Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (NMA-River North) Sheraton Hotel and Towers

[Eric22]

My wife and I will be in Chicago this coming week, from 6/23 - 6/27. We could stay with family but would MUCH prefer a place to ourselves downtown or in Lincoln Park area. I looked at Hotwire for these dates and got a very limited selection of hotels, with 3.5 and 4 stars going for about $400/night, which is well above our budget of $150. I also bid on Priceline for 3 and 4 star hotels up to 130 and was rejected. I'm not sure what to do. These prices seem significantly higher than what others have been reporting in Chicago. Is this a very popular week in the city? Am I doing his too late? Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I will be sure to use your links.

Thanks.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site! :)

I believe there's a convention going on during at least part of this time period. If you look on Hotwire for the last two dates of your stay only, then you will find significantly different prices, including a 3.5* Mag Mile/Streeterville property for $115 (you may see a slightly different price) that looks promising.

For the first couple of days, you could attempt bidding on Priceline to get a room downtown, but I think it's going to take a high bid or may not be accepted at all due to the lack of rooms, as many hotels are sold out. The Hilton Garden Inn at $279 is the cheapest regular rate hotel I'm seeing for the first two days, and if you use promo code SUMMERFAM on Orbitz.com, that's 10% off = $251.10.

You could also bid on Priceline for all four days, but again, I think you may run into trouble with that due to the situation on the first two days. The only other issue with Priceline at this point is that you would have to bid to about your max, because if your bids weren't accepted, you would not be able to bid again until tomorrow.

You could also stay in the burbs for the first two days and just take public transit in. I could definitely suggest some very nice suburban options.

So you definitely do have some options - let us know what sounds appealing and we would be happy to help plan.

Thank you for offering to use the site's links to HOTWIRE or PRICELINE

[Eric22]

Thanks for the speedy reply! As you suggested, I think I will use hotwire for the nights of the 25th and the 26th. There seem to be a few nice options for those nights and I was wondering if you had any suggestions. I'm leaning towards the two 3.5* hotels for price reasons but if there was a major quality difference I might splurge for either the 4* or the 4.5*. Here they are.

4.5-star hotel in Magnificent Mile Area - Streeterville for $179 w/

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

Pool(s)

Business Center

3.5-star hotel in Magnificent Mile Area - Streeterville for $115 w/

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

Pool(s)

Business Center

3.5-star hotel in North Michigan Avenue - Water Tower - Gold Coast for $119 w/

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

Business Center

4-star hotel in Magnificent Mile Area - Streeterville for $168 w/

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

Pool(s)

Business Center

Tennis Nearby

Spa Services

[AaronJB]

I would definitely recommend the 3.5* Mag Mile/Streeterville for $115 out of the bunch. I'm not exactly sure which hotel this is, as it has not been identified yet - it may be the Marriott, as the 3.5/5 tripadvisor rating would match. It could also be the newly renovated Doubletree.

However, I wouldn't recommend the 3.5* NMA (likely the Allerton). The 4.5* Mag Mile/Streeterville is likely the Itnercontinental and the 4* is likely the Swiss. While the Swiss and Intercontinental are very nice hotels, when you can get the 3.5* in the same area for $60+ less per night, save the $60 bucks and put it towards other things (a nice dinner, museums, etc.)

Additionally, the money you save from taking the less expensive 3.5* Mag Mile/Streeterville property instead of a more expensive hotel on these dates can be put towards the cost of hotel on the more expensive first two dates.

[Eric22]

After poking around a bit and seeing that all the HOTWIRE prices had gone up, I tried PRICELINE again for 6/25-6/27. For a "4 Star Deluxe Hotel, North Michigan Ave - River North Area", we bid $85 (rejected), $99 (rejected), and our $110 bid was accepted :) . We will staying at the

Sheraton Chicago Hotel Tower 4-star

North Michigan Ave - River North Area

301 East North Water Street

Chicago, Illinois 60611

I used your PRICELINE links. Thanks so much for the prompt and detailed help.

-Eric

[AaronJB]

The area around the Sheraton is one of the more pleasant in the city. Congrats on your win.

A recommendation for lunch, dinner, breakfast or just a treat would be the Fox and Obel Gourmet Market and Cafe (very nice market and reasonable gourmet cafe with great food), which is only a couple of blocks East on Illinois (it is at the Corner of Illinois and McClurg.) Fox-obel.com is the website.