Priceline Hotel: travelling with a family of four

[nsm]

I will be in chicago for 2 nights, Aug 6-8 and want a room for 2 kids, ages 9 and 12, and my husband. Should I just pay retail to assure 2 beds? What is everyone's experience? Thanks.

[bbbb]

You can use HOTWIRE and select 2 adults and two children.

[AaronJB]

What is your max budget per night?

[nsm]

somewhere around $175 I should think.

[thereuare]

It's a risk, one which you only can decide if it's right for you and your family. (see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ for a further discussion)

If you'd like to take the chance we can suggest a bidding strategy for you to follow.

If you'd rather thak the "safe" route, you could book the Sheraton Towers for $170/nite for 2adults/2children.

Let us know your thoughts and we'll take it from there.

[nsm]

Sheraton Towers seems very far away from the El, but quite swank. I was hoping to stay closer to the Loop, as my good friend lives walking distance from the ESSEX Inn, a bit icky I think. Have Chicago hotels been generous in the past with double bedded rooms through bidding on Priceline? I've read the FAQs, I understand the terms....and no whinning. Thanks.

[AaronJB]

Some Chicago hotels have been okay with doubles (The Hyatt, while not the best hotel, is one that comes to mind), some are notoriously not (the Palmer House, for example.) Some hotels have very small rooms, as well - they're older city properties (Palmer House, The Burnham, the Hilton and Towers, the Millennium Knickerbocker, the Drake, a few others). Again, you take the risk.

The Sheraton isn't that far from the subway - it'd say it's probably about 6 blocks or so from the Lake Red Line station. It's not a favorite hotel of mine (I thought it was pretty average last time I stayed there), but it's in a great area by Navy Pier and 3 blocks from Michigan Ave. shopping.

Personally, I'd recommend staying in the River North/North Michigan Ave. area and then if you do want to visit the Loop, it's really not that big of a commute. I could probably walk from the Sheraton to the Essex in 30 minutes or less. There's nothing going on in the Loop on most nights; at least in the River North/NMA area there will be more activity and restaurants to choose from.

[AaronJB]

If you do want to be right by a subway stop, the Hampton Inn River North (the one on 33 Illinois, not the Hampton Majestic) is $199 for these dates on Hotels.com . A bit more than you wanted to spend, but this hotel would be 1 block from a subway station and would also offer free breakfast. There's also a few large grocery stores within a few blocks if you wanted to get snacks/meals and take them back to the hotel.

[AaronJB]

If you're driving in, you can stay outside the city for much cheaper - I'm seeing a potentially nice option for $65 - but it requires a pretty decent (40-50 minute or so?) drive in.

[ehaibo]

I just had great trip in Chicago from June 30 - July 4 and stayed in Intercontential of Chicago (4 star) . We have family of four with 2 kids. Initally, we were given one king bed, but I called the front desk and requested 2 double beds. They were very nice and we were given 2 double beds upon arrival. I think if you book these 4 stars hotels. most of them will honor your request. Good luck

[nsm]

We aren't driving, we/re staying with my friend for 3 days and then to a hotel that I wanted to be close enough to the art institute that I could almost seemingly stumble into the museum with my two sports avid children, and near the park so they could throw balls at each other, with a pool....

My friend suggested the essex inn, a bit tired I'm sure - but has a pool and a decent locatiion. You think the Sheraton is a better choice? I'm not intersted in shopping, just hanging around the city for a couple moe days and letting my family see Chciago, a place I used to live.

[thereuare]

AaronJB will probably be able to answer better, but i'm going to guess tha the Sheraton would be hands down better than the Essex Inn (based upon star class alone, a wide margin between the two).

[AaronJB]

My issues with the Sheraton included so-so service, average rooms (seemed sparse, but clean), above-average hall and pipe noise and fees and costs that seemed above-average even for a downtown hotel. The public areas of the hotel were very nice and elegant, but you can find similar public areas (see the Wyndham, which is a few blocks away) that pull off the same look, only better. The Sheraton also does have views going for it, though; most (but not all) rooms do offer very nice views of the river, lake, surrounding area or some combo of those 3.

I wrote parent company Starwood with a list of constructive criticism and they were very responsive, even if the hotel was not.

That said, give me the choice of staying at the Essex or Sheraton for the same price and I'll take the Sheraton without hesitation. The area around the Sheraton is a very nice part of the downtown and one of my favorite stops - the Fox and Obel Market and Cafe - is a block away. Navy Pier and the lakefront are a few blocks East, Michigan Ave. a few blocks West. Even if you're not interested in shopping, it's nice to be in an area where there's more people about at night and more of a restaurant selection.

The Essex, on the other hand, gets some very mixed reviews and while that area is okay during the day, it's very quiet at night, as there's nothing going on down that way. Stores close in the loop fairly early, restaurants close, etc. The Loop in general can be surprisingly empty at night. There's been times when I've been in the Loop at around 8pm and felt like I had the place to myself.