Priceline Hotel: 3* Chicago (NMA-River North) Holiday Inn Mart Plaza

[malone]

My family plans to go to Chicago July 8-11, and we would like to stay on or close to Michigan Avenue. We plan to walk to the Oriental Theatre at the Ford Center (just south of the river), American Girl Place (Chicago Ave.), and we have tickets for a Cubs game. (probably won't walk there).

Can you help us with a strategy for finding a good deal? With internet searching I have found that most hotels are $179 and up, and I would love to get a better deal than that. We would like a 3 or 4 star, centrally located. Is it better to book a hotel now via Hotwire or Priceline, or wait until closer?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site. :)

It does depend on how many in your party. PRICELINE does guarantee only 1 bed, and while the hotel may give you two beds, it's not 100% guaranteed. It depends on the day, depends on the hotel and could depend even on who you talk to. If you want to take that risk, we would be happy to suggest a bidding strategy.

If you want to look to HOTWIRE, the one thing I'm seeing when I look up both adults and children is what appears to be the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza. That hotel is not centrally located, but it's not bad, either. It is in the West Loop, along the river - it's about a 10-15 minute walk along the river to get to Michigan Ave.

However, it *WOULD* be closer to the Oriental Theatre and there is a "L" station right there, which would - with one transfer - take you to Wrigley Field.

So there are some benefits to the location.

The Holiday Inn appears as a 3* In the Mag Mile/Streeterville area with the amenities: internet, laundry, business, restaurant, pool, fitness. I see it as $119, you may see a slightly different price.

Other than that, I'm really not seeing much of anything on HOTWIRE.

[malone]

Thank you. We have one child, a 10 year old, so it would be nice to have two beds. But if a PRICELINE room was a king bed, I guess that would be okay, but not our preference.

Do you think we would have better luck with HOTWIRE if we wait a while to bid?

[AaronJB]

I would strongly suggest booking something for the Summer as soon as possible. If you are interested in PRICELINE, I'd start low now and work up. Believe me, hotels will be a lot more expensive closer to the dates. Last Summer, 3* and 4*'s $250-300+ were not uncommon, and more than that if something was occuring (An example of price/demand: Gospel Fest occurs during the last day or so of May and the first couple of days in June. The few hotels remaining are $500 dollars and up.) on the dates. If anything's happening, the combination of tourists and business (a convention) just leads available rooms to dry up very quick.

If you do prefer the NMA area, I'd start bidding for a 4* in the River North/North Michigan Ave. area at $85. That very well may not be accepted, but it's a starting point that - based upon the prices I'm seeing - is not unreasonable and is within the realm of possibility.

[malone]

We booked our hotel on PRICELINE via your link today. We wound up with the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza for $115.

3 star, North Michigan Ave, Chicago, Holiday Inn Mart Plaza

July 8-11, $115.00 per night plus taxes

Bid History:

4* NMA, $92.00, rejected

added 3* NMA $93.00, rejected

Re-opened and chose 4* Loop $98.00, rejected

Added 4* NMA $108.00 and rejected

Re-opened and bid 4* NMA and Loop $112.00, rejected

Added 3* NMA and Loop, $115, accepted

So it is just barely cheaper than it would have been booking it on HOTWIRE, but apparently a good deal compared to summer Chicago rates in general, and a lot cheaper than the hotel's website rate.

Please move my post to the Priceline forum if you would like.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win.

Thank you for sharing it with the board and for using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

One comment regarding your bidding above, you raised your bid while lowering your star rating, which is not really recommended as it can often lead to an overbid. Feel free to ask for help and/or confirm your strategy before bidding for yoru next hotel stay as you may be able to save a few extra dollars.

Glad to hear you're happy with the results and have a great time in Chicago.

Thanks again.

[malone]

One comment regarding your bidding above, you raised your bid while lowering your star rating, which is not really recommended as it can often lead to an overbid. Feel free to ask for help and/or confirm your strategy before bidding for yoru next hotel stay as you may be able to save a few extra dollars.

I see what you mean. If we do it again we will know better. I wonder if we had kept with 4* if we would have ever gotten a bid accepted, but now I wish we would have tried it that way.

[AaronJB]

I think this'll work out well in ways. It's not that long a walk to Michigan Ave. and it's a nice walk along the river to Michigan Ave. Plus, "L" is right there next to your hotel - take that North to Belmont and change at Belmont to the Red Line and then take that a couple of stops North to Addison and you're at Wrigley. Want to head to the Art Institute? Take the "L" South around the loop to Adams and walk a couple blocks East. Want to see the Sears Tower, get on the "L" and head a couple of stops South to Quincy. Sears Tower's right there.

[MissPoofy]

I'm staying at the same hotel on Thursday. Any suggestions?