Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (NMA-River North) Westin River North

[lasik1]

Went to $150 on Priceline-no dice. :)

[lasik1]

I'm trying to book a 4* for 4/3-4/07-Miracle Mile- best I can do is $244 on HOTWIRE. If I pretend my trip is next week, on the same days of the week, ALL hotels are < $100. Is this a trend or am I hitting a large convention in early April?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

Rates are date specific, so it could be as simply as your dates have higher demand (convention or otherwise) than the dates you are comparing them against. There is a further discusion on pricing relative to early/late to check-in in our PRICELINE FAQ.

A quick look at your dates show the Friday and Saturday to be much more expensive (at may properties) than the other two nites... since this is in the middle of your stay, not sure if it will help, but is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

What is your maximum budget for this stay?

[lasik1]

I'm OK with $244 a night, but sure would like to do better! Splitting bid is not an option. Thanks.

[thereuare]

Have you been able to or tried to ID the HOTWIRE hotel? If so, what is it? If not, what are the amenities that HOTWIRE associates with the property... we'll then try to take a guess as the property and know what it is that we're trying to beat.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[lasik1]

details..Details for your 4-star hotel in North Michigan Avenue - Water Tower - Gold Coast

Hotel Details

Apr 3 - Apr 7

PricePerRoomPerson:$223

$254.00 Retail: $31.00 You save:

Hotel Amenities

Boutique Hotel

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

Customer Reviews

Traveler Rating(4.5 out of 5)

What's this? Based on:120+ customer reviewsLast Reviewed:March 2008

North Michigan Avenue - Water Tower - Gold Coast area map

[thereuare]

The above property has not yet been identified... it could be something such as the Whitehall (upgraded by HOTWIRE from 3.5*... but you may not consider it to be 4 stars) OR the Talbott which is in this zone and highly rated.

Did you want to try to beat this on PRICELINE? Given that you may not be comparing apples-to-apples (ie- the HOTWIRE 4* may not be a PRICELINE 4*) did you still want to use the hotwire price as your upper bidding limit?

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[lasik1]

I made a rack rate res. at the Peninsula and will check back on the HOTWIRE link daily- any idea if there is a general time they update?

[thereuare]

The rates are changed by the hotels, so they're done constantly and continuously througout the day (ie- not that one hotel is changing rates all day long, but rates HotelA can change their rates at 11am while HotelB changes their rates as 2pm, etc)

What is your rack rate at the Penninsula.

[AaronJB]

I'm guessing the original poster's rack rate at the Peninsula is north of $500.

I'm guessing the 4.5/5 rated North Michigan Ave/GC/WT HOTWIRE is the Talbott. It isn't the Whitehall, which is much lower rated on TA.

[lasik1]

Peninsula is $695. I offered $690, but they turned me down...

[thereuare]

Are you ultimately willing to pay $695 for a room at the Penninsula? I'm sure we can help you find more suitable back-ups between $250-$695.

[lasik1]

Peninsula is great esp. since my wife has decided to go w/me. Rates are improving- found a 4* Mag. mile for $216.

17%

savingsper room

$216

$259.00 Retail: $43.00 You save:

Hotel Amenities

Fitness Center

Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply.

Restaurant(s)

Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary.

Business Center

Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply.

High-speed Internet Access

Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply.

[thereuare]

Please don't copy/paste the entire HOTWIRE page as we end up just having to edit/format your post to make it readable... if you copy/paste please read your post afterwards and edit accordingly.

The property above matches the Hilton Conrad, Hard Rock, Hyatt (sometimes), and Westin River North so any one of these properties is likely. With no additional information provided by HOTWIRE it's hard to say which one this would be.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[lasik1]

This one seems nicer, more specifics as well- ideas? North Michigan/ water tower

Check in:silkCheckInDate:Thu, Apr 3, 2008Check out:silkCheckOutnDate:Mon, Apr 7, 2008Hotel name:Hotwire Hotel Supplier

per nightsilkPricePerRoomPerson:$199

$254.00 Retail: $55.00 You save:

Hotel Amenities

Boutique Hotel

Property offers a distinctive, unique or eclectic atmosphere. Many boutique hotels are smaller, hip properties in an urban setting, or renovated hotels with historical flair.Fitness Center

Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply. Restaurant(s)

Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary.Business Center

Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply. High-speed Internet Access

Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply.Golf Nearby

Property is located within walking distance or a short drive of at least one golf course; an extra charge typically applies.

Customer Reviews

Traveler Rating(4.5 out of 5)

What's this? Based on:120+ customer reviewsLast Reviewed:March 2008

[thereuare]

Please don't copy/paste the entire HOTWIRE page as we end up just having to edit/format your post to make it readable... if you copy/paste please read your post afterwards and edit accordingly.

Hotel Amenities

Boutique Hotel

Property offers a distinctive, unique or eclectic atmosphere. Many boutique hotels are smaller, hip properties in an urban setting, or renovated hotels with historical flair.Fitness Center

Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply. Restaurant(s)

Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary.Business Center

Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply. High-speed Internet Access

Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply.Golf Nearby

Property is located within walking distance or a short drive of at least one golf course; an extra charge typically applies.

OR

Hotel Amenities

Boutique Hotel

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

Keep an eye on this Chicago Hotwire thread.

[lasik1]

4* NMA-Water Tower $225, 4/3-4/7

Found a 4* w/the following:

Suite

Pool

Fitness Ctr

Restaurant

Biz Ctr

Hi speed net

$225/nt-Ideas?

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread...

The above is a match for the Omni so that would be our best guess.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[lasik1]

ONE MORE w/a Spa! Ideas?

Mag mile/Streeterville- $185 (comp $294)

Spa(or access)

Pool

Restaurant

Biz Ctr

Tennis nearby

Hi speed net

Fitness Ctr Thanks and sorry for the misfires.....

[lasik1]

Success- $175 Priceline bid accepted for Westin River North. Not my first choice, but I save $500 a night over the Peninsula, and that means dinner at Alinea, Everest and Gibson's- Thanks.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your victory! :)

Glad to hear you got this one settled and are happy with the results.

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

Enjoy your stay (and meals!)

[lasik1]

An ethics question: I have a Priceline res. for 4 nights at $175/nt in a week.

Using Hotwire 1 day prior to arrival, I find a nicer hotel(identified with this site) for $89.

I purchased the Priceline trip insurance for $5 a night.

Is it ethical to cancel the PRICELINE res. and go with HOTWIRE for half the price?

[mrxow]

I didn't even know they offered insurance. Shows how much I read sometimes...

From what I see, and I may be wrong - certainly let me know if the terms are different - the reason for enacting the insurance has to be valid, such as documenatable illness without precondition, lost travel documents or something like that. It appears you will have to make something up. Also, I read a post somewhere, a little old so it may not be accurate, that somebody was required to document everything when they made a claim. They had a real medical emrgency, but when it came to documenting it, they said a previous stroke is a pre-existing medical condition for having another stroke (not so sure I agree with that) and denied the claim.

The insurance I read about was a real insurance policy paid out by an insurance company, not some backroom deal between the hotels and priceline where the hotels let the people out of their reservation should they have a problem.

So it looks to me that you would have to lie about why you want out of your priceline reservation. And you would have to lie in writing to get the claim approved. And if you were successful, an insurance company would have to pay you back - Priceline and the hotel get to keep their money. So everybody else's insurance costs are going to go up so you can save some money.

Sorry, no, not ethical.