Hotwire Hotel: Help ID 4* NMA-Water Tower-Gold Coast

[flygirl]

Hi...I'm new to the list...and new to Hotwire :)

4* NMA-Water Tower-Gold Coast for $189/night

Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center

I THINK I've identified the 4* NMA-Water Tower-Gold Coast for $189/night as the Sofitel (looks like it's being listed as a 4* instead of 4.5* now), as long as the amenities listed under the "hotel" search match those listed under the "hotel+flight" search. Seems pretty low for this hotel, though. It's very similar to the Millennium Knickerbockerh (4*, same area, Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High Speed Internet) .

I have reservations at the Omni already, but would love to stay at the Sofitel if I can get it through hotwire. Is this ID systerm reliable?

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the board :)

I would consider this not likely to be the Sofitel (or, in other words, I definitely would not get your hopes up, to be honest.) It's more likely to be the Millennium Knick. than the Sofitel. It could also be the Ambassador East, Westin or Drake.

What date/s are you looking at?

[flygirl]

Thanks for responding! You're probably right...price sounds too good to be true for the Sofitel :)

I'm looking at July 28th-31st...

[AaronJB]

If you want the Sofitel, here is a plan to get it cheaper than the hotwire listing (which is showing at $189):

Go here - http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/savespromo.html - to tripadvisor and fill out the info to get a free $50 off Orbitz.com coupon for a 3 night stay.

Orbitz.com actually has the Sofitel for $178 for these dates. You could use the coupon and get $50 off the final total (which would take care of at least part of the hotel tax.).

Please use the site's link to Orbitz.com (click the Orbitz link), as it supports the site.

[AaronJB]

After you save your trip @ Tripadvisor, you will then be sent a $50 Orbitz promo code. Please come back to visit the Orbitz link on this page and click that to book the trip. Your support of the site is greatly appreciated.

The $178 rate at Orbitz is not refundable (not unusual, as the Sofitel's lower rates usually are not refundable.)

[flygirl]

Were you looking at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower? The cheapest I could find on Orbitz was $231.66 and elsewhere was $213. Maybe it's gone up in the past few hours? I would be VERY happy with the $178 rate even if I didn't get the $50 off coupon (thanks for the tip, by the way!) If you think I'm looking in the wrong location, please inform :)

[AaronJB]

It was $178 on Orbitz earlier this morning for these dates, but it looks like it's jumped up quite a bit. :)

Quikbook.com does still have the $178 rate for the Sofitel (the Water Tower one) for these dates.

The Quikbook rates - $205 SA/$165 SU/MO are what I was seeing on Orbitz earlier today.

[flygirl]

Thanks for the tip! (I'd given up on Orbitz, etc...because their rates for the Sofitel were so sky high a week or two ago. I guess you can never make assumptions...) I had never even heard of Quikbook, but will definitely put it on my list of sites to check when I'm looking for hotel deals :)

[AaronJB]

No problem! :)

Were you able to book the Sofitel through Quikbook (which still has the $178 rate) or are you still seeking a hotel? I'd be happy to help if you are.

[flygirl]

I went ahead and booked through Expedia, which still had a pretty good rate that was within budget for this trip...Thanks again! If you have any favorite hotels in Chicago, I'd love to hear about them. I end up in Chicago about once a year on business and never know where to stay.

[AaronJB]

The Indigo is a new favorite (lovely hardwood floors, pretty photo murals as the back wall of the room, a cool "beach house" theme), although it's not centrally located (it's about a 5 minute walk North of the Sofitel, in the Gold Coast area.) The Homewood Suites is another favorite (actually my favorite of the "all suite" properties), as is the Westin River North (the nicer of the two Westins, with a gorgeous lobby. My favorite of the historic properties is the Intercontinental, which has a pool area that makes you feel as if you stepped back in time (the pool was built in the late 20's, and was one of the first pools to be built on a higher floor.)

Other excellent hotels include the Swiss, Burnham, Monaco, Sofitel and a few others. My only issue with Chicago hotels is that the city does not have very many creative, hip hotels along the lines of the Morgans Hotels in NYC. Chicago hotels are largely "all-business" in style, aside from a few. The two W's in Chicago get some pretty mixed reviews, largely because they took old, basic properties and tried to work with them (the W Lakeshore was formerly a Days Inn.)

It'll be interesting to see the new hotels opening in Chicago in the new couple of years, including a new Renaissance in a historic building on South Michigan and the Mandarin Oriental The Morgans Hotel group is also opening a hotel here in 2010.

[flygirl]

Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely look into the Indigo next time I'm in town. The Sofitel had consistently good reviews, so I'm pleased to have found good rates there. I love a hotel that can do something out of the ordinary, but I also know what loyalty points can do for you if you're a frequent traveler, so the inner conflict is always whether to go for the "boutique" experience or the loyalty points!

I'm also going to NYC end of August...nice to hear a good review of the Morgans properties. My coworker and I looked at the Morgans Hotel and since I'll have a friend or two with me, I opted for the Westin (larger rooms!), but it did look like a cool place :) Are you familiar with NYC hotels? I'm also very tempted by the Library Hotel and the Dylan.

Thanks again!

[AaronJB]

Not terribly familiar with NYC hotels, but a family member loved both the Hilton Times Square and Intercontinental Barclay when I got both hotels for them during their last NYC visit. If I was given the choice of one four star to try in NYC, I'd probably go with the Library, as well - looks like a very cute little hotel.