Originally Posted by
landeej
Well, I'd had a long conversation with the FDM on Saturday, and wrote an in-depth note both praising and pointing out gaps to the GM of both properties, which was received with both grace and appreciation. I plan to be back in Chicago in ~6 weeks, and since the W's are equidistant from my office in the Mart, I intend to sample them both out again.
One question - where are the suites located in City Centre? If there is one reason I'd not stay there again, it is noise. The "upgrade" I got there to a Fabulous room from a Spectacular put me in the "Courtyard", where I got to listen to the below dumpsters getting deposits of large, heavy, and loud items between 10PM and midnight. At least in a Spectacular room at Lakeshore, one is generally high enough, and without a facing building to reverberate noise, that sleep can be peaceful.
I've stayed in both the Fabulous Room and the Fantastic Suite (twice), the Suite that I was in was in was on the 5th floor - no it's not a high room floor but that's because this isn't the property you want for the views, just like the JW Marriott across the street and a lot of hotels within the Loop. I had a view of the courtyard, but I found the room to be quiet in all honesty. I'm one that notices noise rather easily I think, and I have stayed at other W's in which the walls are paper thin and you can hear the noise outside but I don't ever recall any noise at the City Center. I've had rooms that face both Adams Street and the courtyard - both times noise was not a concern for me but I'm just one guest. I'm not sure where the other suites are.
The Fabulous Room was on a higher floor, I think it was 14 if I'm not mistaken (this was back in late December). I was actually surprised by the size of the room, no it wasn't massive but it was big, modern, spotless and quite comfortable. I actually dig the rooms and the hard product is in line with other modern W's out there, I compare it to the W Hollywood, W Washington, the W San Francisco...the W Lakeshore is a bit different, nothing bad but when I have stayed there it almost doesn't feel like a W (but some people do prefer that older style).
Sorry to hear about your folio issue, I've never had that happen at any Starwood...actually I take that back, it did happen once but never at a W. Any time I have ever had an issue at the City Center (hasn't happened very much), they've taken care of it in a manner which I've actually found to be superior customer service comparing to other Starwoods (but really I've never had much of an issue there anyways)...so that's why it's interesting to see how different guests experiences can be. I'll be up in Chicago probably every other month for business, and I'll stay at the City Center.