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

[marcygiff]

I need help on bidding for 3 rooms in a 4* or better downtown Chicago hotel for June 19-22. We want to be as close to Michigan Ave. as we can.

[thereuare]

To clarify "close" to Michigan Avenue... is anywhere within the NMA-River North zone acceptable? How about the Loop zone?

OR do you want to consider HOTWIRE, which will usually cost a little more than PRICELINE, but you can try to take an educated guess as to the hotel that is being offered beforehand, and therefore have a guess as to how close to Michigan Avenue the property is located.

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

Let us know how you'd like to proceed, as well as your maximum budget per room per nite (before taxes and fees) and we'll advise accordingly.

[marcygiff]

O.K., here's the situation. The other two couples we are going with are staying at the Sheraton Towers with the free points they have accumulated. We realize that it is going to be virtually impossible to get the Sheraton for a reasonable price in comparison to what we'll get elsewhere. It appears that most are getting the Hilton for under $70 for that weekend and a few are getting the Hyatt Regency.

We are only staying two nights, 6/19-6/21 and we need one room. We would like to stay under $70/night but would be willing to go higher if someone can suggest a way to get the Sheraton for under $100/night (obviously not through Priceline or Hotwire). The lowest nightly rate I've found anywhere else is $195/night and that just isn't an option.

Any suggestions???

[AaronJB]

Personally - and this is just my 2 cents - be happy if you don't stay at the Sheraton. While using points is great, I think that's the weakest of the 4*'s North of the river (again, my 2 cents.)

HOTWIRE has a 4.5* in the Mag Mile/Streeterville with the amenities: fitness, business, restaurant and internet for $109, which is likely the Intercontinental. That is only a couple of blocks (literally) from the Sheraton. There is also a 4* Mag Mile/Streeterville with fitness, business, internet, restaurant, spa for $89, which is likely the Hyatt (also close to the Sheraton.) Personally, I'd rather recommend the Intercontinental, which is a nicer property.

Either of those two properties would be within a few minutes walk of the Sheraton. If you use PRICELINE, you risk getting a different property further away.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE link to start your purchase.

[marcygiff]

That is awesome info!! Thanks so much!! I've always wanted to stay at the Intercontinental anyway. I'll keep you posted!

[marcygiff]

We are leaving for Chicago Friday morning and were waiting until payday today to get our room. It appears that the prices for the 4* - likely Sheraton or Hyatt are going up.

Any idea on the likelyhood of them going down in the next couple days if I wait or am I better off just going ahead and getting it at $103? We are going with people who are staying at the Sheraton Chicago Towers and want to be as close to them as possible.

[AaronJB]

Merged your two threads.

Additionally, just to clarify, are you looking at 6-19/21 or 6-19/22?

Also, when you say that you want to be close to the Sheraton, what would be the max walking distance in terms of minutes you would want to be away from the Sheraton? I ask this because you could probably get a cheaper rate via PRICELINE in the NMA area, but that may put you as far as a 15 minute walk from the Sheraton. HOTWIRE would be more expensive, but you could have a better idea of what hotels were showing and try to get something close to the Sheraton.

Additionally, I'm seeing a different 4* Mag Mile showing for these dates then when I looked a couple days ago.

[marcygiff]

Merged your two threads.

Additionally, just to clarify, are you looking at 6-19/21 or 6-19/22?

Also, when you say that you want to be close to the Sheraton, what would be the max walking distance in terms of minutes you would want to be away from the Sheraton? I ask this because you could probably get a cheaper rate via PRICELINE in the NMA area, but that may put you as far as a 15 minute walk from the Sheraton. HOTWIRE would be more expensive, but you could have a better idea of what hotels were showing and try to get something close to the Sheraton.

Additionally, I'm seeing a different 4* Mag Mile showing for these dates then when I looked a couple days ago.

The dates are 6/19 -6/21. We cut a day off our trip because of the other couples' flights. We would prefer to be no more than a 5-10 minute walk from the Sheraton. The closer, the better. If the 4* is now @ $103 and the 4.5* is $109, we might as well go with the 4.5* but our preference is really the proximity of the hotels more than the price at this point.

[AaronJB]

The 4* Mag Mile/Streeterville that I'm seeing shows: fitness, business, restaurant, internet, which would lead me to believe that it's likely either the Hard Rock or Westin River North; while both would fit within a 5-10 minute walk to the Sheraton, they would be a bit further than the Hyatt.

The 4.5* is still likely the Intercontinental. In terms of the Intercontinental, you would just take the side street that goes along the South face of the hotel, which then leads to a drive that goes next to NBC tower. Walk to the South side of NBC Tower, then walk half a block East. Sheraton is right there - can't miss it. Probably a 2 to 3 minute walk, at most. It would be the closest hotel HOTWIRE is showing to the Sheraton.

In terms of PRICELINE, you could bid for a 4* in the River North/NMA area. Worst case scenario (in terms of distance) you would get the Drake or Millennium Knickerbocker, which would be about a 15-17 minute walk from the Sheraton. Best case you'd get something closer. Bidding on PRICELINE would result in a cheaper rate, but less control over where in the NMA area you wound up.

If the $109 rate of the 4.5* HOTWIRE is within your budget and location is most important, I'd take that.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE link.

[marcygiff]

You've been so helpful, I'm going to bug you with a couple more questions. I'm just trying to get all the information I possibly can before making a final decision.

Prices appear to be rising on Hotwire so I'm flipping back and forth between going ahead with Hotwire or trying our luck on Priceline.

I received a Trip Watcher e-mail this afternoon with a 4* @ $87/night in Mag Mile area and when going to Hotwire, it shows $123. Is it likely to keep going up or do they sometimes drop closer to the date if not booked?

On the calendar of wins for Priceline, it appears that it is split almost 50/50 between the Hyatt (where we want to be) and the Hilton (which isn't ideal) between $60 and $80/night. Do you have an educated guess or feel based on what you have seen on which one is more likely? Is that even possible?

If I go the Priceline route, what would the bidding strategy be? I really want to stay under $100/night total ($83 bid price) if at all possible.

Thanks so much!!!!

[AaronJB]

Personally, I'd recommend bidding for River North/NMA instead. Worst case scenario for that bid would be the Millennium Knickerbocker or Drake, which would be an easier walk to the Sheraton than the Hilton in the Loop area would be. Plus, at least in the NMA area, you could walk to the Sheraton via some of the pretty side streets, or along the lake path.

Plus, if you bid for River North/NMA, you could potentially get either the Sheraton or Intercontinental (for quality sake, lets hope the Intercontinental - in terms of convenience, the Sheraton would be preferred.) Plus, there's more restaurants and more going on in the River North/NMA area.

In terms of bidding for Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park, there's no way to guarantee not getting the Hilton (or Palmer House) instead of the Hyatt. The Hyatt generally is the only hotel to accept rock bottom ($55-65) bids, but again, there's no guarantee that a different hotel won't come up.

If you are going to bid for a 4* in the Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park area, I'd try at $60, while if you are going to bid in the River North/NMA area for a 4* (which I'd recommend), I'd try $75.

If you want to show your friends a nice place to grab a bite near their hotel, Fox and Obel Market and Cafe (fox-obel.com) is a couple of blocks East of that hotel, on the corner of Illinois and McClurg - lovely (and reasonable, considering the ingredients) cafe (breakfast/lunch/dinner) and beautiful gourmet market.

Please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links.

[marcygiff]

O.K.

I bid as follows:

NMA - 4* - $75 Rejected

Add Skokie - 4* - $76 Rejected

Add Lincoln Park - 4* - $77 Rejected

Add Midway - 4* - $78 Rejected

Add O'Hare South - 4* - $79 Rejected

Now what?

[AaronJB]

Try again tomorrow starting at $80.

[marcygiff]

Millenium Park/Loop/Grant- 4* - $70 Rejected

Add Skokie - 4* - $72 Accepted

Palmer House

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up.

Hope you enjoyed your stay.