I know we want to stay on Michigan ave or the Magnificent Mile area. Anyone from Chicago who can help me? We are going to the American Girl Store in January and yes we now know we will freeze!
We did this in June of 2007. I was researching hotels on tripadvisor.com and in the forums there was this person who knew all the good deals on hotels in Chicago. He helped me have an idea of what the hotels were that were showing on hotwire. Don't know how, but he was great!
Anyway, we booked the Westin on Mag. Mile, which was like 2 blocks from AG (the old store). We got the room for $69 a night!!!!!
Awesome price! Hotel was great. I wouldn't call it a kid friendly hotel (even though the staff was super nice!), but it was a bit swanky which my daughter thought was cool.
This past November, when my other daughter turned 8, we were looking to do the same thing. I could not find a hotel for under $250 a night on Mag. Mile anywhere! So, we switched it up and went to the Atlanta store. We stayed at the Marriott, which had a WONDERFUL AG package and then I used priceline.com (did the name your price option for less than half of what the rate was listed for) for a room in Nashville for one night. It turned out to be a Marriott as well.
Overall, if you don't have your heart set on a specific hotel, I would have no worries using hotwire or priceline!
BTW, I think the Marriott in Chicago has a AG package too, if interested.