Wyndham Rewards (formerly TripRewards) - 2 bad experiences in Chicago

I want to provide you a warning if you stay at the Wyndham Chicago on N. Drake

The hotel is great but the billing and computer system and the help in these departments has problems.

I stayed 3/28-29 room, bar, food, great

Had 3 reservations for my arrival luckily I carried my cancellations of first 2 with me as the desk clerk was ready to charge me for all 3.

My credit card was billed twice first at the correct rate then another bill for a 3 day stay with room service. I called and they corrected it.

One of my friends attended same mtg and had similar billing problems and called to correct it and told they have problems.

What really concerned me is the first person she spoke to in billing said to her "why are your worrying about it, you are going to charge it to your expense account anyways"

Well if either of us submitted a fraudulent bill to our employer we would be looking for new employment today so I am very concerned people with this attitude exist at Wyndham Chicago.

Must be something about the Wyndhams in the Chicago area. I stayed at the Wyndham in Lisle (across from the Hilton on Warrenville Rd. just E. of Naperville Rd) three times last year (it was 1/2 the price of the Hilton).

On every occasion, it was extremely loud with drunk wedding guests and parties until all hours of the night. The desk staff had little effect on the noise, as one wedding party kept me up until 4:30 in the morning. On the first 2 ocasions, I was told that I would be placed away from any further wedding parties....on all ocaasions, I was on an alleged "executive floor".

On the third and last time, I had to call the county sheriff to break up a party in which the guests became violent with the staffperson that came up to tell them to quiet down after I complained. Calls to Wyndham amanagement did absolutely nothing....so, I will NEVER stay at this property again, and would advise that no one else do so on a weekend, either. I have had no other problems at any other Wyndham properties elsewhere nationwide, so it may be just the Chicago area.

Has anything improved?

I saw that the Wyndham Drake is offering a $70/night webrate special in June. I figured we'd stay at the Drake Thursday and Friday night, then move down the road on Saturday to where my best friend's wedding receiption will take place (Hyatt Lodge on McDonald's Campus).

I can add the Wyndham O'Hare as an excellent hotel IF you want to return to 1988.
I got this hotel after I volunteered off a flight at O'Hare, and was re-booked for the next day.
So, since I didn't pay (I think the airline paid $45), I don't have much to complain about. BUT--if you are paying for a hotel--stay FAR away from this place.
Appalling is all I can say: Sadly run-down, tiny TV, no high-speed internet in any rooms.....(even the wireless in the lobby and the hi-speed cable in the business center were all out of order). Elevators slow and one was out of order. Honestly, it felt like nothing had been renovated in about 15 years. The bathroom sink faucet broke off (!) when I tried to turn on the water in the morning. The bathtub filled with brown water twice during our stay, even when we weren't using it! Yikes......Horrible beds, very old pool.

What wasn't bad:
Decent fitness center, good Room Service, (barely) decent Buffet Breakfast. Again, if I'd have been paying, I think the Buffet would not have been OK. But Room service was actually good--we had a Fruit plate, big salad, and a nice pizza.

The Travelodge down the street has a banner outside advertising "Free Hi-Speed Internet in rooms". That tells me they've spent more on improving the rooms than the Wyndham.

It is a time warp. I'd put the year at 1981, rather than 1988, but it definitely helped being a ByRequest member. In addition to my check-in amenities of nuts and an ice-cold Corona, I got automatically upgraded from the cheapest room to the executive tower, which now has high-speed Internet access. Plus I hear they have wireless in the lobby. The food in the restaurant was great, though the atmosphere was poor.

They're doing a lot of work - right now they're fixing up the bathrooms, and I think in 6 months or so it will be quite a nice hotel.


I can add the Wyndham O'Hare as an excellent hotel IF you want to return to 1988.
I got this hotel after I volunteered off a flight at O'Hare, and was re-booked for the next day.
So, since I didn't pay (I think the airline paid $45), I don't have much to complain about. BUT--if you are paying for a hotel--stay FAR away from this place.
Appalling is all I can say: Sadly run-down, tiny TV, no high-speed internet in any rooms.....(even the wireless in the lobby and the hi-speed cable in the business center were all out of order). Elevators slow and one was out of order. Honestly, it felt like nothing had been renovated in about 15 years. The bathroom sink faucet broke off (!) when I tried to turn on the water in the morning. The bathtub filled with brown water twice during our stay, even when we weren't using it! Yikes......Horrible beds, very old pool.

What wasn't bad:
Decent fitness center, good Room Service, (barely) decent Buffet Breakfast. Again, if I'd have been paying, I think the Buffet would not have been OK. But Room service was actually good--we had a Fruit plate, big salad, and a nice pizza.

The Travelodge down the street has a banner outside advertising "Free Hi-Speed Internet in rooms". That tells me they've spent more on improving the rooms than the Wyndham.

I had always heard the Chicago Wyndham is very nice. I noticed it dropped quickly on the trip advisor rankings recently though.