Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (Millenium-Loop-Grant Park) Hilton Chicago

[zink88]

Traveling to Chicago with wife and 2 kids April 1-4. Hotwire has 4-star hotel in Museum Campus - McCormick Place - Soldier Field for $104 per night indicating a savings of $103 per night. Amenities include Fitness Center, Restaurant, Pool, High Speed Internet (extra charges may apply) and Business Center. TripAdvisor customer reviews 4.0 on 220+ reviews.

Any ideas?

Also, are the 4* Chicago Hotels unlikely to be able to provide a rollaway bed if I go priceline as rates seem to be better? My wife and daughters can share a bed and me on the rollaway. If necessary, the youngest could sleep on the floor.

[AaronJB]

1. The problem with the 4* McCormick Place/Soldier Field/Museum Campus hotel is that it could be the Hyatt McCormick Place or Hilton Towers. I DO see that the tripadvisor rating on the detail page for the listing that you are looking at is 4/5 (you may want to confirm for yourself) and that would be a match for the Hilton. However, while the Hilton appears likely I can't 100% guarantee that it's not still somehow the Hyatt.

The problem with the Hyatt is simply that it's in the middle of nowhere, really. It is a great hotel if you have to be at McCormick place . It is not a good hotel if you are coming to see the city. The Hyatt is a bit of a ways South; you have to take the train or shuttle to the hotel.

The Hilton is in the South Loop area, which, while not entirely optimal either (there's not too much around it aside from college buildings and apartments), is certainly a better (easy walk to the Art Institute, not too far from the museums or State St. shopping. Longer walk to Michigan Ave. shopping.) location. The Hilton is a very nice, very historic property.

2. Priceline with 4 people, in my opinion, is an "at your own risk" situation. With Priceline in this situation:

Pros:

A. You could potentially get a more centrally located hotel, or get the Hilton for a little cheaper.

B. You could try bidding for the River North/North Michigan Ave. area if you wanted.

Cons:

A. It all comes down to which hotel you get and the day. There are some hotels where you will likely have to really work with the hotel to get two beds on a Priceline reservation (some may try to charge you more - while that seems fairly rare, it does happen), and there are some where you will likely encounter little resistance. Priceline does only guarantee 1 bed.

With the 4* Hotwire listing you are seeing, you are guaranteed bedding for all members of your party. With Priceline, if you do get an accepted bid, I don't think it's going to be much below ($85-90 might work for a 4* either major downtown area? Or at least be a reasonable starting bid.) that of the listing you're seeing on Hotwire.

If you decide to take the potential 4* Hilton, please use the site's HOTWIRE link to start your purchase. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will be monitoring the thread to see if you need any help, as will board moderator thereuare.

[thereuare]

Have you tried bidding for your Priceline NYC stay? Please follow-up that thread with an update.

Thanks.

[zink88]

I was worried that the Hotwire hotel would not be centrally located. I currently have a cancellable reservation at the Hyatt Regency Chicago for $149 as my backup. Since I'm not traveling for eight weeks, I've been low-ball bidding Priceline on a 4* in the NMA and MP/LGA area starting at $63 and going only up to $73, using MA as my free rebid. So far rejected every time, but I haven't been too concerned given how far in advance I'm bidding and how low my bids have been. Most winning bids I've seen are for travel dates only 1 to 3 weeks out from the bid.

I understand Pricelines policy of guaranteeing only lodging for 2 people. If the savings are signficant, we're willing to have one of us sleep on blankets on the floor each night. We will be getting in late the first night (after 10:00 pm) so if the hotel is heavily booked I figure there's a stronger chance the hotel may not be able to accommodate a request for two beds, but hopefully they could get us one for nights 2 and 3.

In response to THEREUARE's question, I haven't placed any bids yet in NYC as we aren't traveling there until the end of June and I'm more concerned about being unable to get 2 beds there. I'm leaning towards waiting to see how the Chicago experience goes.

I'll continue to watch for deals in Chicago on Hotwire and elsewhere as the date gets closer and probably continue trying to luck into a deal on Priceline. I'm hoping for selfish reasons the current state of the economy dampens hotel interest for the next few months. Are there any major conventions in Chicago April 1 through 4?

[thereuare]

I haven't placed any bids yet in NYC as we aren't traveling there until the end of June and I'm more concerned about being unable to get 2 beds there. I'm leaning towards waiting to see how the Chicago experience goes.

Please only ask for a strategy/help once you are ready to bid and/or commit to a purchase. As per your reply you won't be bidding on that stay for at least 2 months, and the strategies suggested are based upon current rates and offerings, which are likely to change between now and then.

[zink88]

We currently have cancellable reservations at the Ambassodor East for these 3 nights at $105 per night. I've been bidding for 4* in the $62 to $72 range with no luck so far (last year in early April there were at least four 4* wins for $61 to $72). I know there is a large convention with 28,000 delegates that ends on April 1. Would it be better to bid April 2-4 separately since this starts one day removed from the convention ending? With 5+ weeks until our trip, I have plenty of time to try different strategies.

[AaronJB]

If the convention ends on April 1, then it should have no effect on hotel traffic, as those people would be departing. I would continue to work up very slowly. Additionally, last year should not be considered, as rates continue to go upward year-after-year.

[zink88]

Have been bidding for the past 2 months in the $60 to $72 range for 4* in MP and NMA. Approximately 1 week ago got my first counteroffer of $90 for a $65 bid on 4* in MP. Declined and bid higher by $1 increments by adding NMA and Midway. Each day I would start at $65 again. On the third day after receiving my first counteroffer, the counteroffer had increased to $93 and remained there each of the past 3 or 4 days.

Additional information:

When placing bid on only NMA at $65 each of the past several days, received counter offer of $145.

There were days when I bid $65 for MP, got counteroffer of $93 to which I declined, added Midway and bid something like $74 and was declined. I would close browser and rebid MP/NMA for $75 and got higher counteroffer of $97.

I had as a backup a $105 Travelzoo rate at the Ambassador East locked in during a special several weeks ago.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your ultimate success.

Glad to see you save some money over your back-up property and hoefully you're happy with the results.

Thaks for sharing your win with the board.

Enjoy your stay.