This is what I suggest. Below is a list of my hotel preferences, and why, if it's important. If you are interested in a similar place as any of the previous posters, then please add anything else applicable, make any changes, indicate your preferences. If everyone going to SF who wants to stay in a hotel replies, we ought to be able to narrow down the choices and make our decision.
If you're attending SF but either
a) staying with friends or
b) don't care if you stay the same place as everyone else,
then you don't need to reply in this thread, this one is just for people wanting to stay near each other, so we can reserve a block of rooms. If you don't want to get in on the group action, just make it clear in the original SF thread that you're taken care of, and go ahead and make your own arrangements.
Okay.
I want to stay in a hotel downtown, for the convenience factor of being near the spots we'll be visiting. I don't care if we have valet, because I would prefer to just park my car and share cabs with other SWers as much as possible.
I am really pulling for downtown as a group, but I do understand for those of you flying in, by the airport might be easier. I just want to note that I LOVE driving in Chicago and would be more than happy to make an airport run when I come into town on Thursday, on Friday if necessary, and on Sunday when it's time to go home, if anyone needs a ride and doesn't wanna cab it into downtown of a strange city alone.
I am hoping to share a room to help with the costs. I might bring one other person with, and there are a couple of us members here who have tossed the idea back and forth as well. I have no problems whatsoever with packing lots of people into a room. It isn't like we're expecting to gets lots of really satisfying sleep this weekend anyways, you know?
So I want to get a room with 2 double or queen size beds, and would consider a suite for the extra sleeping room if we really want to cut the cost down further by splitting it between more people.
I have no idea where any of these hotels are downtown, so I have no input as far as location goes. I also don't care if we get bfast included or not - it's nice, but I just need a pot of coffee and I'm good to go, so I'm not listing the bfast-added rates.
I am also fine with advance purchasing (non-refundable), so those are the prices that I'm listing as my preference. Although if we split the room between folks, the difference between the non-ref price and the flexible price will be pretty negligible.
Holiday Inn City Centre (Navy Pier): 1K/2Q=$196/night (advance purchase, non-refundable) self parking=$28/day so this looks like a good option, but they don't seem to have any suites
Radisson Hotel & Suites:1K/2D=$239/night; 1K/2D w/sitting area=$259/night; valet parking = $35/day The room with the sitting area (couch for extra sleeping) just adds $20 - so if the room is split between 3 instead of 2, it's $87+tax/night each instead of $120 for the basic room. If we double up the beds and sleep 5 in the suite, it's $52/night each instead of $58 each in the basic room.
Doubletree Suites: 2D Suite=$254/night (advance purchase, non-refundable); valet parking=$35/day roughly the same price as the Radisson 2D suite
Palmer House Hilton: 1K/2D=$259/night self parking=$25/day again, same price as the Radisson suite. Self-parking is available, which would save me and anyone else who does it $10/day.
Embassy Suites Downtown (all rates incl. breakfast): 2D Suite=$269/night (fully flexible); $299/night (w/valet parking package); valet parking=$36/day $10 more a night for the suite, and the parking package shaves $6 off the total daily bill if someone in the room is valeting.
Hard Rock Hotel: 1K/2Q=$236.50/night; valet parking=$38/day Cheaper, but no suites. splitting between 2 people is $120ish each, between 4 is $60ish.
Embassy Suites Lakefront (all rates incl. breakfast): 1K Corner Suite: $239/night; valet parking=$36/day I'm splitting a room and want more than one bed, so this one is out for me.
Hyatt Regency: 1K/2Q=$249/night; valet parking=$36/day roughly the same as the others
Swissotel: 1K/2D Deluxe=$249/night (Swiss Value 3); 1K/2D Lakeview Deluxe=$259/night (Swiss Value 3); valet parking=$39/day I don't care about the lakeview, but it's there if you want it!! I'll come hang out in your room and look at the lake for a little while. Heh. Is the deluxe a suite with a couch, you think?
Hilton Garden Inn Magnificent Mile (all rates incl. high speed internet): 1K/2D=$267/night (fully flexible); $292/night (Weekend Residence w/valet parking); valet parking=$35/day I won't need internet, I'll have SW in person! Yippee!! The weekend deal saves you $10/night, but again, does it just cover one car?
The Drake: 1K/2T=$269/night (advance purchase, non-refundable); $299/night (fully flexible); $309/night (BounceBack w/breakfast); valet parking=$33/day twin beds? LOL. and more expensive. nope.
Homewood Suites Downtown and Le Meridien: stretched over $300 a night. I'll pass on these.
The Doubletree, Radisson, and Suissotel all have 2D suites (extra space) for between $249-$259, so those are my picks. I don't have time right now to look them up and check out their amenities, so if anyone is content with those prices and wants to go check out the details, it'll be easier to narrow it down. If one has a fridge and a mic, for instance, we can make popcorn when we get back to the hotel drunk off our asses in the middle of the night. Heh.
So there you go. No one else was puttin it out there, so I did. If this is too convoluted, feel free to ignore it, and it'll float to the bottom of the page and die a slow, painless death to the back pages.
love
cali


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Something is always going wrong with me, I swear.
Cali, for giving this a
as my original post of the rates in the regular SWFest thread didn't generate any response. It is a bit daunting to see the rates for downtown. I tried to pick hotels that were within a couple blocks of Michigan Avenue (aka "The Magnificient Mile"). Also, I had included info on internet access, because I didn't know if people would be bringing laptops (to encourage Drunken!Posting live from StripperWeb Fest) but I figured it would be a nice touch. As for whether breakfast is included, well free food is always a plus in my book 




but were staying at the Residence Inn downtown next week for $49 a night. My wife used priceline.com. Maybe that will help.

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