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Park Hyatt Chicago REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

Park Hyatt Chicago REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

Old Dec 12, 2005, 9:39 pm
  #46  
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Welcome to Ft. Sounds to me as if you hit the jackpot. I love this hotel and it appears as though you have scored a great room, view and a good price.
More info on the Hotel Forums on FT (Hyatt). I had a non-view room and it was just great. Very spacious; very comfortable. Really loved the layout and the bathroom. Many comments on the Hyatt Forum.
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Old Dec 12, 2005, 10:11 pm
  #47  
 
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I loved this hotel, but a large part of it was due to the diamond amenity (very good champagne) and the diamond breakfasts. The hotel is fantastic, but I don't know if I would spend $400 for it (for a special occasion I would, otherwise I'd just priceline a hotel).

You'll be there in the winter, so the terrace isn't worth a whole lot.
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Old Dec 13, 2005, 7:55 am
  #48  
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I think you could live without the Terrace on Dec 27th....
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Old Dec 13, 2005, 11:14 am
  #49  
 
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There's a lot of info in the Chicago Forum as well, and you are likely to find trip reports on the Peninsula, Four Seasons, etc.
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Old Dec 13, 2005, 1:43 pm
  #50  
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Indeed, this is a nice hotel and only notches below the Pen. One of the best of the Hyatt chain. (Admittedly, the Chicago Pen isn't one of the better ones of that chain.)
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 4:44 am
  #51  
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Love the hotel, love the rate. I never got a balcony and I have paid more than $400 for the room, and am a Diamond. But as already mentioned, it may not get much use in late December.

I have stayed here three times and have nothing but positive things to say.
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 8:59 am
  #52  
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I had to call down to get new batteries for the TV remote -- they sent up a building engineer who was well dressed and fixed the problem. He then gave me HIS CARD and told me to give him a call if I had any further problems -- now that's classly (or over-kill, depending on how you look at it).
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 11:36 am
  #53  
 
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Nice Hotel......TERRIBLE Personnel

Like many on this board said, it's one of the nicer domestic properties in the Hyatt chain......however, for the price point they are trying to compete in, the service is severely lacking....

A list of problems during my visit last month:

- Pre-blocked room on 17th floor (corner, tower view) mysteriously disapperaed into a low floor rear view room, even though calling the hotel and 1-800-check in confirmed me in that room and I have arranged my Diamond Amenity to be delivered at 6PM at my arrival.
- Due to room "change" the Amenity was of course no where to be found. A call at 6:30 to front desk and room service resulted in "Amenity will be ready in 45 minutes"....WELL....it's SUPPOSED TO BE IN MY ROOM AT 6PM!!! Reply...."Sorry Sir, it will be expedited..." so it came 25 minutes later.
- Sloppy housekeeping and wear and tear evident rooms - the pull out in the bed side tables are nice for water and book, but housekeeping seems to neglect the cleaning of those surfaces and are present with stains. Window seats have cushions that are losing thread...... at a $500/night property, these things should NOT happen.
- Elevator lighting fixtures are seldom cleaned.....they become "bug traps" it's visible that there are so many bug carcasses there..... disgusting!
- Valets that take 40 minutes to get a car, even with calling before leaving the room!
- Sunday newspaper (requested NY Times) was not delivered, even calling the night before to make sure the request was in my record.....
- Housekeeping staff that does not greet you when you pass by them in the hallways.....contrary this to the Hyatt Vancouver, where I was greeted BY NAME upon check in when housekeeping staff saw me in the hallways (no, I was not a regular guest there). Little things like this sets apart a great hotel from a wanna be "luxury" hotel...... Side note: since housekeeping staff have a manifest of in house guests, I'd expect them to greet the guests by name when they see a guest trying to open a particular room door.... simple enough, no? The Vancouver property seems to be doing quite well with this approach. Even a simple "good evening" would be the most minimum if a housekeeping staff encounters a guest in the hallways....no? This obviously wasn't in the PH Chicago staff's training.
- I changed the arrival time of my brunch by calling the NoMI restaurant, but the reservation I made on OpenTable was not touched. Even after telling the NoMI reservationist that I had an earlier reservation that needs to be changed or cancelled out of the OpenTable system, my reservation resulted in a "no show inquiry".....

This is just a partial list of things that happened during my stay. I checked out a day earlier.....simply ridiculous. At the current state, this hotel is a disgrace to the Park Hyatt name, and more so if it claims itself as the "Flagship Property" of Hyatt.

I'll be glad if someone from Hyatt CS could follow up with me on this stay. Simply NOT UP TO PAR with what I expect from a hotel trying to market under the Park Hyatt brand.... I won't even bother with the standard replies from management staff there.

Last edited by jkc22; Dec 14, 2005 at 11:47 am
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 12:28 pm
  #54  
 
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What the heck is so special about the Park Hyatt that it commands >$400 buxanite when the Palmer HOuse can often be had for <$200 or The Drake in the $300s?
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 12:47 pm
  #55  
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Originally Posted by Brendan
What the heck is so special about the Park Hyatt that it commands >$400 buxanite when the Palmer HOuse can often be had for <$200 or The Drake in the $300s?
The Drake has really gone down hill (squeaky beds, peeling wall paper, dated furniture), and the palmer house is far from anywhere you want to stay...there are tons more reasons, but having stayed at all 3 of these, there is simply no comparison....the Park Hyatt is the 2nd best hotel in chicago behind the Peninsula...and YES, that includes both the 4 seasons and the Ritz (4 seasons).
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 12:48 pm
  #56  
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Originally Posted by johnep1
As much as I loved this hotel, I would probably stay elsewhere if I was (a) paying $400 or more for a room and (b) not Hyatt Diamond.
Well for me, a Diamond, I'd only stay here on award (FFNs definitely and maybe standard points) or deep discount rates only.

I agree that this property is a disgrace for the rates they charge and being the "flagship" Hyatt. I can't believe that Hyatt corporate lets this go on in their own backyard since Hyatt is based in Chicago. We've actually said they should send staff to PH SFO for training!!!

Last edited by peteropny; Dec 14, 2005 at 12:51 pm
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 12:49 pm
  #57  
 
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Originally Posted by Brendan
What the heck is so special about the Park Hyatt that it commands >$400 buxanite when the Palmer HOuse can often be had for <$200 or The Drake in the $300s?
I agree. There's nothing special about the PH except for the excellent location for tourists. Personally, I'm not a fan of traditional decor hotels (and many others are not) therefore the PH is a modern alternative. With service this lacking, I'd consider the Conrad (old Le Meridien) on my next trip.....
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 1:28 pm
  #58  
 
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Originally Posted by Brendan
What the heck is so special about the Park Hyatt that it commands >$400 buxanite when the Palmer HOuse can often be had for <$200 or The Drake in the $300s?
The Park Hyatt is in a completely different league than the Palmer House (based on my personal experience) or the Drake (from what I've heard). Although the Palmer House was fine, it's not comparable in terms of the rooms, furnishings, amenities, etc. I also thought the service was better at the Park Hyatt.

It all comes down to whether you want to pay that much more for the experience and what value you associate with the price. I used a couple of faster free night stays a couple of years ago and perhaps wouldn't have stayed there otherwise. I will say that the room at the Park Hyatt was one of the nicest (not including suites) that I've ever stayed in! I even liked it better than the rooms at the Montage in Laguna (that go for $700/night) where I recently stayed.

Our room at the Park Hyatt was very luxurious with modern, tasteful and sleek furnishings. The bathroom featured a soaking tub with shutters that opened so you could look out across to Water Tower Place (which is beautifully illuminated at night) while bathing. This is a flagship property for Hyatt, so I'm sure it's on par with the best of the Hyatts in the world (though I've not been lucky enough to stay at the Park Hyatts in Tokyo or Zurich yet).

My only disappointment was the restaurant. I thought the food was quite good, but it certainly was not great. I didn't find that the quality to be in line with the high prices on the menu. I don't mind spending money on good food when I travel. I just didn't find that the food lived up to the hype. Nevertheless, the restaurant itself and the views of the Water Tower Place were beautiful.

If you're wanting to stay at the best hotel in town, I've heard from friends that the Peninsula, the Ritz and the Four Seasons are perhaps worth more consideration, especially if polished service is the highest criteria. I was also very satisfied with my stay last summer at the Swissotel (though not nearly as impressed as I was with the Park Hyatt). However, I don't think you will be disappointed with the Park Hyatt. Enjoy your stay!
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 3:32 pm
  #59  
 
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A "consistently" good or top rated hotel does not mean service mishaps will not occur. I've encountered many service mishaps that should not have happened at a property that is trying to market itself as a "luxury" property at the top of the lodging industry.

I see comments about nice tubs and nice view, well that's the inherent qualities of the property and its location. While it does have a competitive advantage in all those regards (I'll even buy the comment about modern decor and furnishing, because I choose it over traditional furnishing). My experience at this hotel and at other Park Hyatts around the world gives me the impression that this is the disgrace of Park Hyatt properties. If anyone have ever stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo where I lived for 3 months, he/she would agree PH Chicago is several notches below and not worthy of the "Flagship" designation. PH Chicago is not even CLOSE to half of what PH Tokyo offers in service and attention, while charging about the same price. Of course we are talking about two different cities, but Tokyo is not a cheap city either, and contrary, one of the most expensive cities in the world.

What PH Chicago lacks is the software aspects - its personnel. It may have great location, nice hardware and facilities, the most important part of a "luxury" hotel, the personnel, is not there and up to par to support it to allow it to compete in the segment of market. Seriously, if the PH Chicago was in Tokyo, it'll be at the near bottom of the list among competition. Perhaps the reason that PH is rated the "best" in Chicago is because there's no better hotels there...that simply is analogous to saying it's the best car in the "economy" car class.....

I know I've said it before and I will continue to say.....PH hotels in the US are a joke! They are nothing but over furnished Regency properties that just got a "Park" name slapped on their front door. Rarely do I find "Park" properties in the US lives up to the "Park Hyatt" name, and PH Chicago is especially a disappointment, time after time. Perhaps I am expecting too much, but a recent stay at the Vancouver Hyatt (only a Regency) tells me otherwise. It's the quality of the personnel that makes all the difference. If you have a housekeeping staff walking by a guest in the corridors without even greeting the guest, what kind of uncivilized society do you think we live in, let alone in a "luxury" hotel trying to compete with the best hotels in the world????? ARE YOU LISTENING.... Mr. Segal?????

Last edited by jkc22; Dec 14, 2005 at 3:58 pm
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Old Dec 17, 2005, 2:07 pm
  #60  
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Park Hyatt Chicago is an excellent hotel all things considered

The Park Hyatt Chicago has always been a class act in my experience.
I don't see how one could begin to even compare this property to that of the Sheraton in town or Embassy Suites near the water which IMO are more like that of fine 3 star properties.
If one wants to compare it to the Red Roof Inn thats ok too I suppose
Its all about freedom of speech and opinion.
When the Park Hyatt is affordable it is my personal brand of choice.

In any hotel there will simply be problems 2 or 5 star
It's simply not a defect free world out there in or out of the hospitality world.
At a handful of my favorite brand hotels there have been some issues with elite recognition or service failures over the years.
Usually a simple communication to the right parties always sets the pace for a highly satisfactory resolution.
How they choose to deal with those concerns is what sets the winners from the losers out there in my book.
Hyatt and especially the Park Hyatt brand is pretty brilliant in that arena
The culture of keep the guest satisfied appears to be alive and well

I return to the Park Hyatt in 06 and will certainly see if they have kept up to my prior visit and experiences.But the lions share of various channels seem to indicate things are going very well overall indeed.

My first stay at the property during the grand opening had a number of problems initially.
But the product and efforts of the hotel spoke for itself
Which was still excellent in comparison to anything else in the fine city of Chicago
The Park Hyatt typically rates within the top 5 in the city

The Park Hyatt Chicago has set excellent brand standards in service and product and is recognized as such outside the FT community on other public forums(ranking number 1 in the city of Chicago on Trip Advisor) and leading travel publications like Conde Nast by business travelers.

If I can find any serious criticism about the Park Hyatt Chicago it would be the price can seem out of line at times with what the product and local market by comparison.
While the Park Hyatt Chicago remains an excellent choice it is certainly not the only choice in town.But I am happy to be a guest there anytime
Cheers

Last edited by 777 global mile hound; Dec 17, 2005 at 8:38 pm
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