I’ve already reserved for Chicago and am thinking of reserving for NY depending on how the list shapes up! I make sure I choose a refundable rate so am usually paying a little more.
Okay, I think I will do the same thing! Hope to see you there! So, Chicago is during the school week, huh? Feb 5-8?
How many nights did you reserve? Message me privately if you prefer…
@FourStars that was the problem I had with Chicago. My daughter missed enough school this year so being able to do it on the weekend in New York was a no-brainer. She still missed school one day that week for Carnegie Mellon which was on a Wednesday, although she really could have gone for a couple of hours in the morning but chose not to.
@FourStars I reserved Saturday night through Thursday this year. I will likely end up dropping days. A few schools hold either dance calls (or, full auditions) on Saturday/Sunday so I am being conservative. If she doesn’t apply to those schools, we will come in Sunday and leave whenever she is done. For D1, we were able to move a Wednesday audition into Tuesday so we could start the drive home ahead of a nor’easter! She was an Acting candidate so her schedule was a bit easier to manipulate.
It is VERY hard for the kids to miss almost a week of school in February for Chicago (on top of any on-campus days your student may miss!). The key is to have very clear (EARLY) communication with teachers/directors in advance and try to work ahead. D2 is currently scheduled for 3 AP classes. I hyperventilate at the thought of her missing a week!
I have also reserved a refundable rate at the Palmer House from Saturday night through Thursday, even though I think we’ll end up going to LA Unifieds.
Just a word of advice for the Palmer House - book yourself into the Executive Level if you can. It is so worth it. The rooms are so nice and you have access to a private lounge that is continually stocked with snacks, drinks and water. There is a nice breakfast each morning and a late afternoon/early evening light buffet that essentially ended up being a meal for us on a couple of evenings. It is so nice to get away from the hurricane that is going on floors below to a more quiet, private environment. The Weston in LA also offers a similar level that we booked as well since we did Chicago and LA.
I throw this out there every year, but it bears repeating for new people. Do not feel like you HAVE to stay at the Palmer house. We did not - and I think it was for the best. 1. Husband had points, so our stay was free (always a bonus) 2. D had 5 auditions scheduled - and 3 were NOT at Palmer, so it wasn’t like it would have been one stop shopping for us. 3. D is a person who needs what we call “headspace” - and being in the Palmer would have been too chaotic. We stayed about a mile up Michigan ave (right below the river- where the shopping starts) and loved it
Obviously everyone is different. For some, the Palmer is the ideal situation. Just saying things can work in other places too 
Hyatt Centric in
The loop is also pretty nice and has a snacks area where you can get cappuccino and fruit. Not far from PH. A block away from Revival Food Court (which is awesome but only open during the work week.)
We stayed at Club Quarters on Wacker for Unifieds, and I highly recommend it. I’ve stayed there before on business travel, and I’ve been pleased every time. Advantages for Unifieds: 1) It’s just one block away from the Hyatt on Wacker (an easy walk, even in sub-zero weather) and a very quick Uber to the Palmer House (it’s half mile from Palmer House…would be walkable in better weather). Half of my D’s auditions were at the Hyatt, and the other half were at the Palmer House, so this was a great location for us. 2) Lots of good restaurants within walking distance. 3) Their smallest, no frills rooms (“Club Rooms”) are priced at around $79/night. So for the same price as most other hotel rooms in this area, we were able to get two rooms - one for us parents and a second for our D so she could have some space to practice her audition material, get into her audition zone each day, not have to share a bathroom, etc. For us, having two small no-frills rooms was much better than having one larger, fancier, shared room. Our D saved her money and chipped in for the cost of her room because having that space was so important to her. 4) It’s away from “the scene” at the Palmer House, which as @toowonderful mentioned above can be nice psychologically.
Related Tips: 1) We were told we could call the morning of our check-in date to request a fridge and a microwave in our tiny no-frills rooms and that, if available, those would be provided free of charge. This was important to us because we were hoping to save money by buying some groceries instead of eating at restaurants for every meal. We called and asked for this, and they were more than accommodating. Instead of moving appliances into our tiny rooms, they upgraded us at no extra cost into two “Superior Rooms with Kitchenette” which were more roomy and included all the appliances we’d hoped for. 2) There is another Club Quarters hotel nearby, called Club Quarters Central Loop, that is three blocks from Palmer House. I think the Club Quarters on Wacker is the best location for folks who have a several auditions at the Hyatt. There are more restaurants and fun things to do near Wacker. But for folks who have only (or a majority of) auditions at Palmer House, the Club Quarters Central Loop might be best. Same prices, same types of rooms. 3) If you work for a company or organization (the Federal Government, for example) that is a “member” of Club Quarters, you get an additional discount on room rates.
@janine1 I am new at this and trying to figure out Unifieds for my daughter for this coming year. How do I find out which schools are at Palmer and which are at Hyatt? Will they publish a list or is it all sort of word of mouth or do you not find out until you schedule audition times? I was going to do NYC because it is closer to us- but now I am leaning towards flying to Chicago?! Everything I am reading on here kind of makes me think Chicago may allow us to get more auditions in? I am a little overwhelmed and we too are on a tight budget so I am trying to make a decision soon in case I can get cheap flights if we are going to Chicago. THANKS!!!
@savedrama4momma the “official” Unified school list will be out soon but that won’t necessarily tell you the venue in Chicago (e.g., CCPA [Roosevelt] is a Unified school but holds auditions on campus in Chicago). Unfortunately, it takes researching each school’s website. In our experience, Chicago is more better attended but, depending on your list, you may be able to pick up other NY-area on campus auditions in and around the same time as NY Unifieds.
In general we found that the MT schools were at Palmer House where we stayed and the BFA Acting programs (UNSCA, Guthrie, Rutgers, Purchase, etc.) were at the Hyatt. D did the vast majority of her auditions at Palmer House, but we did set aside one morning for a couple of Acting auditions at the Hyatt and it was very easy to fit in as it is just a 5 minute taxi ride away. Now there were some exceptions to this - for example Chapman did auditions at the Palmer House and Manhattan School of Music auditions were at another venue, and as was pointed out Roosevelt CCPA did auditions at their campus.
@savedrama4momma Probably no schools have published their audition dates and locations for 2018 yet, but all their 2017 information is still up on each college’s website, and the locations don’t change much (if at all) from year to year. You can google something like “Rutgers BFA Acting Audition Dates”, and poke around on the website until you find the information you’re after.
Also, about the term “Unifieds”… First of all, a group of colleges sign up and participate in official “National Unified Auditions”. They tour to the same cities together and hold auditions the same week/weekend at the same hotel. In Chicago, all of these colleges (except the ones located in Chicago) hold their auditions at Palmer House. You can look on the National Unified Audition website to see what colleges participated in this in 2017: http://www.unifiedauditions.com/universities.html This list will be updated for 2018 in a few months. Most colleges that aren’t on this list also hold auditions in the same cities and during that same week/weekend. Most of the schools who aren’t on the National Unified Audition list (BU, UMN Guthrie, UNCSA, SUNY Purchase, and Rutgers to name a few) hold their Chicago auditions at the Hyatt on Wacker. The colleges located in Chicago also tend to hold some auditions on their own campus during this same week/weekend. I think officially the term “Unifieds” only refers to the National Unified Audition schools, but informally people tend to call the whole thing (all the schools, all the auditions, at all the different locations) “Unfieds”.
Thank you so much everyone! I pulled the trigger and bought flights to Chicago as the deals were really good and I think that will only go higher. At least one thing is crossed off the list… We are 100% going to Chicago (Sunday thru Thursday). LOL and now I have time to keep figuring things out and my daughter can focus on preparing! I have all the audition dates and info from last year from the school websites and I will keep looking out for updated info. Thanks so much for all of your help everyone!
^^^and many schools have started posting 2017-18 audition dates! I am checking once per week from my D’s updated list while she is at CMU.
yes- @artskids so far I see updates from BW, HARTT, Wagner, James Madison… (we are mostly looking at East Coast schools). That’s awesome your daughter is at CMU!!
@savedrama4momma she is doing the summer Drama program. Penn State, too (but so far, only the unified dates). Prescreens due November 30.
@artskids My daughter is at the summer conservatory now at Baldwin Wallace- she is in heaven!
@savedrama4momma wonderful! Is she doing Overtures?
@artskids no- this is the summer conservatory program (CSI) - voice major/ chamber choir/ piano/ music theory each day but she also is taking the musical theater “track” & audition preperatory class. It has been a great program for her!