Priceline Hotel: 4* Chicago (NMA-River North) Millennium Knickerbocker

[dahl]

My wife and myself will be lodging in Chicago June 10th through June 14th and have found a 4 star hotel listed on Hotwire for $119 per night. It shows fitness, restaurant, business center & high speed internet in the description and also offers an upgrade via a choice of bed selection. We are considering booking this hotel but does anyone know what it might be? The examples show Omni, Hyatt & Inter-Continental but the choice of bed has got to be the give-a-way.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

This listing has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board. 4*'s in the Mag Mile-Streeterville area w/fitness, restaurant, business and internet include the Hyatt, Westin, Hard Rock and Sheraton, but none have been reported w/bed selection yet - I saw a 4* bed selection/restaurant/fitness/business/internet the other day in this zone that showed a tripadvisor rating on the detail page that would seemed to have indicated the Hard Rock, but I don't believe the poster made the purchase to confirm and this listing does not show a tripadvisor rating.

Rates are on the high side for these dates, so $119 for a 4* - with all 4*'s at or over $200 (some well over $200) seems like quite a good deal.

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

[crito]

Hi,

I just checked late May (5/28 - 5/31) and saw the same amenities but without bed selection for the same price in the same zone. It has TA approval 80%.

300+ total reviews, 4.5 overall rating.

Does that help?

[thereuare]

crito,

Not sure if you have your own upcoming stay or are merely try to help the OP... but if you need help with your own stay please start a NEW TOPIC.

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

Thanks.

[crito]

Oh, right. No, if I do go to Chicago it will be in June -- I just thought it might be a good information-gathering strategy to see if the TripAdvisor numbers came up on a similar-looking hotel on earlier dates.

I didn't realize there was a benefit to this board just by doing my searches using your links, even when I don't book. I'll certainly do that from now on.

[thereuare]

The property for the OP's date is now showing a TA rating of 4.0/5.0 which would indicate the Hard Rock as the most likely candidate of the ones mentioned above.

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.

[dahl]

Thought that I'd share todays experience with all of you thrify travelers out there. For our Chicago trip 6/10-6/14 ; on a whim I decided to bid a flat $100 per day for a room in the North Michigan Ave Gold Coast/Magnificent Mile area of Chicago specifying a four star hotel. It took 15 minutes for confirmation but our bid was accepted by the Millenium Knickerbocker Hotel . On their website it looks like a very nice remodeled luxury grand hotel from the 1930's and all the rooms have king beds. We know the area and the location is good. The standard rates in June average about $275.00 so $100 per night appeared to be a good deal. Our only reservation is that like other Chicago area hotels they charge $40.00 for valet parking that we hope is not mandatory.

BTW we used the PRICELINE link above. Hope this info helps

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you're pleased with the results and the deal you recieved.

The hotel's website now shows that valet parking is $50/day. If a self-parking option is available, i certainly woudln't anticipate that it's free. If you don't need the use of your car during your stay, you may want to look into finding a local or public parking garage which would likely be much cheaper than the hotel's lot (although you won't have in/out privileges, which is often included when parking with the hotel)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Have a great trip!

[dahl]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you're pleased with the results and the deal you recieved.

The hotel's website now shows that valet parking is $50/day. If a self-parking option is available, i certainly woudln't anticipate that it's free. If you don't need the use of your car during your stay, you may want to look into finding a local or public parking garage which would likely be much cheaper than the hotel's lot (although you won't have in/out privileges, which is often included when parking with the hotel)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Have a great trip!

The way we view it, in peak summer season the rates tend to go up significantly so $100 a night for a four star listed hotel in Chicago seems like a great deal. That was our budget and it seems right. Rooms in summer per their website go for an average of $275.00 per nite which is on the high side. The Kickerbocker is one of the old Grand Luxury Hotels built in 1927. Trip advisor reports indicate that the rooms are modern and well kept although a bit small. The $50 per evening parking rate is quite high but we know that area and three blocks away there is plenty of free parking on the street when the meters no longer require you to feed them AFTER 6 PM (or is it 8PM) and Before 9AM. We will be gone most of the day so the $50 in/out priviledge is not necessary. The hotel also charges $9.95 per day for internet access but we have a connect card and a Blackberry with internet access.

Staying in old modernized classic hotels is fine with us. Six years ago we stayed at a small botique hotel called the Whitehall three blocks away ( booked via Hotwire) and it was absolutely excellent. It looks like the Whitehall is not dropping their summer rates at this time though.

[AaronJB]

This is an excellent rate for the Knickerbocker during the Summer (and certainly an excellent location - Oak Street Beach is about a block away if the weather is nice, too.) That property is quite historic (was reportedly a Capone hideout in the '20's and was the Playboy Club in the 70's.) It got quite mixed reviews until it got a major renovation nearly a couple of years ago.

[The Family Ghost]

I stayed there this past June for a few days ... I thought it was a really nice place. At that time I was able get the room for $80 per night via priceline, but I think it's worth much more per night. It's nice, and has an excellent location. I think you'll be happy.

[dahl]

I stayed there this past June for a few days ... I thought it was a really nice place. At that time I was able get the room for $80 per night via priceline, but I think it's worth much more per night. It's nice, and has an excellent location. I think you'll be happy.

It seems that the Mellenium Knickerbocker has been a hotel that several forum members have won via Priceline Bids of late . The range we have been seeing is $80 to $105 per night. They have something like 305 rooms there so I guess that they are loading up for the summer season early. The prices that they have been accepting lately are probably reflective of the deepening recession that we are in. They take the money now in the slow season and hedge the bet for summer when the average downtown Chicago hotel rate for a 4 Star hotel climbs to the $250-$295 per night range.

[AaronJB]

Hotel prices in Chicago have actually come down quite a bit over the last few years (throughout the year, not just in the off season). Some convention business has also headed elsewhere (Orlando, Vegas) and the result has been some extraordinary deals in comparison to the same time periods 2-3 years ago. Some Chicago hotels also do seem to load up in advance, as dahl mentioned - the Hyatt (2,000+ rooms) seems to do this at times, as well. I don't drive, but there are definitely other parking lots nearby that may be less - I think 900 N. Michigan has a lot and if you don't mind a walk, Navy Pier has $24 parking.

Quite honestly, the Navy Pier deal would probably be a good idea in the Summer - $24 for parking, and while it's a 15-20 minute walk to the hotel from there, you could choose to walk the entire walk (and the weather will certainly be nice) along the lake (there is a path that winds from near Navy Pier all the way North to Oak Street Beach and beyond - the hotel is a block from Oak Street Beach) or go through the city.

[AaronJB]

Also, as I noted in another Knickerbocker thread:

If you are visiting as a tourist, I'd highly suggest walking North from the Knick to the Lincoln Park Zoo - wonderful, free zoo and there's a big organic Farmer's Market in the Park during the Summer. The Old Town neighborhood and the Chicago Historical Society are also nearby the park. Let me know if you have any other questions or would like other suggestions.

From Navy Pier through the city to the Knickerbocker: I'd walk West from Navy Pier on Illinois to Illinois and McClurg. On that corner is the Fox and Obel Market and Cafe (fox-obel.com), a beautiful gourmet market and cafe - great place to stop for a snack or just to browse.

From Fox and Obel, continue West on Illinois to Columbus. If you want to walk to the Knickerbocker via less crowded side streets, head North on Columbus (which will become Fairbanks) and walk North on Fairbanks to Chicago. Once you reach Chicago, walk half a block West and then cross the street and head North on Mies VanDer Rohe way, which turns into Seneca. You'll walk past the Museum of Contemporary Art and behind the Water Tower Mall. You'll get to Walton Ave and the Knickerbocker is half a block West on Walton.

If you want to walk down Michigan Ave., then from Fox and Obel, continue West on Illinois past Columbus and you'll walk past a Dominicks Grocery and then see a large set of stairs headed up. Walk up the stairs and continue a short distance West to Michigan Ave. Then head North on Michigan Ave all the way to Walton. The Knick is a few steps East of Michigan Ave. on Walton.