Chicago is one city where I always use Priceline if only 2 of us are travelling. I like to stay in N Mich,the Chicago Loop or Magnificent Mile. I don't think there is a bad 4* hotel in Chicago and it is so easy to get around.

Since you are finding a 4* at $200 for N. Mich. (The sites listed below can probably tell you what hotel that is.) I would probably bid $125 on Priceline (you can bid again if rejected) but you first need to look at www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com. You can see what hotels are coming up and what rates they are getting for the time you are visiting. Some weeks are more expensive than others.

Good luck. You'll love Chicago in October

Years ago we stayed at the Knickerbocker and really enjoyed it. A classic Chicago hotel experience. Out of curiousity I checked and they have some special rates for under $200. Not sure if they are available for your dates but it's worth checking. I'd love to go back -
http://www.millenniumhotels.com/millenniumchicago/specials/index.html

starrs, it looks beautiful but I don't see any rates under $200 except for their bed and breakfast special but it doesn't seem to be available when we'll be there.

linda, I'm sure the 4-star hotels will all be good but what about the neighbourhoods? We were about half a block from the Magnificent Mile and not too far from the Water Tower last time. It was quite a long time ago but I remember it being quite a posh neighbourhood. I don't know the Loop area at all. Will we like it?

I'm going to read Better Bidding and see if I can get my nerve up for trying Priceline or at least the Hotwire on Expedia.

Last fall I stayed at The River Hotel on Wacker. It is about 1/2 block from the corner of Michigan and Wacker on the river. Great location. I am not sure what the star rating is but I found it to be a good hotel. The rooms are a bit small but very clean and well kept. The staff was excellent.

It depends on the dates and days that you will be there. I paid $109-129 for a single room through Expedia.

Eliminate Bridgeview, South Chicago, West Loop and McCormick Place.

The Magnificent Mile is the the portion of North Michigan Avenue from the river to Oak Street. Streeterville is the area east of the Mag Mile to the lake and River North is to the west.

The Gold Coast is the area immediately north of the Mag MIle from Oak Street to North Avenue.

The Loop is the central business area south of the river. Strictly speaking, it's bounded by the L Tracks on Wabash, Lake, Wells and Van Buren. Millennium and Grant Park are to the east and the Museum Campus is at the south east corner of The Loop. The Loop (and entire city) is cut in half by Madison Street which divides North from South. So, there are a few blocks of North Michigan Avenue that are south of the river.

From the Museum Campus to Millennium Park is roughly 1.5 miles. From Millennium Park to the Water Tower is one mile and from there to North Avenue is one mile. There are several bus routes and the Red Line that could transport you easily from a hotel in any of these areas.

The Mag Mile-Streeterville-River North area has the greatest concentration of shopping and restaurants. You'd be a short walk from most sights or you could easily access public transit.

The Loop-Millennium Park is where the museums and theatres are, but has more office buildings, banks, etc. so it's quieter evenings and weekend. There are still plenty of restaurants and it's a short walk to the Mag Mile area.

The Gold Coast is mostly residential with a couple hotels. It would put you closer to the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago History Museum and Notebaert Nature Museum, but you'd have to walk or take transit to the Mag Mile and most other sights.

The Museum Campus-Soldier Field area is ok, but it's sort of isolated from most sights and a bit more difficult to find the restaurants and things in Printers Row. The only hotel near McCormick Place is the Hyatt and you'd have to take tranit from there to anything. There is another a few blocks west of McCormick, but I don't recall the name. It's in an area that's redeveloping and not convenient to much right now.

Hi goddesstogo,
Maybe try quikbook.com for discount hotels. This site doesn't require a pre-payment or keep the names secret until you pay on most of their hotels. Tripadvisor.com is the site I use to check hotels around the world, and it works out for me. But just a few that I think are well-located and appear nice:
The Amalfi
The James
The 4-Points Sheridan
The Dana
Homewood Suites (Hilton) on Grand

As for locations, I think #1) River North, Mag Mile, Streeterville; #2) Water Tower, Gold Coast.

I personally wouldn't want to stay in the Loop unless I could stay at the Burnham or the Wit on State Street.

Good luck! If you get a few interesting options, post them here and maybe someone can help.

Fabulous information! Thank you so much. I'll definitely report back.

Chgogirl, have you actually used quikbook.com? I've just looked at it and it looks like an amazing site. Is it too good to be true? Why would people bid on Priceline and Hotwire, not knowing which hotel they're getting, if they can book on quikbook and know both prices and hotels? What's the catch?

For example, in their 'best deals' column, it seems that I can get the Allerton for $117 a night or the Knickerbocker for $179 a night. I haven't gone further than that, so maybe they're not available for the nights I want but it still sounds, I dunno, too good?

Also, starrs, pretty much all the reviews on TA say that the Knickerbocker's rooms are really small. What did you think of yours?

OK, I just checked the Allerton and ha! there's nothing anywhere near $117 a night. So I don't understand.

Hi goddess2go,
Your question made me curious so I just logged in to my quikbook account and I've used quikbook hotels ten times since July 2009 - mostly for Manhattan and once for LA. I've never had a problem. Personally, I'm too nervous a person to book a "secret" hotel, and I don't like to prepay just in case there are last minute issues.

I know there's a bit of a lag (a few hours) in getting the hotel confirmation. I book online (and get a quikbook.com confirmation immediately), and then the site sends the hotel's confirmation number. Then I always call the hotel to confirm the reservation and the rate. No problem so far. It's one of the first places I look, but sometimes the rate is the same as going direct to the hotel's website. Still, it's useful to see the hotels that have the most inventory.

I would hope you'd not have an issue. Maybe google the site and see if there are any negative reviews - but my experiences have all been good. I stayed in 3 Thompson hotels in NYC which I likely wouldn't have booked otherwise.

Good luck!

Also, re: quikbook.com, sometimes the room rates are PREPAY rates, but it's clearly labeled as such.

I haven't booked anything yet. I know what you mean about 'secret hotels' which is what makes me nervous about Priceline/Hotwire. I'd be fine doing that in NY which I know pretty well, but not Chicago.

Good idea about calling the hotel to confirm so thanks for that.

I was just curious about the best deals thing. If they say 'prices from $117 a night' and that's not what shows up when I put my dates in, I guess it depends solely on the dates.

You don't mention your travel dates. If they are at the time of the Chicago Marathon weekend or when a large convention (or conventions) is/are in town, I strongly suggest that you change them (if possible).

Yup, with our usual good timing that's the weekend we'll be there! Unfortunately, we can't change our dates. We'll just probably end up paying more than I'd hoped.

Noticed Public Chicago for $135 on Travelzoo. Don't know if your dates are blacked out

Chicago Public looks great but two of our days are blacked out. I think I'll phone them tomorrow, though, and see if they have any opening specials. Thanks, japw -- I'd never heard of it before.

A while back there was a special on Living Social for rooms and a party for the grand opening celebration which I think is in October. That could be the reason for the blackout dates??

You may want to look on Living Social to see if there are any deals for your dates. A few weeks back they had a few deals but I wasn't interested at the time. I did get a great deal for DC.

I just signed up for LS just for this purpose. I didn't see anything for Chicago but I'm on a few of those 'deal' websites so maybe something will come up.

Well, I ended up with a reservation at the newly-renovated Renaissance Blackstone Marriott (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chirh-renaissance-blackstone-chicago-hotel/)

At the advice of a friend, I asked for and got the government rate of $190/night which is great compared to the regular and even seniors' rate there (lowest regular rate is $329 and seniors' is $314) and other hotels I checked. It seems my SO is available for the government rate because he's a university prof even though he's Canadian (I called to make sure). The reservation clerk on the phone was extremely pleasant and helpful, so I hope that's a good sign.

I've been bidding on Priceline,unsuccessfully so far (latest unsuccessful bid $150 for a 4*). My Blackstone reservation is cancelable. Do you think I should keep trying Priceline?

And, of course, if I see a Living Social or Groupon, etc., deal I can still cancel the Blackstone.