Priceline Hotel: 3* Chicago (Millenium-Loop-Grant Park) Hotel 71

[snarksnark]

Refused bids:

$100 4* Millenium-Loop-Grant Park 7/14/2008-7/16/2008

$85 3* NMA + Millenium-Loop-Grant Park 7/14/2008-7/17/2008

$90 4* NMA + Millennium-Loop-Grant Park + Midway 7/14/2008-7/17-2008

$80 4* NMA + Midway 7/14/2008-7/17/2008

Also, a bunch of other bids over the last few days ranging from $65 to $85 for 3* in the same areas have been rejected (no rebid offers).

So, should I go for two more nights at Hotel 71 at this rate, or play Wheel of Priceline for a 4* NMA (I don't want the Hyatt in the Loop) at up to $20 more?

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win and thank you for sharing it with the board.

How do you feel about this property and/or changing hotels during your stay? Does it work well for your needs?

If you decide to try for a different property, you could bid up to $20 more, and if rejected, return to your winning bid confirmation page and try to extend the stay. HOTWIRE can be another option which would allow you to choose a hotel in the Loop zone but be reaonably sure it's not the Hyatt by matching up the amenities (and not purchasing a hotel with the amenities which have previously been reported to be associated with that property)

Which are the dates you still need?

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

PS- if you don't choose to extend the stay, please start a NEW TOPIC for the balance of your trip. Thanks.

[snarksnark]

I'm vacationing in Chicago for the week.

I have the Hyatt Regency for Sunday 7/13 (now reported in another topic) and Hotel 71 for Monday 7/14 and Tuesday 7/15.

I need Wednesday 7/16, Thursday 7/17 and Friday 7/18. My reason for saying I don't want the Hyatt is just sour grapes at not getting the $65 rate which seems successful on other dates (such as for my accidental bid for two nights during the next week).

I will also need a hotel for Saturday 7/19, although it's a long drive home so I might want my Saturday hotel somewhere closer to Detroit or Cleveland so I don't have to drive all the way home on Sunday. For that, I'd settle for a Super 8.

I'll only have the option of extending Hotel 71 for two more days, so I'll be changing hotels again anyway. I suppose that means the best approach would be to try another $100 bid for the remaining three days, which might end up being Hotel 71 anyway. In that case my first bid would have to be for Loop, rather than for NMA which was my earlier pattern, but I'm not picky.

I see from TripAdvisor that Hotel 71 is getting mixed reviews, mostly on the basis that its restaurant is closed for renovations and the elevators are slow. I almost never eat at hotels, so this is no problem for me, but the reviews are not sufficiently positive that I'm jumping at the opportunity to request an extension.

I'm not inclined to go to Hotwire unless Priceline bids for $15/night under the Hotwire price at a given star level are rejected. I prefer cheap to choice at any given star level. I'm not familiar with any of the hotels in the area, and frankly I'm hoping the hotels are the least memorable part of the vacation (for any reason).

And I do try to help the site and start my bids off your PRICELINE link.

[snarksnark]

I may have dismissed thereuare's suggestion regarding HOTWIRE too quickly.

For comparison, Hotwire has the following properties for my remaining dates:

Loop 4* $129 (Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High Speed Internet) -- probably Palmer House Hilton?

Loop 3.5* $135 (Boutique, Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High Speed Internet) -- probably Hotel Allegro?

There are no similarly priced properties in NMA for those dates.

[snarksnark]

The saga ends, as reported elsewhere, with a $90 4* bid being accepted for the Palmer House Hilton for my remaining dates.

That is why I prefer PRICELINE to HOTWIRE.

[thereuare]

Glad you've completed your bookings and are happy with the results.

Thanks for sharing your win(s).