Hotwire Hotel: 4* Chicago (Mag Mile-Streeterville) Swissotel

[geo]

Looking at 2 adults and 1 child for Chicago Magnificent Mile Area checking in 10/15 for 3 nights. A 4* came up for $159 with the following:

Smoke free rooms

Fitness Center

Pool

Restaurant

Business Center

High Speed Internet

Trip Advisor says 3.5 out of 5 stars but I now see Hotwire removed the "based on XXX reviews" from the listing.

9.6 miles to Midway and 15.5 mi to O'Hare.

I did a little search on Better Bidding and the only hotel I can think of is Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. This week is very expensive but my only option.

Thanks,

Geo

[thereuare]

The Sheraton would be my best guess as well.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[geo]

Has this hotel been identified yet? Same dates but I just did two adults and dropped the child in the search which yielded more options. Its a 3.5* amenities are:

Boutique

Fitness Center

Business Center

High Speed Internet

$176 per night

4 out of 5 on Trip Advisor

Hotel 71 perhaps?

[thereuare]

The Hotel 71's has previously been reported with the amenities above plus a restaurant icon, however, their restaurant is currently closed so that would seem like a good guess.

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[geo]

Ok I have been checking my dates on Hotwire at least 20 times a day to see what comes up. A couple days ago I was searching and up came a new 3.5* hotel which I determined to be Embassy Suites Lakefront for $106, (Suite, Complimentary breakfast, fitness, pool, restaurant, business, internet). This is a great price as I'm seeing most of them in the $150-$225 per night range for these travel dates. So I go through and select the hotel using the link here, enter my credit card info, hit book and it comes back with the message, "we're sorry the itinerary you selected is no longer available". So I just figured I was not in time. Well... just a few minutes ago I was searching and did a refresh and boom the Embassy comes up again for $108 for my itinerary. So I select it and go through the check out process in under and minute... I hit "book trip" and once again I get the unavailable message... damn! When I searched immediately after the unavailable message for my dates the hotel for $108 was gone. Any help with what's going on with this or is it just coincidence that they pulled the listing during my checkout a second time? Do they add new hotels at the top of the hour or at midnight or any particular time or is it random? Perhaps this hotel just gives out one room a day and it gets taken up immediately. Here is a screen print: thanks, Geo

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE uses 'reasonably' live inventory but doesn't check for actual inventory until an attempt at a purchase is made. This property's inventory has been sold (or pulled by the hotel) and will no longer be offered on your search after HOTWIRE's next update. (unless more inventory is added)

With your stay over a month away i wouldn't give up just yet, as if the inventory was sold, it's possible the hotel could add more inventory to the opaque system.

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

Keep us updated.

[geo]

Still searching I am unable to ID this one even with searching the archives. Thought it might be the SwissHotel but no spa icon. Here are the amenities:

Magnificent Mile 10-15 to 10-18 $154 per night 4* searching 2 adults, trip advisor 4 out of 5

Fitness

pool

restaurant

business center

high speed internet

tennis near-by

Any help on this one greatly appreciated. I've been looking several times per day I have a feeling things are getting booked up this week

[thereuare]

On a current HOTWIRE search for your dates i'm seeing the property above plus a SPA icon... best guess would be the Swissotel, which also has a TA 4.0 rating.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[geo]

I did a re-search and the spa icon showed up this time so yes likely the Swissotel. The Swiss may be a little out of the way for us (other side of the River), and perhaps a little too ritzy with our 3 little girls tagging along this trip. The Swiss also gets $15 per day for the pool which our kids will use and their parking is on the high end at $52 per day. I found the Four Points on Rush offering a buy 2 nights get 3rd free for $270 per night so $180 average. Location wise it is perfect for us, close to American Girl, Giordano's, Gino's East of Chicago, Billy Goat, Rainforest Cafe etc. I wish they would add that Embassy for $108 per night that would be ideal. It's a little closer than swiss, not much, but with the amenities and especially the price it would be something I would book it a heart beat (and have tried twice). I see the Embassy available just about every other weekend, but our travel dates are firm. Looking for pool, centralized location to Michigan Ave, decent self parking rate (~$40) at a room rate of less than $130 per night. Something big must be happening this weekend. Thanks for the help.

[AaronJB]

The Swiss is probably 5 blocks South of the Four Points. Far nicer hotel for the money, only a couple of blocks from the South end of Michigan Ave. It's probably a 5-7 minute walk between the two hotels.

Did you already book the Four Points?

[geo]

The Swiss is probably 5 blocks South of the Four Points. Far nicer hotel for the money, only a couple of blocks from the South end of Michigan Ave. It's probably a 5-7 minute walk between the two hotels.

Did you already book the Four Points?

Thanks for replying Aaron, was hoping you would chime in. I have not booked the Four Points at that rate as it is non-cancelable, however I do have a room reserved there that can be canceled and reservationist said I could change that room to the buy 2 get 1 night program with a call back. Did you read my post above yours? Looks like we posted about the same time. I would book that Swiss if it were just my wife and I, we visit Chicago usually twice a year. Thanks Aaron

George in Cleveland

[AaronJB]

Happy to help! :)

If you are seeing the 4* on HOTWIRE for $154 (I'm currently seeing it for $145) and the Four Points is $180, it's a matter of walking a little bit to save about $25 per night (and also getting a more upscale hotel.)

Personally, if you were to pay more for the Four Points, I can't say I would really understand it, to be honest - if you were to take a cab from the Swiss to Michigan Ave shopping and back each day, it would still be less than the Four Points - but if you do want to still go that route, it would be greatly appreciated if you could use the site's "Stay 2, Get 1" link below.

Stay 2 nights, get 1 free

[geo]

Thanks, you bring up some valid points. I don't think we would stay at Four Points but we set aside the room there as a just in case things get completely booked scenario and nothing else comes up on HOTWIRE or everything gets booked up. My wallet is praying for that Embassy for $106-$108, I saw it twice for my travel dates but it was not avail by the time I got my credit card entered to book it. This weekend is about twice the price of other weekends. Was thinking of perhaps waiting to see what, if anything, opens or changes when the travel date is less than 30 days away which would be sometime after next Tuesday. Thanks again for the comments. George

[AaronJB]

While it is not convenient, if you are driving, I do suggest the suburbs - there are some wonderful areas outside the city near train lines. There is a 4* in Evanston-Skokie-Niles (which is just North of the city) for $79, for example.

Probably not something that will work for this time around, but a suggestion for expensive dates in the future.

The new Comfort Suites Downtown on Michigan Ave. is $133 on Expedia.com (non-refundable), plus coupon code 10SEP takes $10 off per night. I'd rather suggest that than the Four Points.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE (or Expedia.com) links.

[geo]

Thanks for the link. Great price on that room and cheap parking with free breakfast. However it's showing just just a queen bed avail for that stay at that rate, kinda need a king and a sofa pull out or perhaps two doubles for the 2 adults and 3 small children in our group. Also no pool but thanks a bunch for the info. George

[geo]

Question... why does the Swissotel show up at $135 on my home desktop computer and both of my laptops show $149 simultaneously? I've re-booted the computers and refreshed the dates and search many times over the last 30 minutes and even triple checked the dates and amenities. I have all the screens sitting in front of me at the same time. I'd post a screen shot but it's against forum rules. Does this make any sense? Thanks!

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE uses a variable mark-up in their pricing, so the $135 rate is the result of a lower mark-up being applied on that search vs. the search on your desktop.

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

[geo]

Well I ended up booking the Swissotel at a rate of $133 per night for 3 nights. I used the HOTWIRE link provided here.... once again thanks for the help and the big savings!

Geo

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success!

Impressive win - glad you were able to get this hotel for a lower price. Additionally, a recommendation that I often make is Fox and Obel Market and Cafe (fox-obel.com), which is a very nice cafe (breakfast/lunch/dinner) and lovely gourmet market. On the corner of Illinois and McClurg (more or less directly across the river from where the Swissotel is), it's a pleasant place for a stop. Also, for a quicker bite, there's a Corner Bakery a few blocks West on Wacker (on Wacker, just a few steps West of the corner of Michigan and Wacker.)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our HOTWIRE link to start your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[geo]

Wanted to follow-up with my stay and some comments. Hotel was very nice, so were the rooms, staff was excellent. We were on the 7th of 42 floors. Got a good price for an expensive weekend, lots of conferences and a good amount of USC fans in for the Notre Dame game, in fact we could watch/hear the band practice across the river at the Sheraton. Our hotel, and I was told many others, were sold out on Saturday. Elevators were quick (6 of them). The valet parking was $52 per 24 hours with in and out but I ended up self parking behind the Swiss in the new Aqua parking lot (next to the RiteAid). It accommodates full size vans and is $30 per day but does not include in and out. It's a very quick walk to the parking garage even with luggage. Internet is $10 per 24 hours, thought maybe it would be free in the lobby but it was not, they offered 15 minutes for $3 or the 24 hour $10 option. No free coffee in the lobby in the morning just the single serve unit in the room or a Starbucks for $4 in the lobby. There is an honor bar that has a motion/weight sensor and if anything is moved in the fridge the charge automatically goes onto your account. For some reason our minibar was missing from the room, probably a good thing with 3 kids. Both my Garmin Nuvi and Magellan Maestro had a very difficult time with routing while in town with the tall buildings and cloudy/rainy weekend. Otherwise had a great time... thanks again.

[AaronJB]

Glad to hear that you had a nice stay at this property! :)