<p>I just booked a room at the Palmer House Hilton for $99/night, for the dates of the Chicago Unified Auditions (Feb 3-5, 2014). This was for a room with 2 double beds. They're also running a "Family Package" special on the same room-- $119/night includes full breakfast.</p>
<p>Awhile back I had booked a room for $149/night, but tonight I visited the Hilton.com site just to see if the rates had changed-- which they had.</p>
<p>We're planning to fly in on Saturday (Feb 1) and leave on Thursday (Feb 6). I've heard that some schools come early/stay late and wanted to take advantage of that-- especially if I've already bought the airfare. </p>
<p>Has anyone stayed on the Executive Level at the PHH? It’s $25/night more and wondering if it’s worth the upgrade. It looks like the rooms are bigger and there’s a complimentary continental breakfast and hors d’oeuvres in the afternoon. For a longer stay it might be nice to have those amenities…</p>
<p>I haven’t stayed there, SU88, but there have been many parents here through the years who have recommended staying on the Exec. floor. It comes up every year! :)</p>
<p>I am of limited help because we did unified s in NYC, not Chicago. But I did upgrade (for not too much money) on our hotel in NYC because it seemed like a small price for a nice little extra to make it feel a little like a fun vacation, and to try to take a bit of the stress off. If you can afford to pamper yourself a little and have a little extra space with some goodies thrown in, my vote is do it. It IS a stressful time but it is also a special time with your child that neither of you will ever forget.</p>
<p>I did stay on the executive floors last year. I loved it it made everything so much easier. The breakfast so that you were energized, there are also different elevators for them that are faster and have little benches. It is completely worth it. The only con is you need a key card to get to your floor like within the elevator and stairs. The floors are also higher so they are quieter. Also, I know some companies who stay with Hilton a lot get a special rate so see if your workplace has that.</p>
<p>We stayed on the Executive Level last year and enjoyed it. We took full advantage of breakfast, snacks, etc… All day coffee, waters, soft drinks were nice. It was also nice to have another space to hang out and meet others outside of our room. I thought it was well worth the price as we ended up eating there most of the day and buying only one meal a day elsewhere. Be aware you may want to allow more time to get to/from other floors as only a few elevators go to those floors. You also will need to have your key with you at all times to be able to use elevators. I will say friends who were not on that level actually had a larger room. But ours was perfectly fine for 2 people to share. And the readily available food and drink were appreciated.</p>
<p>We also stayed in the executive level and I strongly recommend others do so also. We appreciated the breakfast, drinks, and snacks that were included in the price of the room. It helped to cut down on the overall trip cost for us. We also found the floor to be a bit quieter compared to friends who stays down lower.</p>
<p>We travelled with myself, my husband, and my daughter and booked a 2 bath 2 bed room. It was wonderful. My daughter often used her bathroom as a steamroom (she caught a bad cold right before Chicago). But we still had another bathroom with all the things in it. Not to mention the room was very large and gave her plenty of room to warm up and practice her dance.</p>
<p>FYI, I am a Hilton Member. I booked the executive level with 1 bathroom on a special, then received an offer to use Hilton points to upgrade to 2 bathrooms. I took the offer to upgrade and got the larger room for a steal of $139.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for posting! I had a reservation for 2 double beds on exec floor for $214 per night, and I just changed it so it’s $124 per night. Yay!</p>
<p>Hmmm, I have an existing reservation for 2 double beds on the executive floor for $199 per night. I called and went out on Hilton.com and it is the same price, $224 per night. What am I doing wrong?</p>
<p>We did not stay on the executive floor and our room was big. We also drove to Chicago so we brought our own breakfast type foods, snacks and drinks, which cut down on cost. My D would not have had the time to use the breakfast or the snacks during the day. She also doesn’t like to eat much before an audition so that is why we decided not to take advantage of the executive floor.</p>
<p>LoveMyMtGirl- I would sign up for Hilton Honors and also try calling them again</p>
<p>Go to the Hilton.com website for the PPH, enter your dates, and go to the page where they show the different rooms and prices. At the 2 Double Beds listing, click on the “View packages and promotions for this room.” Look for the “Just Chillin” package-- it’s $124/night.</p>
<p>I’m actually undecided about whether to stay at the hotel at all, since we live in suburban Chicago. I’m hedging my bets in case the weather is awful, but we may have to go back home anyway since Unifieds are in the middle of our Variety Show rehearsals (kind of a big deal at our school).</p>
<p>I see the difference, there is no better rate at this time for executive level. The $124 is for the standard double bed room. So, the question is, is it worth $75 more a night for executive level? I’m thinking not. What say all of you?</p>
<p>Broadway95, thanks, I did sign up for Hilton Honors when I booked the room originally.</p>
<p>I was making a Hilton Honors reservation for one of my Ds in another city, and checked for Palmer House for the dates you folks need and, yes, I can see the reduced rate for the Exec. level. It’s in the Just Chillin’ promotion, and indicates an upgrade to Exec. level, for $124. Definitely a bargain for a hotel like this.</p>
<p>We stayed on the Executive level 2 year ago and it was well worth the price! the appetizers served every night were delicious and filling and we did not have to go out into the bitter cold for dinner! It was great to have a place to sit in and chat with others. Many of the school folk stay on this level-which was fun! Breakfast was great and saved so much time! Food in the hotel restaurant is VERY spendy, but there is a Starbucks that is always packed, and a good deli/bakery downstairs out the side door that is good food if yu can get there at off times.</p>
<p>My DH literally practically, no literally lived at the Palmer house (Mon-Fri) when doing consulting in Chicago for many months. YES do the executive level. He was the second most frequent visitor that year.</p>
<p>Happy to help! My kids tease me that I’m always using coupons, shopping the sale racks, and looking for bargains. If I can save myself (and my fellow CCers!) some money- I’m gonna do it! Lord knows this upcoming year is going to be a $$ doozy!</p>
<p>Thx to the OP - SU88 - for the tip. Just updated my rezzie and saved some funds.</p>
<p>I might be talking just to myself on this tip, but I don’t carry cash anymore thus have to remember to bring some greenbacks to tip the concierge lounge attendant(s).</p>
<p>Here’s another piece of information to put in the hopper. When we stayed at Palmer House for Unifieds, we ended up needing an extra half day past our check out time–they were very accommodating, though I can’t remember the exact up-charge. Maybe $30. It just would have been super inconvenient to not have a place to change and to have to haul all of the luggage to that last day audition. Wish we’d known about the executive sitch–would have been fun. We requested a check-in upgrade to two bathrooms the day we left, but at check-in, they did not have upgrade available. That would have been a pretty small up-charge, as I remember. Maybe $20. I’m happy that the expenses of last year are becoming a faded memory already.</p>