Hotwire Hotel: Help, please? CHI hotel 7/10

Hi! First-time poster, instant devotee! Great board - thanks for all of those who help us cross-eyed bidders.

My circumstances are a little strange - would you like a challenge? I'm an experienced DIY traveler, but I have used HOTWIRE and PRICELINE only a few times. Would love your input for this odd circumstance.

Going to Chicago for one night, July 10. Our budget is $150 per night before taxes, though of course we'd love to get something under $100. The group is 5 adults (incl. 2 couples) and 4 kids (ages 5-16). Some of us will be doing an all-night bike ride, an annual event in Chicago, so we won't really be sleeping, which means our needs are flexible. We prefer two rooms in a suite hotel, like Embassy Suites, with either king or double beds and a pull-out. We love the Hilton Suites by the John Hancock Tower (NMA-Gold Coast area), but they don't have availability.

We are also open to three standard rooms at $100 or so each. And in a pinch, we could get by with 2 standard rooms with 2 beds each, if we take a chance on bidding. We really want a pool and a hot tub. We prefer Mag Mile-Streeterville or NMA-Gold Coast. Third choice is Museum Campus-McCormick Place. Regarding location, owe bike from Millennium Park to the hotel after the ride, around 5 or 6 a.m. There's low traffic that hour, so most streets are bikeable. We just need a safe area, and obviously can't get on a highway. I'm not as familiar with the area south of the park as I am north and west, so I'm a little hesitant about risking a hotel south of the park. We could easily ride as far north as the Gold Coast.

My options on HOTWIRE include only 1 hotel with a pool - 4* in Museum Campus-McC Place, $79, Trip Advisor rating 4/5. Seems to be the Hilton, which matches the TA rating. Your list only includes two 4* hotels in this area, and the other is Hyatt McCormick Place, which has a 3.5/5 rating on Trip Advisor. Do you think it's the Hilton?

However, according to your brilliant Calendar of Wins, several people scored the Embassy Suites Lakefront on and around July 10 for under $90. It's the most-frequently "won" hotel in that time period. I don't know when that hotel was "won" - I suppose it could have been weeks ago. This hotel would be ideal. The hotel reports no availability (I realize one of the sites could be holding rooms).

I'm tempted to bid on Priceline for $90, 3.5* or 4* hotel, with the hope of getting the Embassy Suites Lakefront. I realize this is a big risk, but I'm wondering how big.

What's your take?

Thanks a bunch!

Lucky7

Welcome to BetterBidding!

When searching HOTWIRE for the $79 Museum Campus-McCormick Place property, how many rooms/adults/children are you including in your search?

I'm sure AaronJB will reply to this thread once he sees it, as he is very familiar with the area and i'm sure will be able to offer some advice as to your best options for your needs. (if for some reason he doesn't reply feel free to bump this thread after 24 hours to put it back in the queue)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks for the reply! Here's the answer to your question. I only searched for one room/one adult, which is my default initial search. Later, I searched for two rooms with 4 adults. The results differed a little, but didn't give me additional options with a pool. Just now, I searched HOTWIRE (through BB's links!) for 3 rooms/5 adults/4 kids and received the same 4* Museum Campus hotel w/pool for $79 (changing to $82 and $84 when I tweak the search by room number and occupancy). I also received another good option that hadn't come up on searches for 1 or 2 rooms - 4* Mag Mile/Steeterville hotel for $155, with non-smoking, pool, fitness center, restaurant, business center, and Internet.

Looking forward to hearing from AaronJB, if possible. Thanks!

The 4* Mag Mile/Steeterville hotel matches previous reports for the Sheraton so that would be my best guess for that one.

The Museum Campus - McCormick Place property... does it have Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business and Internet icons... and if you click the CONTINUE button next to this offering and scroll down the page does it show a 4.0/5.0 Tripadvisor rating? If so, best guess is that this is the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks again. Yes on your list of icons and 4.0/5.0 Trip advisor rating for the Museum Campus-McCormick Place hotel, but the Hyatt McCormick Place only has 3.5/5.0 rating on Trip Advisor. Is it sometimes inconsistent?

I've recently found this listing for 7/9-7/11 (we could stay two nights), 2 rooms/4 adults/4 kids: 3* in Mag Mile-Streeterville, $99/night, amenities are fitness center, pool, restaurant, business, laundry, and Internet, Trip Advisor rating 4.0/5.0. Based on your list, this could be either Four Points or Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, but neither have 4.0/5.0 ratings on Trip Advisor. Any guesses here?

Thanks!

Oh, wait - does the Tripadvisor rating refer to the Hotel Class on Trip Advisor (shown as stars) or the Trip Advisor Traveler Rating (shown as dots)?

On the detail page for HOTWIRE listings, one almost always sees the HOTWIRE customer rating, which is a %. There is also the tripadvisor rating, which is a series of circles. This is the Tripadvisor customer rating, which is a different rating than the HOTWIRE customer rating. The tripadvisor rating is not presented "live" - there may have been changes since the last time the rating was posted on HOTWIRE. There are times when the TA rating does not show, as well.

The Hyatt McCormick Place is a fine choice if one just needs a place to sleep and is not going to be doing much visiting to downtown attractions, as it's not particularly convenient to downtown. The Hilton is more convenient to downtown attractions.

I'm not a fan of the Sheraton; I've enjoyed stays at many downtown 4*'s, but found that one to be decidedly average and was dissapointed with it at a a much lower price than $155. Personally, I'd rather recommend the potential Holiday Inn Mart Plaza for $99; while a bit out-of-the-way along the river in the West Loop, I'd rather suggest $99 for that than $155 for the Sheraton. Additionally, that Holiday Inn property was recently renovated. Some of the HI rooms have nice views, although no guarantees on that via a HOTWIRE reservation.

Personallly, I think if you're looking for primarily a place to sleep, I'd suggest the $79 4* that may be the Hyatt or Hilton or the $99 HI (although I can't seem to find the Museum Campus 4* for $79 when I search...) Overall, if you are looking for a place to sleep, I'd suggest the most reasonable. You can read more about the HI Mart Plaza's renovation here:

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

Thanks so much, AaronJB. Great insight. We want a little more than a place to sleep - we want the hotel to be somewhat of a treat. A pool and a hot tub are pretty important. The promise of a hot tub helps us make it through those last 5 miles of the bike ride at 5 am! Sounds like we want to avoid the Hyatt (location, no hot tub) and the Sheraton. This has helped a lot. I will report my "win" if I decide to use HOTWIRE.

In terms of a treat property for the same price range as the Sheraton on HOTWIRE, I'd rather suggest the Swissotel, which is $159 on Orbitz per room for 2 rooms (20% off sale) and the coupon code ORBITZ5 takes another 5% off that price. Additionally, the Swiss would be extremely convenient to Millennium Park. This property does have a pool and additionally, this appears to be a refundable reservation, although I would highly recommend double checking the fine print on that. If it is fully refundable and something better comes along, you could cancel and move to something else. If nothing better comes along, a nice deal and near where you need to be. Additionally, many rooms at the Swiss have nice views (or at least nice partial views) of the surrounding area, given its location.

On HOTWIRE when searching for 2 rooms 4 adults/4 children, there is a 4* in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area for $129 w/fitness, business, restaurant, internet. No pool; this is possibly the Hard Rock, Hyatt, Sheraton or Westin RN, but I'm guessing it's the HR.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE, PRICELINE or Orbitz.com links to start your purchases and searches.

Just thought I'd let you know...last night there was a 4* hotel for 3 rooms, 6 adults that came up as $81 per night in the Museum Campus - McCormick Place - Soldier Field area on HOTWIRE. We took our chances hoping it was the Chicago Hilton and not the Hyatt (due to the location of the Hyatt) - and it was. The amenities were Fitness, Pool, Restaurants, Business Ctr and High Speed i-net access. It also showed 3.5 out of 5 Trip Advisor rating. We're thinking this is a pretty good deal for this hotel and the Hilton location isn't bad at all. Hope this helps a little.

Jillio, Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

It would be greatly appreciated if you could post your win as a separate thread, as well, and include date/s and price so that the information can be posted on the site's Calendar of Wins and help other travelers.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

Thanks, Jillio and Aaron. i'll look at the Swisshotel and keep the Hilton on the option list, if I can find it. I'm really surprised that HOTWIRE results can vary so much depending on how many rooms you want. Good to know.

Jillio, what were your dates for this win? I'm not getting a hotel with this profile when I run the same search on July 10.

Aaron, I can't find the Swissotel's $159/night rate on Orbitz. It's $199, which appers to not reflect the 20% off sale. Can you tell me how you found this rate? Thanks!

The Swiss rate is for 7/9-11; the 7/10 date only is more expensive (both for the Swiss and in general.)

The closure - I ended up booking directly with the Embassy Suites Lakefront for $250/night (6 people occupancy) because precise location, pool/hot tub, and suite accommodations were the highest priority in the end. We were disappointed with the hotel, though. Full review on Trip Advisor, titled "Ran Us Out of Town." Don't book this place for the pool, hot tub, or peace and quiet. Good service and free breakfast, though. Clean rooms, though not as spacious as Hilton Suites and Omni. The atrium design is a nightmare - creates a din in every room. Thin walls, too. If you stay here, beg for a room on a high floor.

Thanks for all of the help on this board. I feel a little guilty for not using HOTWIRE in the end, because of all of the help I received. I'm booking a different trip with HOTWIRE in a few days, though. Will definitely use your links and report back.

Thanks for the follow-up!

Please note for future reference, as per our support page, that we're an affiliate of the Embassy Suites as well as most other major hotel chains and booking agencies. Please check for and use the links there fore your future hotel direct purchases.

Thanks.