dfwinjurylawyer Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 I'm stuck. I've bid up over the last several days in $5 increments looking for Loop or milleneum park using the standard process. I.E. I first bid $70 for milleneum park Botique for Sept 3-5, rejected. Add Loop, which automatically adds 4 star, increased bid to $75, rejected. Then add Midway to $80 - rejected, then add Skokie area $85, rejected. I just got rejected at $150 a night and am out of bids for today. However, when I go on regular price line, not name your own price, I see the Palmer house at $159 a night, sheraton $149. What is happening that I"m not being awarded a room at the very least at the Sheraton? I seem to have bid more on name your own price and not been awarded a room than the price listed on "retail" Price line. Could the fact that I start out seeking a botique and milleneum park is the only place in Chicago with botique be messing this up? I wouldn't think so b/c when I add other zones, 4 star is selected along with the botique. I'm missing something. Thanks for any insight you may offer. Link to comment
AmericaWestCMH Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 The only zone in Chicago I see where the boutique option comes up is the North Michigan Avenue zone. The Millennium Park, Loop and Grant Park zone has 4* 3* 2* 1*. I first bid $70 for milleneum park Botique for Sept 3-5, rejected. Add Loop, which automatically adds 4 star,I'm confused, as Millennium Park and the Loop are lumped into a single zone, and does not contain a boutique. Link to comment
dfwinjurylawyer Posted August 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 That was my bad, I named the zones wrong. I apologize. The zones I used were: North Michigan Avenue - bid for a botiqueAdd Millenium Park Loop - Price line automatically adds a 4 star bid (no botiques)Then added Midway (no 4 stars or botiques)Then added Skokie. (no 4 stars or botiques)I worked my was up the bidding ladder in $5 increments adding zones. Ultimately today I bid for each of the 4 zones above 4 star and botique are selected for $150. This was rejected. I then got on regular price line (not name your own price) and they list Sheraton downtown as 4 star for $149, and others with $10 of that on the same dates as I bid using name your own price. So, why didn't my bid for $150 at least get accepted by the Sheraton? Since I usually am able to be regular price line signficantly, I'm surprised the other 4 star hotels downtown that were within $10-15 of $150 didn't accept it either. Link to comment
AmericaWestCMH Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 That certainly is odd, maybe thereuare knows what is happening. Are you specifically trying for the boutique, which has been reported as the Ambassador East Hotel (which has hit-or-miss reviews on Trip Advisor)? Link to comment
dfwinjurylawyer Posted August 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 I'd be happy with a 4 star in either the Loop or NMA. I started out trying to get the Abassador East based on a recommendation of a friend I trust. However, any nice hotel in the area will work. If push comes to shove I'll do the $149 Sheraton. I've had several successes on the name your own price site that signficantly beat regular Price Line, so this situation is quite perplexing. I actually figured I'd screwed it up somehow and someone would point out the error of my ways! :) Link to comment
AaronJB Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 HOTWIRE has a 3* in the Water Tower/Gold Coast/North Michigan Ave. area for $122 (price may vary slightly) with the amenities: golf/tennis nearby/spa/fitness/business/hi-speed internet/restaurant. This is possibly the Hotel Indigo (a block from the Ambassador East), a newer hotel (opened last Summer after remodeling an existing hotel) that gets very good reviews. I would definitely recommend it instead of the Ambassador East, which seems to have gone downhill since it was no longer an Omni as of several months ago.HOTWIRE also has a 4* in the same area for $92, although I wouldn't recommend it - it's likely the Millennium Knickerbocker.I wouldn't recommend the Sheraton, either. I paid quite a bit less than $149 for that hotel via Priceline and found it disappointing. Link to comment
dfwinjurylawyer Posted August 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Bizzare conclusion to this, and lesson learned the hard way. I started the bidding over again this time selecting NMA only and 4 star, as oppossed to botique. I'd previously been rejected at $150, but I decided to go down a little from there and started the bidding at $140, jumping off from Savingsbarn.com, of course. This time, on the first bid, my request for 4 star in NMA for Sept 3-5 was accepted on the first bid of $140 by the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago. I suspect I must have over paid and that my previous attempts to get a botique were screwing up the process. Recall I'd start with NMA botique, add the loop which automatically checked 4 star in addition to botique. I can only assume that Price line continued to look for botique only in NMA. So, be careful believing your eyes because you may think you are bidding on 2 levels of rooms, when you are in fact only bidding on one level in the first location and 2 room types in subsequent locations!!!!!If had started with 4 star in NMA, I suspect I could have done much better as I've previously been accepted for approximatly $100 a night. Lesson learned. Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Thanks for the post and for using the SB links for your bidding.I guess it can't be said with certainty if priceline didn't check 4* properties on your boutique bid OR if inventory became available, but i've added this comment to the Priceline Star Ratings thread.At least the price is still a substantial discount to the $200+ rate directly from the Westin website.Enjoy your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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