Chicago - Chicago Oct 5-7: Can't Find a room. What is going on?

I'm looking for one room for Oct 5-7 in or near downtown and all of the rooms are booked. What is happening that weekend that would cause all of the rooms to be booked?

Lots of hotel chains show availability on kayak.com

Chicago marathon weekend...

Chicago marathon weekend...

Ok. But that's a lot hotel room for people running a marathon. I guess we have to stay out in the burbs.

What I have found with Chicago is that they have many large meeting so the downtown lockup the rooms until about 30/60 days before ....then they release them.

With Chicago marathon the hotel sponsors hold back rooms for the runners and their families to book then the unused ones they release.

What I have found with Chicago is that they have many large meeting so the downtown lockup the rooms until about 30/60 days before ....then they release them.

With Chicago marathon the hotel sponsors hold back rooms for the runners and their families to book then the unused ones they release.

So I should check again maybe a month out from my trip?

So I should check again maybe a month out from my trip?Actually, consider the following:

Your dates coincide with two major meetings: The Neurosurgeons Congress and the Graph (Graphics) Expo. Also, an even bigger medical meeting, the American College of Surgeons, concludes on the 4th (and there are sometimes private events after the formal show, especially in the medical field as the pharmaceutical companies take advantage of all those doctors in one place at one time) :)

Medical conventions tend to have fewer cancellations, as there are continuing education/training programs attached to many such meetings.

The Marathon just makes the rooms situation even tighter, but the race is not the main factor.

So if you can't change your dates, one alternative you might look at is staying in an outlying area (like the O'Hare area) and commuting in on the CTA.

Best wishes in your search for accommodations.

Actually, consider the following:

Your dates coincide with two major meetings: The Neurosurgeons Congress and the Graph (Graphics) Expo. Also, an even bigger medical meeting, the American College of Surgeons, concludes on the 4th (and there are sometimes private events after the formal show, especially in the medical field as the pharmaceutical companies take advantage of all those doctors in one place at one time) :)

Medical conventions tend to have fewer cancellations, as there are continuing education/training programs attached to many such meetings.

The Marathon just makes the rooms situation even tighter, but the race is not the main factor.

So if you can't change your dates, one alternative you might look at is staying in an outlying area (like the O'Hare area) and commuting in on the CTA.

Best wishes in your search for accommodations.

Thanks for the info. This will be my first time in Chicago.

I'm going to be in town for a conference early in the week until Friday but the rooms they've booked for us are at the Hilton in Oak Lawn. My plan was to try to get a room in the city for Friday and Sat night but now I'm thinking that it'll probably be easier to just to Orange Line it into the city.

It's funny to see a large number of rooms in a central location in a city the size of Chicago booked to capacity. In the past year year I've stayed in Midtown Manhattan, downtown LA, Paris and DC and I haven't had a problem getting a room. But the one time I come to Chi I can't get the room I want to save my life. Crazy. :cool:

Thanks for the info. This will be my first time in Chicago.

I'm going to be in town for a conference early in the week until Friday but the rooms they've booked for us are at the Hilton in Oak Lawn. My plan was to try to get a room in the city for Friday and Sat night but now I'm thinking that it'll probably be easier to just to Orange Line it into the city.


Using the Orange Line while staying in Oak Lawn is a pain. Hilton probably has a shuttle, but it's about 30-35 blocks to MDW and the train terminus.

Using the Orange Line while staying in Oak Lawn is a pain. Hilton probably has a shuttle, but it's about 30-35 blocks to MDW and the train terminus.

Hilton does have a shuttle which I plan to use. But why is the Orange Line a pain?

Hilton does have a shuttle which I plan to use. But why is the Orange Line a pain?

He's saying it's about 4 miles up Cicero from the Hilton to the station at MDW with lots of lights.

Ethically it's a gray area*, but you might want to see which hotels the Neurosurgeons Congress and Graph Expo are using and try to reserve** a room within one of their blocks.

* I'm a former event planner. If a convention isn't filling its room block, it faces contractual penalties. In those instances, the convention organizers would probably be thrilled to have you using one of their rooms because you're helping them avoid financial penalties. On the flip side, if convention attendee demand for rooms is greater than supply, the convention organizers have customer satisfaction issues (attendees can't stay where they want to) and potentially lost revenue (attendees cancel their registration because affordable housing options aren't available). In that instance, the meeting planners may cross check all room reservations in their block against the registration list and kick out anyone who's not registered for the trade show.

** Furthermore, if the convention registration desk is forcing attendees to book hotel rooms through the registration desk--and not directly with the hotel--you're probably SOL and won't be able to get a room in their block without a convention registration.

Best option? Book a cancellable backup room now and then watch for rooms to open up as the weekend comes closer. Don't forget the off-price sites (priceline, laterooms, etc.).

The hotels get their final booking numbers from the conference planners only a few days before the event, and may begin to dump unused rooms a few days out.

What I have found with Chicago is that they have many large meeting so the downtown lockup the rooms until about 30/60 days before ....then they release them.

With Chicago marathon the hotel sponsors hold back rooms for the runners and their families to book then the unused ones they release.

Well do you know when they release the rooms that haven't been taken? I really need a room for two nights that weekend.. Its my birthday weekend and I really want to visit Chicago. I have a room for one night in Chicago but would really need two.

Well do you know when they release the rooms that haven't been taken? I really need a room for two nights that weekend.. Its my birthday weekend and I really want to visit Chicago. I have a room for one night in Chicago but would really need two.

Welcome to FT!

From my experience with conventions/conferences, they release rooms about 30 days out. So I'd keep checking daily for availability.

You might also consider switching hotels downtown if you can get 1 night at one downtown property and another night at a different downtown property. It's not optimal, but it would keep you downtown.

The other thing to do is try to book the same property as 2 single nights & then get the hotel to combine the ressies when you check in so that you don't have to switch rooms. There are a # of reports on the different hotel forums that someone is trying for a ressie for 2 nights & it shows up as unavailable, but when they book the 2 nights individually there is availability.

Graph Expo is large enough (several thousand) they're not going to cross-check hotel registrations against convention registrations. I think that's probably more common on somewhat smaller conferences than large trade shows. But at this point my guess is GE has released its room block.

Cheers.

Actually, consider the following:

Your dates coincide with two major meetings: The Neurosurgeons Congress and the Graph (Graphics) Expo. Also, an even bigger medical meeting, the American College of Surgeons, concludes on the 4th (and there are sometimes private events after the formal show, especially in the medical field as the pharmaceutical companies take advantage of all those doctors in one place at one time) :)

Medical conventions tend to have fewer cancellations, as there are continuing education/training programs attached to many such meetings.

The Marathon just makes the rooms situation even tighter, but the race is not the main factor.

So if you can't change your dates, one alternative you might look at is staying in an outlying area (like the O'Hare area) and commuting in on the CTA.

Best wishes in your search for accommodations.

And the HRTechnology Conference & Expo officially starts on 10/8, but there are some pre-conference events on 10/7.