Hotwire Hotel: ID Help- 2* (Mag.Mile/Streeterville) 9/21-9/24

[cbusnoles]

Fri.9/21-Mon.9/24-> Amenities include. 1.Resteraunt and 2.Hi-Speed Internet...Listed at $115 for 3 nights. After tax it's $410. Also, is this a good price, or should I wait a little longer and see if rates come down? I'm not sure what's going on that weekend, other than Cubs and Bears being in town, but the rates are high everywhere. I've had absolutely no luck on priceline, and we would really like to stay in this area. Any help is appreciated! Thanks.

[LisaMarie712]

If I were you, I would book a hotel as a backup [on a site that lets you cancel]. Since your trip isn't for a few months, you have a while to see if you can get any deals. Usually travelzoo has some good ones closer to the time of travel.

[cbusnoles]

Thanks alot for the advice, I appreciate it! I think I will book the Red Roof Inn, with the intent on canceling if something better comes up. We really want the Mag. Mile area, and don't want to spend more than $450 total for a 3 night stay. Thanks again!

[AaronJB]

The Hotwire property looks to me like it could be the Hojo (Howard Johnson.) If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with the RRI - much better location.

[cbusnoles]

Cool! Thanks alot for your help! RRI it is, for now at least! On Quickbook.com we can get the Affinia in a Junior Suite for $459 for 3 nights, plus taxes. So I'm guessing around $500, which is more than we wanted to spend, but it's only $60 more than RRI. Only thing is it's a pre-pay, no cancel/no change. Not sure of location and quality though?

[AaronJB]

The Affinia is essentially a few blocks North of the RRI, in a very similar location (it's also just off North Michigan Ave.) The Affinia has gotten some mixed reviews lately, but it would be a nicer hotel than the RRI and you would get more space. The only issue is that they are renovating right now and you very well may hear noise during the day. I think I'd stick with the refundable RRI for now and then see what happens. There are no major conventions scheduled for your dates at the moment.

What would be the max you would want to spend per night?

[cbusnoles]

$500 would be the absolute most we would want to spend for 3 night total. So appox. $166/night. I did see there is a 4* "off the record" hotel on EasyClickTravel that I'm guessing is the Whitehall? It's at $147/night (total $505). We've only been to Chicago once and stayed at the Hyatt on Wacker (which we got on priceline for $73/night +tax), so I'm not real sure about any other hotels. Thanks for all the help!

[thereuare]

For EasyClickTravel 'Off the Record' properties you can use our Off The Record Look Up tool.

Is the hotel listed (next to the price) as "on request" or as "available"?

[cbusnoles]

Yup, it's listed as available. Total for 3 nights is $505 (most we'd like to spend). On the look up tool, it says Whitehall. Any info/thoughts/opinions on the hotel? Thanks again!

[thereuare]

Here are mutliple comments from AaronJB regarding this property (sorry, easier to quote than to link to each one):

That hotel would likely be the Whitehall. It does not get great reviews (some good, some mixed and some pretty bad), but it does have a great location going for it.

The Whitehall is an older hotel and it doesn't offer the same kind of amenities as the BAC. However, it's "location location location." You're in the middle of the Michigan Ave. shopping area, with Water Tower right there. It's a further trek to the museums, but this is an area that's going to have more going on in the evenings.

I also see what appears to be (it is one of their "off-the-record" properties) the Whitehall for $146 on EasyClickTravel for these dates. That hotel is an older boutique hotel in a fantastic location just half a block from the Michigan Ave. shopping area. You don't get the same sort of amenities here as you would at the Buckingham above and the reviews for the Whitehall are mixed but the location is fantastic and the $146 price is a good discount off regular rate. This is another instance where it'll work as a "back-up" and hopefully you will find another good deal via Priceline or Hotwire closer to your date.

I don't mean to seem too persistent that you take the Whitehall, but - as thereuare mentioned - EasyClickTravel only has a limited amount of rooms. I'm seeing the Whitehall going for MUCH more than $125 for these dates, so the EasyClickTravel price for the Whitehall is not what it's otherwise going for/regular price - it's a heavily discounted price.

What I'd do is this. Take the Whitehall now so that you have a back-up. Then, start bidding for a 3* in the Loop area and hope you get one of those hotels.

The Whitehall is "location, location, location." It's half a block from Michigan Ave and at that point of Michigan Ave. is the Hancock Tower/Observatory, Water Tower Mall and other malls/shopping. The hotel is an older property that has a bit of wear and tear (and some rooms may be better than others), and the reviews can be very mixed. However, they are apparently doing some updates right now. The great thing about the easyclicktravel.com rates is that they're usually somewhere in the neighborhood of about $100 off the retail price (and sometimes more.)

[cbusnoles]

I ended up booking the Essex Inn through all-hotels at a total of just under $300. Which was far and away cheaper than anywhere else.