Need help with Chicago hotel....

[Gramma5]

My grandchildren are in a family wedding in July in Chicago and their parents are in a panic about hotel reservations. Most of the rooms that the family and bridal party are staying in are in the $215./night and they must spend 3 nights there! The wedding is at the Holy Name Cathedral, downtown and the reception is at Fulton's on the River. The groom's dinner is at Piccolo Sogno in Chicago, somewhere. They are thinking of looking outside Chicago, to see if they can get less expensive rooms. Any suggestions about what area might be appropriate and any hotel suggestions in that area? There will be 2 adults(daughter & husband, and an 8 and 10yr old.) They can only afford 1 room (2 queens) in the price range of $125 or so. (even that is a stretch!)
Please don't suggest the bride & groom help...they are much too selfish to even think of it. They have a bridal party of 17 (not including my grandchildren!!)
My daughter & son in law wouldn't even go but it is her husband's halfbrother and they have no option...........it is required!
Sticky situation.....so she would be so grateful for any suggestions.

Sherry

 

[GregGH]

hotel deals

Hello

try this link

http://hotels.travelzoo.com/chicago-hotels/

Once the panic has settled down try this link for the NEXT TIME - gives you bidding advise for priceline --I would not recommend this for this case - do it when you have time and can learn

http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/forums/42/t/Illinois-Chicago.html

Both links could require you to register - I use both and they don't spam

Greg

 

[Twinkstarr]

My grandchildren are in a family wedding in July in Chicago and their parents are in a panic about hotel reservations. Most of the rooms that the family and bridal party are staying in are in the $215./night and they must spend 3 nights there! The wedding is at the Holy Name Cathedral, downtown and the reception is at Fulton's on the River. The groom's dinner is at Piccolo Sogno in Chicago, somewhere. They are thinking of looking outside Chicago, to see if they can get less expensive rooms. Any suggestions about what area might be appropriate and any hotel suggestions in that area? There will be 2 adults(daughter & husband, and an 8 and 10yr old.) They can only afford 1 room (2 queens) in the price range of $125 or so. (even that is a stretch!)
Please don't suggest the bride & groom help...they are much too selfish to even think of it. They have a bridal party of 17 (not including my grandchildren!!)
My daughter & son in law wouldn't even go but it is her husband's halfbrother and they have no option...........it is required!
Sticky situation.....so she would be so grateful for any suggestions.

Sherry

Try priceline! With the economy the way it is and they will be staying on a weekend they might be able to get a deal. They need to check out the "name your price" feature. I was able to get a mid week stay at the Hyatt Metro Center in Washington DC(4 stars) for $100/nt 2yrs ago. You can select the area and # of stars. Start low and if doesn't go through price it again $5 higher. I had a regualr reservation in hand, and waited until about 2 weeks out before I went to Priceline

I watch the Wedding board over at DIS(Disney Board) and there have been 2 girls who recently just cancelled their weddings.

Don't they have a room block somewhere for guests? All the out of town, destination weddings I've been to they had discounted rates at a hotel.

 

[applegirl]

My suggestion would be to go to tripadvisor.com

Last year when I was looking for a hotel to stay close to my step-son who had just moved to the San Jose area, I found a great feature that helped me a lot. My step-son did not know the area and neither did we. So at tripadvisor I went to the hotel section to search for hotels. I typed in the city name and a nice map with lots of pin-points came up on the right side of the screen. It had many hotels to choose from, all I had to do was click on hotels which were located close to where he was living and get details of prices and phone numbers. On the left side of the screen it had all the hotels listed in an order that you preferred (price low to high or closest to the physical address of where you are visiting). It was exactly the kind of help I was looking for and I was able to pick the perfect hotel!

If you have trouble doing this on TA, just send me a PM and I will help you through it.

Janna

 

[applegirl]

BTW, as a follow up to my recent post above, I went to Tripadvisor to make sure I was giving acurate directions. I hadn't done it in a while.

After you type in the city and dates then it gives you a very small map on the right and under it you have to click "show hotels on map" to get the detailed map with all the pins. You can then zoom in and out of the map or even go to a different part of the map (like a different section of Chicago) and "refresh" the map to show hotels in that new area. It's a really great way to choose a hotel in an area you don't know. Just make sure you don't book a hotel in the ghetto!

Janna

 

[DebBrown]

I would try very hard to stay in the city and either at the hotel with the bridal party or within walking distance. If they stay outside the city, they will be driving back and forth repeatedly and paying for parking in the $30 range for the evening. In the city, they can take public transportation, visit museums, Navy Pier, etc. during their down time.

If they are determined to look elsewhere, I'd try the Oak Brook area.

Deb

 

[wackymother]

They should definitely read up about Priceline on biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com. Then they could get a friend who is familiar with Priceline to help them bid on a hotel through Priceline.

They can get an idea of discount pricing using Hotwire, and by using biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com, they might even be able to figure out what hotels Hotwire is offering.

Hotwire also gives you the option of telling the hotel there will be four guests in the room. Priceline guarantees a room for two people only.

If they aim for four-star hotel in downtown Chicago, they can't really get too much of a dud. We got the Hyatt Regency a couple of years ago, in July, for $70 a night. The Hyatt totally nickel-and-dimes you to death, but for $70, it's bearable. It's a very nice hotel.

They have plenty of time; they shouldn't freak out and start bidding wildly now, in December. It's way too soon. Good luck to them!

 

[fnover]

You can also try "Hotel Reservations Management", they are local and know the city very well. I have used them in the past and found that they have great rates and they can find a hotel that will work for your party.
Here is their contact information;
Polly Pancoe
E-mail Address(es):
polly@hrmchicago.com
Personal Information:
Address:
850 N. DeWitt #14K
Chicago IL 60611
Phone: 312-649-0597