DELee

FYI - Article below notes that HGI Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile and ES Chicago Downtown are being shopped around for sale:

Hyatt Centric Chicago sold to Northwestern Healthcare (therealdeal.com)

David

HH777

[size=16px]Hey everyone![/size]

[size=16px]I'm planning a nightspot in Chicago in October as a add on to our trip. I'm wondering if you can all recommend your favourite city centre property for a diamond member.[/size]

[size=16px]Thanks in advance[/size]

[size=16px]HH777[/size]

pinniped

We're planning a family trip to Deerfield over Thanksgiving.

Considering the Hilton Northbrook. Any recent stays there? Main things we're looking for are an indoor pool w/hot tub and an Executive Lounge that's open on weekends. (We don't care about Thanksgiving morning or evening.) This hotel appears to check all the boxes but I can't find any confirmation on lounge hours - other than the fact that they will happily sell you an Exec Lounge room at a higher rate than a regular room on the weekends. Since I know that isn't a real indicator of a lounge *actually* being open, I figured I'd ask this thread....

My backup plan is the Lincolnshire Marriott where I have 2022 confirmation of a 7-day/wk M Club, but it's somewhat more expensive than this hotel.

Anything in the north 'burbs 15-ish minutes from Deerfield is cool with us. Hilton is my slight preference over Marriott but not by much.

EDIT: I phoned the hotel: the lounge is currently closed for "maintenance". If or when it reopens, it will not be serving any food in the morning or evening, any day. It will solely be available for soft drinks and perhaps packaged snacks. In other words, the physical space will be there....but it's not really an Executive Lounge anymore.

Boraxo

Embassy Suites Deerfield or Hilton Northbrook - which is the better choice?

IIDXias

Anyone have any experience with any of the Hilton hotels in the O’Haire/Rosemont cluster? Was looking at maybe staying at one for Labor Day weekend and they’re all around the same price. Thinking specifically of:
-Hilton O’Haire (the one actually connected to the airport)
-Hilton Rosemont/O’Haire
-Embassy Suites O’Haire/Rosemont
-Doubletree O’Haire/Rosemont
-Hilton Garden Inn O’Haire

Any feedback on any of these from someone who’s stayed at one is appreciated!

gaobest

Staying now at embassy suites Chicago in Mag Mile location (511 n columbus). Very nice. I’m gold status - can I get a late checkout if desired due to gold status? The checkout is 11a.

hbtr

Hilton O’Hare - there’s a separate thread for that hotel. Can’t beat the convenience, you can get to your room without ever going outside. Rooms are somewhat worn and dated.

I didn’t see Hampton Inn Rosemont on your list. Maybe Hampton Inn isn’t to your liking, but I have stayed there several times and am very happy with the property. Airport shuttle, good staff, rooms in pretty good shape, standard Hampton breakfast. I specifically like that it is walking distance to several restaurants, 7-11, post office, and FedEx.

mrgoodkat

What's the best Hilton currently for a short sight seeing trip as a Diamond? Upgrades, Breakfast, Lounge etc

arlflyer

Palmer House. Location, location, location. An old Chicago icon, timeless grandeur. Spend as little time in the hotel as possible - so much to see in town. Don’t overthink this.

qed

I used to love the Palmer House but it's very old and the Executive Lounge is gone. Another place to consider is the Londonhouse Chicago which gets very good reviews.

arlflyer

LondonHouse is great as well. My main point was that in my perspective (having stayed at most of the Chicago properties), OP should pick on location and design / aesthetics. There is no property that gives excellent benefits (e.g. on par with Europe / Asia) and no lounge worth passing up a meal in Chicago over. I happen to still love the Palmer House because there will never be anything else like it - the age is part of the charm.

Sisosig

Thinking about a five-night rewards stay in June in Chicago at the end of a 3-week road trip. It will be my first honest vacation in five years. Nearly all Chicago hotels are priced at 70k points per night. I am considering London House Curio, the traveller-ranked #1 hotel on Tripadvisor, and the Sable Navy Pier Curio. HGI Downtown Riverwalk is unavailable during my stay. (was again later).

I think I also like the area where the WA is located, but at 95k/night that would consume half of my points, and I think that's not worth it / would rather use them for reward stays elsewhere. I do not like run-down hotel rooms or rooms that have a view of an opposite wall or worse, or that suffer from extensive traffic noise. (Some people complained about it at London House.) I do like rooms that have a water view, as long as there is some activity taking place on the water. Have been to Chicago on a previous trip (great city!), and stayed at Palmer House and the Hilton Magnificent Mile/Suites. It is not vital for me this time to 'see and do as much as I can' in Chicago.

Would 'Sable at Navy Pier' be a good option to stay for me for five nights? I think there will be fireworks on the arrival night and maybe even on the final night. As far as I remember, it's not near much else and public transit from it isn't great (will be traveling by bus/el/bicycle/scooter), so that would be a weakness. My return flight departs late in the afternoon. London House is perfectly central, but I bet on a five-night standard award-stay, chances are slim you'll get upgraded to a riverview room. At Sable, I think all rooms have a lake view, is that correct? Would this be my best option?

Truffles

I stayed at the Sable last October, and won't return. The area was completely dead in that season and it was quite a walk along the pier to get to it. Rooms and bar were fine, but nothing special. The Offshore Rooftop reastaurant was ok, but it is third party operated and charges cannot be billed to your room (so no points). View was magnificent though.

LSEGallipot

I stayed with family (4 total) at the Sable in early June 2021 for 2 nights, shortly after property opened. You are correct Sisosig: rooms indeed all seemed to have water view since hotel runs parallel to pier, though south-facing rooms more scenic (water plant immediately visible to north). Obviously, very close to Navy Pier and all of its diversions, including the various watercraft excursions (recommend the Tall Ship Windy). However, it's a 30 minute walk at minimum to get to even the most proximate downtown attractions (e.g. Riverwalk, Millenium Park, Michigan Avenue) and closest El station, including going under some not-very-scenic parts of 41/Lakeshore Drive. Of course, can take rideshare/car, but only one primary access point which gets congested. I think 5 days in this location would get old. I did *generally* enjoy the hotel and think it's worth a night (at least), but recognize that your likely aim is to maximize points value by staying in one location for five - and I'd be hard-pressed to advocate for that.

Sisosig

Ok Truffels and LSEGallipot, thanks for your help. Think I made a bit of a miss-calculation. Thought I would lose day 1 (arrival) and day 5 (departure), but that's not the case, you still can make plans for four full days. And except for the sailing trip on the vessel Windy (NTS: make a reservation in time), you still need those 30 minutes extra to visit all other places. Or if you do some shopping, there's no easy way of dropping stuff at the hotel, it'll take at least an hour and a half. Also: the no points for the restaurant.. So I canceled Sable and booked London House instead. It's even at a walkable distance to the Blue Line (15 min.) Also checked other hotels in the area, but I liked this one overall.