Priceline Hotel: help with 4* hotel downtown Chicago 7/16-7/20

[bakabakaian]

Hi, thanks for all the info on these boards. I need to get a 4* hotel for my parents in Chicago from 7/16-7/20; they've never been to Chicago before. My specific questions are:

* Based on the boards, people talk about $75-80 wins. On hotwire I'm getting rates of $150+ for these dates. Is this an indication that this is a busy week or something?

* I'm not sure what areas of Chicago to bid. Based on previous Priceline experience, I know sometimes they can be quite sneaky at sneaking in a hotel into an area that's really quite a few blocks away. I want to avoid a situation like that.

* I also would want to avoid an area if there's a commonly known 4* hotel that gets a lot of wins that people are very down on.

Based on the above, can you recommend which zone(s) I should look at, and a starting price? I understand about rebidding etc (in fact I've been doing this for years, without knowing about this forum). I just don't know the hotel market in Chicago at all. Again, my preference is for downtown (not one of those "distant" downtown hotels), hotel with decent ratings, and of course as cheap as possible.

I'll post my bidding results once I have them! Thanks a lot.

[AaronJB]

Based on the boards, people talk about $75-80 wins. On hotwire I'm getting rates of $150+ for these dates. Is this an indication that this is a busy week or something?

Rates depend entirely on traffic. You're also looking in the middle of the Summer season. There may also be conventions going on.

I'm not sure what areas of Chicago to bid. Based on previous Priceline experience, I know sometimes they can be quite sneaky at sneaking in a hotel into an area that's really quite a few blocks away. I want to avoid a situation like that.

Hotels on Priceline and Hotwire should only be within the highlighted areas on the map for each particular zone. There should not be a hotel outisde of the highlighted area for the zone you bid and if there is, I would go after PL or HW. Chicago is a very compact big city with two main areas downtown - the River North/North Michigan Ave area and the Loop area. The Loop area is closer to museums, but has less shopping than Michigan Ave. and limited/very limited nightlife (much of it is a business district, so when the office workers head home, many stores close up in the early evening.). The North Michigan Ave. area offers shopping and more nightlife/restaurant selection, but is further from museums. Chicago also has plenty of public transit.

I also would want to avoid an area if there's a commonly known 4* hotel that gets a lot of wins that people are very down on.

Most Priceline zones in major cities have one (mabye more) 4* that everyone doesn't like (see NYC's Midtown W/MTE). Chicago is no different; you have to be willing to accept what Priceline gives you. There are two main areas of Priceline for Chicago - the River North/North Michigan Ave. area and the Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park area. In the RN/NMA area, the least desirable hotel would be the Millennium Knickerbocker. In the MP/Loop/GP area, it would probably be the W City Center (although I actually kind of liked the W, but I appear to be one of the few who do). If you want a better chance of not getting either of these hotels, your best option would be to consider what Hotwire has to offer.

Board moderator thereuare will hopefully be along shortly with a detailed bidding strategy, but based on the rates I'm seeing I think $85 seems to be a reasonable starting bid for a 4* for these dates in each of the two major zones.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Most users bid the NMA and Loop zones, which the NMA zone being a bit more centrally located to shopping and nitelife... not sure the purpose of your parent's trip.

Board member AaronJB is local to the area and can probably add a bit more insight (i'm sure he'll reply once he sees this thread).

Once you decide upon the zone(s) you're willing to bid let us know your maximum bid and we'll suggest a strategy for your to follow (we wouldn't want to suggest a strategy that went higher than you were willing to bid).

Similar to the HOTWIRE rate, you may be interested in the Affinia Chicago which gets very good reviews and can be booked thru Quickbook for $153/nite.

[AaronJB]

There is a 4* on HOTWIRE in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area with the amenities: fitness/business/restaurant/internet for $156 (the price you see may differ slightly.) This would be a possible (nothing's guaranteed w/HOTWIRE or Priceline) match for either the Hard Rock or the Conrad. However, when I click to look at the details page, I see a 4.5/5 tripadvisor.com user rating, which the Conrad does have and the Hard Rock has never been close to having.

So, while no guarantees, this has a *chance* of being the Conrad and if it is, that would be a very nice hotel in a great location.

[bakabakaian]

Thanks so much for the info. I think either of the areas are OK -- I looked at the Knickerbocker and W hotels on TripAdvisor and they don't look that bad to me, unless there's a pretty much guaranteed 3.5* or boutique for a similar price that'd be better. NMA is probably more desirable since this is a vacation trip for them (we're from the West Coast and they've never been to Chicago; the SF Giants play the Cubbies during that time and we're getting them some tickets to that as well), but I think either is OK.

(By the way, why doesn't the list of hotels have "boutiques"? Is this a new category?)

I think I'd be willing to pay up to about $115 without knowing the hotel; anything above that and I'd just prefer to book a sure thing and pay a little more. $85 sounds like a good bet, maybe I'll try a bit lower as there's still some time until 7/16.

I'll post as I bid -- any tips before that would be great. Thanks again!

[thereuare]

There is only one zone in Chicago which currently offers Boutique bidding. If you look at the bottom of the (North Michigan Avenue-River North) list in the Priceline Hotel List you'll see a Boutique property listed there.

When bidding 4* in Chicago you have one re-bid zone 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.

Select 4* NMA...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* Loop...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* NMA and Loop...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95.

Any questions feel free to ask. If rejected (which i think may be likely) don't get discouraged, just post back and we'll revice to try again in 24 hours.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[bakabakaian]

Thanks thereuare, I bid up to 95 as suggested, no dice, as we both expected.

I guess maybe there's a convention or something.

I'm going to look around and think about next steps -- I still have over 5 weeks to get this done.

Thanks again for the help.

[AaronJB]

Thankfully, not really seeing any conventions on these dates aside from:

Jul 15-18

School Nutrition Association

[thereuare]

Given your previous comment that you'd go up to $115 for an 'unknown' hotel, i would try this 24 hours after your last rejected bid:

Select 4* NMA...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $105, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. :)

Select 4* Loop...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $105, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* NMA and Loop...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115.

This will bring you up to your maximum bid, and played a small role in the amounts chosen for your previousl bidding.

Let us know if you try it and how it goes.