Trekeo

I was heading to Chicago for A Wicked Good Weekend and needed two hotel rooms for two nights October 25 & 26, 2007. My plan was to use Priceline, but needed to do my research. After checking out Better Bidding and Bidding for Travel, I had my plan of attack.

Bidding:

1st Choice – Downtown NMA area – I was only willing to bid up to $65 a room for 2.5 star property. Others had gotten the Residence Inn for that price. I knew parking would be expensive and I was ok staying in another area outside of the city. I was unsuccessful.

2nd Choice – Schaumburg – I was wiling to bid $42 a room for a 3 star property. Several hotels were accepting bids at this price. Price accepted at the Doubletree Hotel Chicago/Schaumburg.

My Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $42.00

Subtotal: $168.00 (Two rooms for two nights)

Taxes & Service Fees: $29.12

Total Charges: $197.12

Hotel Review:

Priceline policy: All rooms will accommodate 2 adults. Bed type requests (King, Queen, 2 Doubles, etc.) or other special needs such as a non-smoking or smoking room should be requested through your confirmed hotel, can not be guaranteed and are based on availability.

I called to request non-smoking and 2 double beds in each room. Request was taken, but I was told they only had King rooms available at that time. There was a possibility that something would open up.

Check-in: Upon check-in only king rooms were available. We were assigned non-smoking rooms as requested. They gave us wonderful Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies which were definitely worth sharing a bed for. No mention of Priceline.

The room: The room itself was spacious and clean. We had a desk, high-speed Internet access (I’m not sure if there was a fee), reading chair, coffee maker, a clock/radio that I was able to plug my ipod into, upscale Neutrogena bath products including face wash and moisturizer. The bed and bedding were very comfortable.

The hotel: The lobby was small, but functional. There was a restaurant, but we did not use it. A nice pool was available as well as workout facilities.

Any problems: We were able to hear quite a bit of noise from a neighboring room. Luckily, we were at the end of a hall so hallway noise was minimal. I wore earplugs to bed one night and slept well. Our neighbors seemed to go to bed at a decent time.

The surrounding area: The hotel is in a business park setting. It was easy to find and a short drive to all the shopping and restaurants that Schaumburg has to offer.

Would I recommend this hotel to others: Yes.