skofarrell

Unfortunately, as a Starwood Platinum that has stayed in both hotels (and the Westin Michigan Ave), I have to say "none of the above". We just returned from a 2 night stay at the OMNI on Michigan Ave (at Huron), and have to admit it puts just about evey Starwood hotel I've stayed at this year to shame.

The Hotel is an all mini-suite (small parlor in front of bedroom), have 2 tvs, and a nicely equipped bathroom. The rooms look brand new, and you can't beat the location.

The differentiator was the service. They provided just about the best service that I've experienced at a US hotel in a long time. Every request we made was honored quickly, and in many cases we received a follow up call to make sure we were happy with service provided.

All this on a $60/night Priceline rate.

The only Starwood hotel I've stayed at this year that provided the same level of service was the Westin Diplomat.

[This message has been edited by skofarrell (edited Jan 01, 2004).]

OMAguy

bump

i have read extensively many posts with good and bad about both Ws in chicago. i am looking at a weekend in december (friday night through monday afternoon). is the W City Center still going to be dead over the weekend, or is it still a pretty happening place? i know i have heard all the pretty people are at the W Lakeshore and it is very busy on the weekend, but many people say the rooftop bar is awful. is the W City Center happening still? which is more "W"-ish in terms of decor and architecture?

fwiw, i am a spg gold, 31yo male, coming to town for fun for the weekend (2nd weekend in december i think) with a couple of friends. the W City Center is only about 30 dollars cheaper than the W Lakeshore, so price isnt a concern. i like to have fun and like lots of people around. would be nice to be upgraded, although it rarely happens to me as a gold.

any input as to which one to choose is appreciated.

NOLAnwGOLD

If that's so then definately W Lakeshore, the location is MUCH better, right on Mag Mile and should be the place to be. Besides, I've heard more varibility in the service in W City Center....

TechBoy

The Lakeshore may have a slightly trendier crowd, but the City Center is a better hotel -- nicer rooms and much better service. The Lakeshore has the feel of a warmed over Quality Inn, even in the suite that I had. The City Center is more stylish with a great lobby bar. Location of Lakeshore is somewhat better, but I find that I tend to cab around Chicago most of the time, so it doesn't really matter much.

PTahCha

[QUOTE=TechBoy]The Lakeshore may have a slightly trendier crowd, but the City Center is a better hotel -- nicer rooms and much better service. The Lakeshore has the feel of a warmed over Quality Inn, even in the suite that I had. [QUOTE]

Actually.. wasn't it used to be a Quality Inn?

ooh my bad - used to be a Days Inn.

Still.. the W bed is above and beyond better. Don't really care for the partial glass partition shower/sink separator. Friendly staff and great chef concierge. Restaurant is mediocre with slow service. Cool W stuff store.

OMAguy

bump.....anyone else with recent experiences? places change quickly. i did a search and couldnt find any updated information...

the last thing i heard is the W City Center is dead on the weekends...nobody will be there (which could be good and bad). thanks for your input.

blort

I wouldn't go so far as to call it dead, but there certainly won't be as much foot traffic as during the week; it's just the nature of the area, as the Loop gets quiet at night and on the weekends. For what it's worth, Whiskey Blue (bar on the ground floor) usually has a decent crowd at night on the weekends, but nothing like Whiskey Sky at W Lakeshore.

choptliva

I agree with blort. Which W to choose really depends a lot on what you want to do in Chicago. I think overall the City Center has larger rooms, and the restaurant (We) is nicer than the one in W Lakeshore. It's very close to the Art Institute, if that's your thing. The Lakeshore is closer to shopping and Navy Pier. I like both Ws, and which one I go to depends on the purpose of the trip.

jeffo

I stayed at W Lakeshore two weekends ago and had a very nice time. Was upgraded to a suite looking on to the lake, on the 9th floor, and it felt as if I was higher up. Staff was also very helpful and friendly.

AZ Travels the World

I just stayed at the W Lakeshore and was very disappointed in the experience. As a W fan overall, I've stayed at most of the W's and I like this one the least of all of them.

On the positive side, the hotel is a very reasonable walk to Michigan Ave/Miracle Mile, so if you're concerned about proximity to that area (as I was), it's no issue.

The hotel was full, so no Platinum suite upgrade, but I had a nice room overlooking the lake. I had no problem with the lack of a suite.

Walls are paper-thin. And I mean really thin. We could hear the conversations of the people in the next room. Unfortunately, they chose to have a party in their room at 4:30 AM. It sounded like they were in our room.

The bathrooms are very open and offer very little privacy. A sliding door (think Japanese shoji screen) and a big window that is open toward the bed and the outside window. If you were alone, it would be cool. To shower or use the commode without sharing the experience with the person you're with, you have to close the shutters from the outside; it may as well be a curtain.

The room & walls are pretty banged up. Everything is (of course) dark, so they show their age quickly, and they definitely are. Some goofy 2" rock troughs line the walls of the hallways, which now look like bumper-car rails for the housekeeping carts. There were a number of "design elements" such as this that screamed "cool but not functional." The glass half-wall in the shower (like other W's) was another one. Water goes absolutely everywhere. Clearly the designer never did a demo of the design before implementing it.

This hotel is no bargain, either. I won't stay here again. I'll try City Center next time.

alanw

I was at the W Lakeshore a couple weeks ago and it was an absolutely horrible experience.

I don't have any Starwood status, and booked a decent prepay rate ($149) on lastminute.com at the, um, last minute. We arrived around 9PM after the ScottC wedding and the place looked like the set of an Snoop Dogg video. Drunk fratboys, gangsta wannabes, just mobbing the lobby/bar and music so loud and distorted that it was physically painful. Of the five or so places at the checkin desk, only one was staffed--by a girl who could not for the life of her hear a word I was saying, nor I her. There were empty beer bottles, half-empty glasses, and a chewed-up drinking straw all over the checkin desk.

I produced my confirmation mail and was eventually informed that they could not find a reservation for me and that the confirmation number on my mail was not a valid number. Finally she took my credit card and told me we would work it out in the morning. She gave me a generic business card with her name written on it and told me she would be there all weekend.

I went upstairs to the room and was astounded at how cheesy and non-functional it all was. The "closet" was a shower curtain hung in front of an alcove. No remote for the TV. And the bathroom had a WINDOW into the room...that doesn't close (it does have some wooden shutter things but these are ineffective in blocking...bathroom things). It was obvious that this is a renovated Days Inn.

The next morning I went down and attempted to find the woman I had spoken to. Not here, she's off for the next three days. Nobody had any idea what was going on with my room. As far as they knew I was a walkin paying rack rate. During the next two days I attempted four times to clear up the situation, speaking with lastminute.com in London and being assured that they had both electronically and by fax confirmed with the hotel.

I checked out a day early and on checkout explained to the clerk that we needed to resolve the situation; she said she would take care of it and just bill my card for parking, internet and minibar. Looking at my bill today I see they charged me almost $500.

My only other W experience was Seattle, and it was completely opposite of this. Next time I'm in Chicago, it will not be the W.

cawhite

I haven't stayed at the W Lakeshore so I can't comment on it, but have had several stays at the W City Center in recent months. I've enjoyed my stays there and even as a GLD had no problem getting upgraded in room type/size (not to a suite, but no biggie as I wasn't spending much time in the room) and the front desk cast was great. Rumour has it that there are at least one or two cast members there who keep an eye on this forum as they do like to see what frequent stayers REALLY are saying Closest thing to a problem I ever ran into was points & stay credits posting for a TravelZoo rate that was booked directly through the W Hotels website, but a quick call & fax to spg customer service took care of it.

OMAguy

well i have decided on the W City Center next weekend. looking forward to a good time. will post a report when i return.

ElmhurstNick

One piece of advice for that property - if you don't like a particular room, ask to see another. It's an older but renovated property, and my sense was that all rooms of a same category were not created equal.

Also, beware of rooms ending in 02 - they are the living room tackon to the 01 corner suites. I don't think they sell them as regular rooms, but I thought I should mention it just to be on the safe side!

Pietro

My wife and I are going to be in Chi for one night of post-holiday R&R. (It really does pay to take a small break after the insane stretch of Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve. )

With that in mind, instead of trying some new hotels, we're headed back to the W CC because we had several great stays there last year. We had tried the Lakeshore location twice, but the CC seems to be a better fit for us. It could be our good luck, but everything simply works when we're there. And if we didn't like the property so much, the staff would keep us coming back. We even took my wife's parents here once and they loved it.

So here's hoping the W CC is still in good hands. And if it's not, or if there's anything new to report, I'll post it here. Happy New Year, all.