Hotwire Hotel: downtown chicago 4/24-4/26

[frugalmom]

Am planning a girls getaway weekend for 4/24-4/26. Hotwire shows for Magnificent Mile-Streeterville a 4.5 star (fitness, restaruant, business center, high speed internet) for $124/nt and a 4 star (smoke-free, exercise,pool, restaurant, business center, high speed internet) for $89. Any idea on the identites of teh two and recommendations on which has more spacious rooms? Better location? We're more interested in nightlife than shopping. Also, we're not sure how many will actually show. I was thinking of just bidding for 2 people per room and assuming we'd probably get 2 queens per room - plenty for an extra body. Is that a reasonable assumption for these hotels? Do you think I"ll get a better rate if I wait a bit? Finally, we need 2 or 3 rooms. If I purchase on hotwire can I be somewhat sure I can get neighboring rooms? Thanks!!

[yellowdog]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

just a few pointers to help you with the stay.

You must search for the amount of rooms/people you need to do a proper ID of the expected hotel. You can't search for 1 room and expect to get X amount rooms at the same hotel. I would search for max rooms/people to get an idea what to expect.

And buying 1 room at the time don't guarantee that you will get the same hotel 3 times in a row. Since inventory change all the time.

We have a very good member for Chicago area so I'm sure he we join the post and can shine some light over the bed question, location etc. But you need to know the correct amount of rooms you need for the stay.

YellowDog.

[frugalmom]

Sorry, I probably didn't make myself very clear. I am planning to bid for the number of rooms needed all at once, I'm just not sure if there will be 2 or 3 people staying in all those rooms. I don't want to pay extra, but I don't want to, say, get stuck in a room with one queen if we end up having 3 in a given room. Thanks!

[AaronJB]

In terms of having multiple beds per room on HOTWIRE, you have to search for more than 2 people. If you search for 3 people per room, you will be assured of some sort of bedding for that amount of people. However, in most cases, that will add some extra cost onto the room. If you search for 2 people and there are 3 people in the room, there's no guarantee of more than one bed - that would be something you would have to work out with the hotel and they would have the right to say no.

I would definitely not assume more than 1 bed per room; while there are definitely some exceptions, many Chicago hotels put a premium on rooms w/2 beds or simply have more rooms w/1 bed than 2.

In terms of nightlife, if you stay at a hotel in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area on HOTWIRE, you are not terribly far from the nightlife of the River North area. If you stay in a hotel in the North Michigan Ave/Gold Coast/Water Tower area, you're not terribly far from the Gold Coast nightlife. I would not stay South of the river if nightlife is what you're looking for.

Once you confirm the amount of people, then we can help narrow down some possibilities for hotel.