Review: Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago
Chicago is high on my list of incredible cities, and any time that I get to visit is a treat. I recently had the pleasure of spending a weekend in the windy city and ended up staying near the airport for a night.
Booking
I was surprised at how expensive this hotel can get. For an airport-based hotel, they really charge a premium for the hotel. I was completely shocked to see that on most nights the hotel is going for $200 or more.
When I booked I managed to get a $160 nightly rate, but with taxes and fees I was near that $200 a night total.
I can see why it might go expensive, they have a large conference center, and they probably could get away with those rates on corporate contracts.
Points look a little better, with off-peak pricing of 6,500 points all the way up to 9,500 points. I was hard-pressed to find good redemptions during the warmer months, but there was a quite a bit of off-peak pricing during the cold months.
Location
As mentioned, the hotel sits just off the Chicago O'Hare airport, and it's a 10-15 minute shuttle ride away. While they don't have the fastest shuttle in the world, it does make multiple stops at the airport before returning to the hotel.
I missed the shuttle on the first pass but managed to catch it as they were looping around for the second time at the terminal.
Check-In
The hotel is large, hosting which looked like multiple conferences at once, there looked to be more than enough check-in staff for even the rush of guests. I found it quite interesting they had paper signs over the check-in for different member levels and when I asked about it, they said it was due to a large event they were hosting at the hotel with a big influx of elite members.
While I did get a high-floor room at my request, they didn't have any upgrades available. According to the front desk agent, there were numerous Globalists at the hotel that weekend and most, if not all, had either paid for upgraded rooms or used certificates to upgrade them.
The Room
The room was great, even for a non-upgraded room, it felt perfectly fine. Supposedly they are slowly going through a renovation of the rooms, but I was not able to get a renovated room. Even though I didn't get an upgrade, the room was plenty big, having been put in one of their "pods" attached to the hotel.
The hotel is quite interesting, in that it's laid out in a normal square area, but on each corner of the hotel there are circular "pods" that have some slightly large rooms in a curved space. They also seemed a little quieter and secluded from the main atrium area.
As airport hotels go, this one is quite large. 12 floors of rooms, plus the four pods, made the hotel seem very busy during the day and night. Both the breakfast buffet and the onsite dinner place were packed with people.
Back to the room, the bathroom was very basic and had what felt like a public restroom toilet in it, without any water tank and the stainless steel handle it felt very cheap and industrial. But all that matters is the water pressure, which was decent along with some good smelling soaps.
From the entryway, and past the bathroom it opened up into a large space with a desk, TV stand, bed, and a nice bench. The slight curvature of the room made it feel extra spacious in the room.
The single king bed was large and comfortable with some good fluffy pillows. And one thing that I haven't seen in a hotel room in a while was a noise machine to simulate rainforests to the beach if you wanted. For someone who usually has to have some sort of noise while going to sleep, this was a great touch.
The TV felt appropriately sized to the room, and I appreciate the combination USB and power charger on the desk. It was a lifesaver while I was working.
Unlike certain other hotels, water was complimentary for elite members and around $4.50 if you weren't. If I was a non-elite member, I wouldn't have touched those waters.
As far as hotel rooms go, it was pretty decent.
Food
There are three main areas in the hotel to grab food. The first is the coffee bar that's open till 1AM at the entrance to the hotel. They serve all day coffee, as well as grab-and-go cold items, and some smaller drag goods such as candy and chips.
There is also the breakfast buffet that is open in the mornings. They serve an open buffet, but also have specialty made items like omelets and stay open through lunch serving light bites to eat.
And finally there is the Red Bar & Lounge which is the full service dining room open only in the evening serving a full dinner menu. It was a great place in the evenings to go hang out and socialize in the lounge seating.
Service
Everyone at the hotel was lovely, and even with the influx of elite members, they still tried to make every effort to go above and beyond. They even started early by calling out this fact before even arriving to the hotel with an email. They outlined clearly they were expecting a higher than normal amount of elite members and all upgrades may not be honored.
The service at the Red Bar & Lounge felt slow when I ate there during the evening. They were quite busy, but it seemed there were only one or two waiters on duty at the time. With that being said, our wait time for food wasn't overly long and the portion sizes were generous.
There's also no mistake that the hotel is beautiful. I stood from my 9th floor balcony and just watched the huge atrium and studies the architecture. It's quite amazing to see and watch everyone below you.
Final Thoughts
It was unfortunate that upgrades were not available, however I appreciate the email before arriving explaining the situation. The room seemed slightly out of date, but the fact they're working through room renovations was a promising sign that the hotel was trying to upgrade and keep up with the times.
I never did have any sort of bad experience with staff, and rooms were tidied up daily. The conference venue is large, and I would absolutely return for another conference here if given the opportunity. I would like to experience a renovated room next time, as they looked much better than their currently offered room.
