now & your trip.
thereuare Posted February 18, 2007 Report Posted February 18, 2007 You can book any of the EasyClickTravel options mentioned above as a back-up... or keep them if you like the hotel(s).You can try again on priceline as follows:Select 4* Loop...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* NMA...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* NMA and Loop...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $110If the above fails you can then take one of the other options (EasyClickTravel or HOTWIRE) depending upon your thoughts of each.Let us know what you decide to do and how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
emills Posted February 21, 2007 Author Report Posted February 21, 2007 Thank you again for the advice. I was unable to get a hotel on the first attempts of trying the Loop and NMA by themselves. I did get the Palmer House Hilton for $100 when I tried bith locations together. A little pricey for that hotel, but it didn't seem like there was a lot of availability.One thing to note that has changed since last week...the Niles, Skokie, Evanston option now allows for a 4* hotel. So, the only non 4* area in Chicago is now Midway. That might change some bidding strategies.Also, I did bid through Savings Barn.Thank you!
AaronJB Posted February 21, 2007 Report Posted February 21, 2007 The Palmer is a well-located hotel with a beautiful lobby; the rooms do vary but hopefully you'll luck out. There are subway and "L" stations located right by the hotel. There is also a CVS Pharmacy on the corner of Adams/State if you need snacks/toiletries.
thereuare Posted February 22, 2007 Report Posted February 22, 2007 Congratulations on your win.For these dates i think this is a pretty good deal (the Palmer House is actually showing sold-out for these dates!)Thanks for the note regarding the change in re-bid zones... this is why we advise users to always double check their re-bid zones before each bidding cycle.Thanks for using the PRICELINE links at SavingsBarn.com to begin your bidding and enjoy your stay! Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
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