Priceline Hotel: Bid Strategy for Chicago Mich. Ave - River North

[Jgranted7]

4 Stars

Magnificent Mile Area - Streeterville

$87

Period of stay:

Mon, 7/27/09 - Thurs 7/30/09

Amenities:

- Fitness Center

- Restaurants

- Business Center

- High speed internet access

- Spa services

Any idea which hotel this could be?

Thank you!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site. :)

This is likely the Hyatt (on Wacker)

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

[Jgranted7]

Thank you very much!

[Jgranted7]

Hi,

I'm looking to stay in the Chicago Mich. Ave - River North on 7/27/09 - 7/30/09, for $60, or $65. It is very important to me, however, that I stay at a hotel with internet service in each room and that is as close as possible to the NBC Tower Plaza (Illinois and Michigan). The prices on Priceline seem better than Hotwire, but I'm nervous about which hotel I could end up with. Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

[AaronJB]

There's no way to specify the exact details of internet service within the hotel using PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, and by bidding on PRICELINE, you could potentially end up anywhere within the River North-NMA zone.

Additionally, $65 may not be enough for a 4* in the River North/NMA area. However, $60-65 would likely be enough for a 4* in the Millennium Park-Loop-Grant Park area.

Let us know your thoughts and we can then proceed with suggestions from there.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchase.

[Jgranted7]

If $60-65 is not enough for a 4* in the River North-NMA zone, then I am flexible on stars, with the lowest being a 3*. The most important factors to me are: (1) Location within the River North-NMA zone, (2) internet service, and (3) price ($60-65).

Thanks.

[Jgranted7]

One last question. I found this hotel on Hotwire (I'm obviously shopping between Hotwire / Priceline and leaning towards Hotwire because it's more simple to use) - any idea what hotel it might be?

3 Stars

Magnificent Mile Area - Streeterville

$73

Period of stay:

Mon, 7/27/09 - Thurs 7/30/09

Amenities:

- Fitness Center

- Business Center

- High speed internet access

Any idea which hotel this could be?

Thanks for all of your help!

[thereuare]

The amenities above match both the Holiday Inn Express Cass and the Inn of Chicago, but the TA info provided doesn't match either, so i'm not sure of this property.

However, note that this is over your stated $65 budget, is your budget more flexible than you previously stated, as rates aren't that high for your dates, and i think for an extra $10-$20 ($75-$85) you can get something much nicer than any of the 3* property(s) you are considering.

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

[Jgranted7]

Thanks for your continued help - it is much appreciated! I guess I could go up to between 75-85 for my price. However, it is still very important to be close to the that location (NBC Tower plaza, by the river), and to have internet access included (preferably with no extra charges). For that price and date range (7/27-7/30), do you have any suggestions for which hotel to bid on using HOTWIRE?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the Magnificent Mile-Streeterville zone with:

Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Spa and a Tripadvisor rating of 3.5/5.0 with 560+ reviews.

This would be a match for the Hyatt Regency which would appear to be very close to your desired location (but you should doublecheck yourself)

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

Does this work for your needs?

[gremdrvr]

A couple of tips that work for me for Chicago bidding (I live in the city):

I've won many PRICELINE bids for 4*, $70-$80 range in N Mich Ave area, $60 in Loop and Streeterville.

I'd recommend adding Lincoln Park as a "null" neighborhood if you are only searching 4* properties in the N Mich Ave area (no 4* in lincoln park).

HOTWIRE tip--you can usually narrow down the possible hotels pretty closely. Pick the two or three hotels that have a good price/location/****, then write down all of the "hotel amenities" icons next to each. Then, search the "Hotel + Car" vacation packages for your dates, sort by star level. Click on a hotel in your chosen neighborhood (you see the hotel names/addresses on the "packages" page). Click on "see hotel amenities." You will notice the same little icons as on the "blind" hotel page. If the hotel has an uncommon amenity ("all-suite," "tennis nearby" or "spa") then there is a pretty good chance that you can match this to the "blind" page.

This method has worked for me a few times.

Another thing to try--check "vacation packages" on Orbitz, hotline, Expedia, etc. I booked a room at the Allegro-Kimpton on Orbitz for $120/night INCLUDING all taxes and a rental car. The room by itself on Orbitz/Expedia/etc. was $279/night. And--that was a weekend when most of the rooms in the city were sold out.

[AaronJB]

The Hyatt would be just on the other side of the river from NBC Tower. If you have to be right by NBC Tower, you cannot do much better than that.

If you bid 3.5* River North/NMA, you could potentially get the Ambassador East, which would be a significant walk from NBC Tower.

If you bid 3* River North/NMA, you could potentially get the Indigo, which is a block from the Ambassador East. Again, significant walk.

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