Just checked out of this property after four nights. Here are my thoughts.
- First, I'm coming from the perspective of staying at mostly international Hyatt's in Asia and Europe. I don't generally have high expectations of domestic properties, but have stayed at several across California.
- This property has a fantastic location. Right on Michigan Avenue, in the heart of the city, and just a stone's throw from the Lake. Excellent and convenient for everything downtown. Very accessible. Never and trouble having the bellman get a taxi, and walking distance from nearly everything.
- Nice, modern, clean design. Reminded me more of the Park Vendome than any other property I've been at. At least in terms of the design.
- Had a Park Suite for the duration of the stay. I used my two free suite nights from the Hyatt CC, and paid $495/nt for the other two nights. I decided to pay the rate for the suite instead of switch rooms. At the time of booking, I was told that that rate was for a junior suite and I may need to switch rooms, but upon check in, was told I was "upgraded" to the Park suite for those paid nights thus would not need to swap suites. Note, I tried to use points for those two paid nights but upon booking was told that points couldn't be used for the suites at this property. I still find this strange.
- The remodeled restaurant, Nomi, was fantastic. Enjoyed it daily for the Diamond breakfast and drinks one afternoon. Good service and excellent made to order breakfast. On the first morning, was told by the waiter that, "anything at all" on the menu was comp'ed for Diamonds. I was charged each day only for the gratuity as I would see on checkout. Any extra drinks and dishes were all comp'ed. I'm not sure if there is an actual "limit", but I certainly didn't hit it, even when I had guests over and paid for their breakfasts, all of which was comp'ed!
- The room was spacious, although nothing extravagant. A dining area with a table for four, sitting area with an L sectional couch and LCD, work desk, large room and then 1.5 bathrooms, plus a wet bar. Nespresso machine with a full cadre of options (this is more than I normally see in Asia, where 6-8 pods are provided in most properties I've had suites in). Bottled water provided daily.
- I was offered 1K points or two amenity options on check in. The first, which I ended up taking, was champagne and fruit. The other was cheese and wine. I was surprised when 20 minutes later, room service arrived with a full bottle of rose champagne on the rocks and a massive fruit plate. Fantastic presentation and value and worth well more than 1K points.
- The indoor pool and fitness were quite nice. Not quite the Grand Hyatt or Park Hyatt Tokyo, nor the views of the Park Shanghai, but were completely empty at most times and well taken care of. A decent selection of machines for fitness and good sized swimming pool and hot tub.
- Noise from sirens at this property kept me up at night. I guess that's to be expected in an urban environment, but there's a fire station near, and I was woken up several times each night. A room on a higher floor may have mitigated this.
- Laundry and housekeeping were reasonably prompt and well done. No complaints. Tempurpedic pillows were available and enjoyed as well as several additional toiletries I utilized.
Overall, this isn't quite the Park Hyatt brand I've seen abroad, but was far better than any other domestic Hyatt I've stayed at in recent years. To be fair, this is the first Park I've visited in North America. I'd say it's the best property I've been to in NA, and the lowest on the ranks of the international Park's I've been to.