Out of Rooms? Need Extra Room for Chicago Hilton on 15th

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses the challenges participants are facing in securing hotel accommodations for the night of the 15th during an upcoming conference at the Chicago Hilton. Several participants express frustration over the lack of available rooms and share their personal experiences regarding hotel bookings.

Discussion Character

  • Opinion-based
  • Anecdotal
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant, identifying as a consultant, expresses frustration over the unavailability of rooms at the Chicago Hilton for the night of the 15th, noting this issue occurs every year.
  • Another participant offers to share their hotel room at the Hilton if space allows, indicating a willingness to help others in need.
  • Several users mention that they are exploring alternative hotel options due to the lack of availability at the Hilton.
  • One participant shares their experience of staying at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, describing it as a stress-free option compared to other hotels.
  • Another participant notes that they have booked a room at the Sheraton, citing good service from their previous stay.
  • Some participants speculate that the hotel management did not reserve enough rooms for the expected number of attendees arriving on Sunday.
  • One participant mentions contacting the Hilton and Travel Planners to express dissatisfaction with the room availability situation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Views differ regarding the hotel availability issue, with participants expressing frustration and sharing various personal experiences. No clear consensus emerges on a solution to the problem.

Contextual Notes

Participants are primarily Pampered Chef consultants attending a conference, discussing their individual hotel arrangements and experiences related to the event.

Who May Find This Useful

Consultants looking for insights on hotel accommodations and experiences related to the upcoming conference may find this discussion relevant.

pamperedalf said:
I don't think HO is being very accomodating.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to be negative, but response I got from HO was perhaps the least helpful ever.

(feel free to join the B&A thread!)
 
I just was thinking if I was at work on the day registration opened, I probably wouldn't have had a room for sunday. But registration fell on spring break, so I was at home ready to go @ 8AM.

It stinks, and I think you guys need to put more flame under their you know whats, to get a room.
 
Anne, I went onto hotels.com & sidestep.com and found a few 4 star hotels that were on or near the mag mile from 141-189 a night. Check it out in case you need to stay somewhere the one night.
 
End of work day just about (and work week) and still silence.

Thanks for the suggestion about an alternate hotel for the first night but I do not want to make my whole team move after the first night and am not willing to give up the 2 bathrooms either.

If we have to do that it should be on TP or HO (don't even start to think they would do that!) - we registered so soon that there is NO EXCUSE for this!













(BTW: Everyone is free to chime in on the B & A thread. - I'm not supposed to be here anyway - it says WAVE 3 (I'm in Wave 1 but I have the same problem!).
 
pamperedalf said:
Anne, I went onto hotels.com & sidestep.com and found a few 4 star hotels that were on or near the mag mile from 141-189 a night. Check it out in case you need to stay somewhere the one night.
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Thanks, Amanda! I looked on sidestep but not hotels.com. I figured I'll call TP on Monday and see what they say. If I don't get in, I'll just book something off of one of those sites the first night. We pack light anyway.
 
Not to tick all of you off, but....I have a reservation for the 15th at the Sheraton and am thinking about cancelling it. The person who was going to go with me has some serious health problems and won't be able to attend (I'd much rather have her stay home and work on getting healthy than hurt herself more by going to conference), and I don't want to stay there by myself (can't afford to stay there alone, either). I can always drive to the conference center (I live in the Chicago suburbs) and am pretty sure it would be cheaper to drive and park than to stay in the hotels anyway. I'm not sure what to do. :(
 
Hey, Jen, don't worry about it... you can always change your reservation! I'm sure you're not the only one to book and have your plans change. Once you confirm with your roomie that she isn't going, just contact Travel Planners and let them know. I would do it soon because I don't know when they'll charge you for the rooms or how that works.
 
AJPratt said:
Hey, Jen, don't worry about it... you can always change your reservation! I'm sure you're not the only one to book and have your plans change. Once you confirm with your roomie that she isn't going, just contact Travel Planners and let them know. I would do it soon because I don't know when they'll charge you for the rooms or how that works.
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They charge for one night around June 15 but we still can cancel a conference hotel up to 72 hours before arrival.
 
  • Thread starter
  • #69
jentapp said:
I have a reservation for the 15th at the Sheraton and am thinking about cancelling it. The person who was going to go with me has some serious health problems and won't be able to attend (I'd much rather have her stay home and work on getting healthy than hurt herself more by going to conference), and I don't want to stay there by myself (can't afford to stay there alone, either). I can always drive to the conference center (I live in the Chicago suburbs) and am pretty sure it would be cheaper to drive and park than to stay in the hotels anyway. I'm not sure what to do. :(
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Jen, I just sent you a PM :)

Lisa
 
AJPratt said:
I don't mean to be negative, but response I got from HO was perhaps the least helpful ever.

(feel free to join the B&A thread!)
Click to expand...
Hey Anne.....nice new picture!

I've been out of town this past week and just now having time to catch-up. Have you and Beth called to complain to a human at HO and TP? If not, you really need to call and speak to a supervisor (both with TP & HO). I called and talked to Beth somebody at HO (option 3 and was transferred to Beth in the Meeting Coordinator dept.) I also spoke to Joe at TP (Joe Patrick, Reservations & Operations Supervisor, Travel Planners, Inc. 381 Park Ave South 3rd Floor New York, NY 10016 212-532-1660 Ext. 2103) I had originally called to complain about the operator I spoke to who wouldn't let me make a reservation w/o names & consultant #s and b/c of that I missed getting a reservation early (I had internet probs and couldn't get on the site). Anyhow, he was most helpful and I got my reservation for a 2-2 w/in a few days.

I hope you all get the rooms you want! I know how aggravating that is.
 
pamperedlinda said:
Hey Anne.....nice new picture!

I've been out of town this past week and just now having time to catch-up. Have you and Beth called to complain to a human at HO and TP? If not, you really need to call and speak to a supervisor (both with TP & HO). I called and talked to Beth somebody at HO (option 3 and was transferred to Beth in the Meeting Coordinator dept.) I also spoke to Joe at TP (Joe Patrick, Reservations & Operations Supervisor, Travel Planners, Inc. 381 Park Ave South 3rd Floor New York, NY 10016 212-532-1660 Ext. 2103) I had originally called to complain about the operator I spoke to who wouldn't let me make a reservation w/o names & consultant #s and b/c of that I missed getting a reservation early (I had internet probs and couldn't get on the site). Anyhow, he was most helpful and I got my reservation for a 2-2 w/in a few days.

I hope you all get the rooms you want! I know how aggravating that is.
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I did call HO and the operator talked to a supervisor and then said the super would call me back but she never did. I did talk to Joe Patrick. He has been in communication with me (not in the last week though) and has still done nothing. ...well he gave me a voucher for a small discount on a room because this is the THIRD event that my room reservations have been difficult. That does me no good if I don't have a room! I am so tired of complaining and stressing over this. Not sure I even want to attend conferences in the future after all this.

Well, the conferences are SO worth it but this IS very, very stressful!
 
I think my group decided this last night....we currently have reservations at Travelodge--1 block from the Hilton; we can cancel at any time with no extra charges--and it's $179/night.
We're going to go ahead & make arrangements at the Sheraton & get on the waiting list for Sunday. THen, if we don't get in there on Sunday, we can cancel within 72 hrs, and still have our rooms at the Travelodge.
I did get a call back from HO, about 4 days after I had left my message; they told me to just get on the waiting list. They said that travel planners was supposed to be opening up more Sunday rooms, and they will fill the ones on the waiting list first.
This is so ridiculous that we even have to worry about it!

(just joining in on the B&A thread:p )
 
pamperedlinda said:
Hey Anne.....nice new picture!
Click to expand...
Thanks!

Lacy: JOin thr B&A thread any time!

I think what we're doing is, we set up for the Sheraton for the two nights at the conf. rate. The Sheraton had rooms available on Sunday at $265, so my director was talking about reserving one of those. (Or at least I hope she did, and didn't put it off) So, if we don't get the rate, we'll just share a room for Sunday night. I didn't want us to both reserve an extra room and both be put on the wait list... that just seemed to be greedy.
 
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I talked with my director about this issue and she said in the past they have added an additional conference hotel and opened up more rooms. Let HO know what is going on. She has been in the biz for 9+ years. A lot of the directors don't even have rooms and they have a breakfast meeting on Monday.
 
I just called Travel Planners and the guy I spoke with said it takes 5 to day biz days to find out about the wait list and that I should know somewhere between Tues and Fri.

I'm sure they would like to open extra rooms, but my fear is there just won't be any to open because of all of the other things going on in Chicago in July. I sent HO and email and you saw the response I got ,"Just get on a wait list." My phone calls have not been returned either.
 
I may be on a cot or sleeping on the floor somewhere - I will be the one hunched over with the achy breaky back

LOL

It's my first conference - Been looking forward to going. Couldn't go last year becaue my former wouldn't allow me off work and my mom had just passed away. They promote conference but then don't other to have enough rooms for everyone NICE
 
AJPratt said:
Thanks!

Lacy: JOin thr B&A thread any time!

I think what we're doing is, we set up for the Sheraton for the two nights at the conf. rate. The Sheraton had rooms available on Sunday at $265, so my director reserved one of those. (Or at least I hope she did, and didn't put it off) So, if we don't get the rate, we'll just share a room for Sunday night.
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I started to reserve a room with the hotel for that Sunday I need but it was over $300 and I was also concerned that if many of us did that there wouldn't be rooms for them to release to TP. Oh, what a pain!
 
Kathytnt said:
It's my first conference - Been looking forward to going. Couldn't go last year becaue my former wouldn't allow me off work and my mom had just passed away. They promote conference but then don't other to have enough rooms for everyone NICE
Click to expand...

I'm sorry you had such a rough go of it last year. But I am thrilled that you are going this year and hope to meet up with you!

Yeah, I am trying to be positive and not bash HO, but I am disappointed. I am sure they are getting hit hard about the lodging situation with phone calls and emails, but they KNOW what Chicago is like during July and its not fair to be sold out when I'm sure a number of people haven't registered yet. And its not right to just assume that you won't have people coming in the day before, especially when you schedule a 9AM meeting on Day 1.

Beth: I agree. I had my director reserve on room at full price and then I got on the wait list. This way, we're only tying up one room for the both of us. We may just split the cost of the extra room.
 
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  • Thread starter
  • #79
lacychef said:
I think my group decided this last night....we currently have reservations at Travelodge--1 block from the Hilton; we can cancel at any time with no extra charges--and it's $179/night.
We're going to go ahead & make arrangements at the Sheraton & get on the waiting list for Sunday. THen, if we don't get in there on Sunday, we can cancel within 72 hrs, and still have our rooms at the Travelodge.
I did get a call back from HO, about 4 days after I had left my message; they told me to just get on the waiting list. They said that travel planners was supposed to be opening up more Sunday rooms, and they will fill the ones on the waiting list first.
This is so ridiculous that we even have to worry about it!

(just joining in on the B&A thread:p )
Click to expand...

Thanks Lacy!! I just booked a room at the Travelodge for $169/night. I'd prefer my Hilton reservation to include Sunday but it's SO nice to know that I have Travelodge in my back pocket until the Hilton thing works out.

I've been in Orlando on spring break so haven't had a chance to complain to anyone.
 
What do you have to do to book a room there? Just give them a call?
 
Bumping thread to top!
 
  • Thread starter
  • #82
AJPratt said:
What do you have to do to book a room there? Just give them a call?
Click to expand...

Anne, I just went to www.travelodge.com, typed in "chicago" and the dates. Very simple. I can't believe the relief I felt when that went through! I did mapquest and it is one block away from the Hilton so very easy to walk to the shuttle. I also called TP and was put on the "night request" list to get the 15th added to my reservation.

I've stayed at non-conference hotels before and it is actually alot easier. Not a big crowd at the elevators, etc. One year they ran out of hot water at the Sheraton!
 
Thanks! I'm going to talk with my director and see what she thinks.
 
I Got In!! I Got In!! I Got In!! I Got In!! I Got In!!I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!!

You would think I got TPC or something! LOL I got in for the 15th!!!!


I just got my email from Travel Planners!
 
  • Thread starter
  • #85
AJPratt said:
I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!! I GOT IN!!

You would think I got TPC or something! LOL I got in for the 15th!!!!


I just got my email from Travel Planners!
Click to expand...

Okay...I don't feel like reading back through all the posts :) so....did you JUST make a reservation and get in on the 15th or did you already have a reservation but weren't able to get the 15th when you made the original reservation?
 
Yeah Anne, I am so happy you got in. We should meet up at conference this year. I hope to see you there!!!!.
 
Lisa: I made a reservation and then was put on the dreaded "wait list". I called to follow up today and then just got the email.

Amanda: Yes! We'll have to meet up. Let's compare schedules!
 
Anne, we have nothing the same. A couple classes are the same but at different times!! I am glad you posted a pic of your new hair style. Now I will look for the right person this time.
 
OMG Linda! I LOVE your banana!


Amanda: We'll have to exchange cell #'s. I'm sure we'll meet up somewhere!
 
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