<p>Thanks for sharing the unified dates, love being able to start adding stuff to my calendar.</p>
<p>Does the Palmer House have a separate elevator for the executive level? How many floors are in the Palmer House? I’ve been in busy hotels where it is difficult to get an elevator during peak times.</p>
<p>Vvnstar, what site did you use to find the cheaper rate for the executive room? And if you don’t mind my asking, about what was the rate? The executive level sounds like the way to go. I’d like to book the room with two bathrooms, but it doesn’t appear to be on the executive level, and I think we’d really enjoy the perks of that level more than the extra bath.</p>
<p>All, you can find all the rates, including the early pay, which are the lowest, on the Palmer House Hilton website. My daughter and I went through this 3 years ago, and I agree that staying in the executive Tower was the best option, with the free appetizers serving as dinner a number of nights. And yes, there is an elevator that works separately for the executive floors, I believe. It didn’t seem to be a problem. Also, know that if the official dates are
Feb. 2, 3, 4, there may be auditions at nonofficial schools starting as early as the Saturday before and extending into the Thursday after. There are about 20-25 ‘official’ schools, but many others, as many as 50 will also be holding auditions there, and more at nearby hotels .CCPA, a few blocks away, always holds their dance audition the Sunday before. The best way to find out who is there is to look at each school’s website when they put up their audition dates, usually sometime late summer, but could be earlier. I have a list of who was there 3 years ago, but there have been many, many additions since then. If you would like the list, please message me your email, and I will be happy to send it to you. I keep wondering why more recent auditionees don’t post such a list, since they have it at the hotel during auditions. . . .</p>
<p>The executive level has separate elevators that require a room key to access.<br>
As previously suggested, do check all of your schools for audition dates. We started auditions in Chicago on Sunday and had the last one Thursday morning. With many in between. Lots more schools auditioning than are on the “official” Unifieds list. </p>
<p>I just booked online and they have a one day cancellation policy so I thought it made sense to go for it. I hope we are all hanging out together on the executive floor 
Chicago is so reasonable compared to NYC!! Because my D is very interested in CCPA I made sure to leave room for bad weather and to attend their dance call which they told us would be the Sunday before. </p>
<p>Chicago/Weather can be an issue, it was certainly something D and I stressed over, in the end we decided to drive rather than fly (about a 7 hour trip) b/c we felt it gave us more power to GET there. - Of course, this year there was a big snowstorm that hit Chicago on the Tuesday of unifieds- and we had to drive home (took nearly 11 hours- not fun) in it. While hanging around for my D’s last audition, I heard about a couple of schools that left early to get their people back home- which I’m sure must have caused some headaches</p>
<p>Also, and apropos of nothing- if I were doing Unifieds again, I would make sure one of my D’s top schools was not on the last day (and afternoon session at that) of Unifieds. It could have just been that one school, or concerns about the weather, but I noticed a distinctly lower energy/interest level. The auditors had a vibe of “let’s get this over with” which was off putting to all the kids (many wispers by the parents as we sat in the hallway and waited)</p>
<p>I , too, already booked the exec level, but was wondering if you found the cheaper rate in August on mentioned on a site like Travelzoo, a discount site, or did you just keep checking back with Palmer House periodically?</p>
<p>I did not use travel site. I used Hilton Points I tried to use my AAA discount but couldn’t get it to work? Look forward to meeting you @weski2 and your D or S.</p>
<p>I booked directly through the Palmer House. We did not use points so not sure how that works. Sometimes those special rates don’t allow you to use points but hopefully they will! But im sure if you ask they will figure that out for you.
If you drive, make sure to find out about parking fees. The hotel rate for parking can every expensive per day. ($40-50 per day) It seems on one of these threads someone recommended a garage close to Palmer House where you could prepay and get a cheaper rate. But we were not aware of it when we went. We used the hotel garage which is a block or so away from the hotel. We never used our car during the week. It sat there until time to go home!</p>
<p>Take the EL from the airport, best deal in town, and skip the car altogether. Cabs are plentiful and reasonable in Chicago if you need to leave the hotel for some place farther than a walk.</p>
<p>Which airport is most convenient/easiest to use for staying at Palmer House?</p>
<p>Midway Airport is closer but much smaller. We always use O’Hare because we come from the West Coast. Midway also has an EL station that goes to The Loop which is where The Palmer House is located.</p>
<p>Southwest flies in to Midway and the orange line takes you right from the airport to the Loop.</p>
<p>We drove to Chicago from our home (about 6 hours) which for us was easier and cheaper than flying even with the parking fees. It also gave us flexibility to adjust our audition schedule to go earlier/stay later if needed. But I would agree, if we flew to Chicago, I would not rent a car as you will not use it during auditions.</p>
<p>We parked in the hotel parking and I called and asked if they had discounted parking for Hilton honors members and got the parking for half price- I did the same and got free wifi</p>
<p>@evilqueen That was me who booked 2 small rooms. Just keep checking prices – I think it was late Sept or Oct when the price was really cheap. I think I booked and rebooked three or four times online with no penalty. I wanna say $85 a room, and I also had HH points that took even more off the price. D having her own room to escape to was absolutely worth it. We also got refrigerators for both rooms and a microwave for her room, which was nice for heating up beverages to keep her throat warm. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone. We usually use Midway since we fly Southwest most of the time. I just didn’t know if it was the most convenient for Palmer House.</p>
<p>$85 would be amazing. Sure hope the prices drop this fall!</p>
<p>We booked today, too. Sure hope those prices come down. I need to remember to request the fridge and the microwave. I can’t believe they charge for wireless – $12.95 a day!!!</p>
<p>@Divamamacita become a hilton honors member if you are not already, call them and ask if they will give it to you complementary. It worked for us</p>