OK folks, I am now ready to book a hotel room using Priceline for our mid-Aug stay in Chicago. I am a little confused as to what zone to try a 4 * first, which is the most convenient? We will be walking on Michigan Ave, will probably visit Millenium Park, plan to go the Second City & do a river Architectural tour. Based on these & other typical tourist activities, which zone should I try for, N Michigan Ave or MP & Loop area? Please advise. Thanks.

We will be 4 in all, would need 2 doubles. Do you think I would be better off using Hotwire, where I can specify no of adults & children? The hotel that is coming on on Hotwire is most likely the Hyatt, for $123.

Man, if I was doing NOW for mid-August I would grab $123 right now.

Remember - Priceline only guarantees accomodations for *2 adults.* You could end up in a room with a king-sized bed, for example.

If you can get the Hyatt for $123, go for it.

I love the Amalfi, just a couple of blocks from Mag Mile. Sutton Place and Whitehall are also close and really nice. Good packages at
http://www.crshotels.com/search/hotels_deals.asp

indietraveler2 is here marketing his/her website.

Hey indie, PAY for your ads you bum!

When I have 4 people I do not use Priceline. You are not guaranteed 2 beds. If Hotwire lets you specify 4 guests (I can't remember if they do) I would use Hotwire.

The Loop and Michigan Ave. are both good locations for sightseeing in Chicago.

HI Polly,
I just returned from Chicago and loved the city - but HATED our hotel. We stayed at the Swissotel on E. Wacker. I booked through hotwire, which they had it listed as a 4 STAR - and it absolutely is NOT a 4 star hotel.
So, if you use an online booking website, be wary of the star rating.

Personally I would recommend either the loop area (easier to get around), or the North side of the river around Michigan Ave.

Our hotel was close to Navy Pier (which I really loved - we went on the Tall Ship Windy), and not too far from Millenium Park, but the hotel itself was very disappointing.

I can't wait to go back to Chicago, but will never stay at Swissotel again.

We were very happy with the Hawthorne Terrace, a Best Western property, at 3434 N. Broadway (www.hawthorneterrace.com 773 244 3434). Our rate was quite modest, for a room with two full/queen beds, beautiful bathroom, small frig.

It's a charming European style brick mansion type hotel, with great service and charming rooms, fireplace in entry lobby, complimentary continental breakfast.

Not being familiar with Chicago, I don't know how it sits in relation to the sites. We took a cab to and from the Mile. The neighborhood the hotel is in is very cute, with great little restaurants, bars and markets.
:)>-

I love love love the Amalfi. Not far from MM and wonderful. Great hotel deals at this site (and you will know what you are getting)and no prepay
www.crshotels.com

You won't be disappointed if you stay at the Hampton Majestic. It's located on W. Monroe between State St. and Dearborn. Red and blue line train stations are right around the corner. You can walk to the famous parks, the Oriental Theatre (Wicked is a must-see!), and other attractions. The hotel itself has large, pretty rooms, extra-comfy beds, a friendly staff, and free breakfast! We loved it.

Look at the posts by j 999 9 and kassanna --- one liked the Swissotel and one detested it. Without knowing the writer, how can anyone rely on the personal opinions of posters? What if j 999 9 normally stays at 1* hotels, so the swissotel was a big step up, whereas kassanna normally stays at the Pierre, so the swissotel was a big step down? Or one had a surly front desk clerk and not enough towels in the room and the other didn't?

It's just so hard to make a decision based on posts like these (unless of course every poster agrees).

FWIW, I stayed at the Swissotel 10 years ago on a then-newly renovated floor, for 10 days straight, and liked it a lot.

And I stayed at it about 2 years ago on a Priceline bid that was phenomenal. It was quiet and just a bit longer walk to MI Ave. but I loved the entrance to the underground/Hyatt etc.

And there was someone on other long thread just last week who stayed Swissotel and loved it to death- especially the view from the work out room.

No, you never know.

What's important to some, is not important to others.

I even like the steakhouse in the Swissotel- The Palm. There are better downtown, but its so handy if you were staying there in Winter and didn't want to traipse too far.

I ate at the [very expensive] Palm several times when I was there (because I was on business -- doesn't mean I didn't feel guilty about it, though), and the view from the fitness room is fantastic!

I went to a work event at the W Lakeshore and absolutely loved it. Definitely one of the best hotels I've stayed in. Would highly recommend it. It's gorgeous, inside and out. Get a lakeview room.

I'm curious as to why the poster above hated the Swissotel. I stayed there for a week (business trip) and while it's not my favorite Chicago hotel, nor is it in my favorite location (the time we were there, the underground walkway was closed), I didn't see anything to hate about it.
My room was large and comfortable (if a bit sterile). We didn't eat at the Palm--too noisy (convention week) and for those prices, there were other restaurants we preferred. I didn't like being charged to use the fitness center (when our room rate was already about $250 per night), but I was so busy, I didn't have time for it anyway (note: this is the only time I've stayed at a high end [4, 4L or 5 star] hotel with a fitness center that didn't include its use in the rate--didn't have that experience elsewhere in the U.S., or in Canada, France, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and Austria). The breakfast room was not large enough to handle peak traffic during a convention week when the hotel was fully booked and most people needed to be out the door at the same time--but you could say that about big hotels in general during a convention (the Allegro was the worst in that regard).
One of my colleagues had a problem with housekeeping over a missing pashmina but I don't know the whole story. The business center was very good and their staff went out of their way to help us (and charged us for it, but still...).
So over all, it wasn't my best hotel experience in Chicago (that would be the Sofitel Water Tower) but it was far from my worst.

People, enough already! The OP went to Chicago the middle of June, so unless Polly wants to give us a trip report, this thread has run its course, IMHO.