Lpas

Does anyone have any experience w/ this property good or bad?

Thanks

PDX1K

If you mean the Embassy Suites Lakefront at 511 N. Columbus Dr. then I stayed there this June. It was a very nice property with fairly convient walking access to much of downtown Chicago. Two blocks to Navy Pier. Breakfast was good. Rooms were nice. Hotel seemed fairly new. There were lots of families staying there. We would definately go back.

Hope this helps.

GDIW

I have two rooms reserved at the Embassy Suites Chicago Lakefront at the end of the month. One for ourselves, and one for a cousin who's family includes a 24 yr old, 8 yr old and 7 yr old.

We will only have the one night in Chicago and I would like to impress them with their room as they are 'Marriott people'.

I've read the hotel description that they offer regular rooms, lake view rooms and corner rooms. Has anyone stayed there recently that could recommend which type of room to request? We don't need to be side by side and could request two different views if that is recommended.

My cousin and family have never seen Chicago so I thought a South view might give them the most to look at - though I've only passed the hotel on LSD and never stayed there. They do live near an ocean so I don't know that our lake will be impressive.

And, before it is suggested - I have done a search on this hotel and did not find anything descriptive about rooms and specific location choices. We will spend time at Navy Pier as well if anyone has suggestions for that as well.

Thank you.

GDIW

This property has been added to the e-checkin list so any help on what room numbers to ask for would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

loomis

I have only stayed there once before so I am not sure about the room numbering system. I do have one suggestion, though: the higher the floor the better. It not only gives you a better chance for a view over some of the other big building around it, but also will help with the noise from the busy streets below.

bobsyouruncle

Higher is better in this hotel. My boss was upgraded to an executive room on a high floor and it was definitely nicer than mine. Also, if you were a HH gold or higher you recieved a different color pass for breakfast and the managers reception in the evening. This ticket would allow you to order premium liquors and wines. This was a year and a half ago so I'm not sure they still do that but it would be a good way to impress your marriott friends.

GDIW

I will definitely request a high floor and we are Diamond so the colored key should be no problem if they still do that.

What was the difference in the Executive Room? I've read about Lake View, and corner rooms but have not seen executive mentioned. Ive stayed in an exec room in Indy that includes a large conference table and also has a DVD player in the room. Is that the same in Chgo?

Thanks for the help and advice.

GDIW

bump - my stay is coming up soon.

Is anyone able to help with room descriptions and/or room numbers to help determine the best room choice with the online check-in?

Thank you.

UAL_Rulez

Every ES I've stayed in, this one included, has a very standardized room plan so the main differences are view, not size and layout. The rooms at this property are small compared to the other ES I've stayed at. You definitely want the highest floor you can get - and whether you want a lake or city view is a matter of personal preference. Lower floors look out at the walls of other buildings.

Overall, a very nice property though. Your family will enjoy it.

GDIW

Now that our stay is over - I can answer my own questions.

The e-check-in system would not work for us because the reservations were for a points stay. Hopefully in the future e-check in will be allowed no matter how you "pay" for your room. The Diamond desk added a note to our reservation asking for rooms on higher floors. Rooms were not ready for early check-in, but were ready when we returned at 5:00.

We were given rooms 1501 and 1506 - There are 17 floors so this was high enough to see over any other area buildings.

1501 was a King non-smoking room. Faced South on Illinois Street with a partial view of the lake and of the city. Typical ES decor.

1506 was two Doubles non-smoking and faced West on Columbus. Great view of the Wyland painting and the Tribune building. The Tribune building was especially impressive when lit up at night.

The hotel stay was average for ES. There were zero Diamond benefits. I even called to ask for a robe and some water to be sent up. A few minutes later a man appeared with 7 (seven) robes! And no water. Took one robe and let the idea of water go.

We went to the evening cocktail reception. Our breakfast coupons doubled as proof that we were entitled to free drinks. Only one drink could be given per person so we both had to stand in line - usually only one of us goes up and gets two drinks. No top shelf liquors with our passes. The snacks were two types of trail mix and tortilla chips and dip - except that they ran out quickly of chips and did not refill. It was not kept very clean the food became scattered all over the table.

Breakfast was crowded but not over run with children as I expected. Plenty of food and selection, but not enough bus people to keep the area clean. Good selection at breakfast. They had cooked to order eggs and waffles along with the usual pre-prepared scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cereals and pastries.

Not too impressive and somewhat disappointing as we were hoping to show our Marriott cousins the benefits at Hilton. They'll stick to Marriott.

Hotel_junkie

This is the second Hilton hotel in Chicago (Drake was the other) that doesn't really tend to the HHonors checkin queue properly.

I was staying at the Lakefront ES (kind of a misnomer since the hotel isn't exactly on the lake ) for one night and headed to the HHonors line to check in.

The registration desk was quite busy at 4 pm with 1 clerk working the HHonors line and 2 clerks working the regular queue. Now, I've noticed that regardless of how many people are waiting in the HHonors line, the reg clerks will ignore the HH Vips and still serve the guests in the regular queue.

This occurs at the Drake and now I've noticed it at the ES. What this means is that an HHonors guest doesn't really get the benefit of a speedier checkin especially if the HH VIP at the front of the line has a serious issue that needs resolving.

I literally waited in the HHonors line and saw 8 guests in the reg queue get served before me.

IMHO, if there are guests is the HHonors queue, by policy, the front desk clerks should serve them next.

Does anyone agree with me...or is that just a little too elitist! I'd like to know.

Uniter

You're right, of course.

But why not use the check-in kiosk?

Hotel_junkie

Yah, thought about it...I had contemplated using the e-checkin system as well. E-checkin said that I was upgraded...but I didn't know what that meant in the ES world...so I wanted to speak with a desk clerk when I checked in.

In any other situation I would have done the kiosk checkin...

suzieq

Request email address for hotel please.
Thanks

SECKART

see trip report Nov 23rd-25th

To respond specifically to the question raised above, Syed Hasan is the General Manager of Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago-Downtown/Lakefront.