Originally Posted by
pauluk16
Dear All,
I am going with my wife to Chicago in week of 27th April for 5-day holidays. I was planning to use my HHonors points to stay in one of Hilton and leverage my Diamond status to get an access to Executive Lounge, like I always did while travelling & working in Europe. As I never stayed in Hilton in US before I did my research to choose the best option (incl. valuable insights from this forum), but it seems to me that Exec Lounge experience differ a lot between US and Europe. In hotels I visited so far (London, Vienna, Prague) I was always granted access to Exec Lounge (as Diamond member) and the concept was quite similar:
•full breakfast in the morning (could freely choose between Restaurant and Lounge)
•For most of the day Lounge open with cold & hot drinks and some snacks & fruits
•2-3 hours during the evening with free beverages, alcohol (wine, whisky, etc.) and some hot & cold snacks /food
As I understand in Hiltons in US (Chicago) is a little bit different. Firstly, you can be refused access to Lounge even being a Diamond member (e.g. The Drake) and then there is no time when you can have wine / drinks for free (you pay what you consumed based on your declaration) ? Moreover, I understand that for Diamonds the breakfast is always guaranteed, but sometimes you cannot eat in the restaurant (you have to do it in lounge, where I guess variety is limited)?
As said, initially I wanted to choose one of the Hilton in Chicago with Executive Lounge (i.e. The Drake, Palmer House, Hilton Chicago or Hilton Chicago/Magnificent Mile Suites), paying for them with points, but if Diamond benefits are so limited I am not sure and probably would like to consider other options.
I would appreciate all insights about Exec Lounges in Hiltons in Chicago. Of course any other information / suggestions about Hiltons in Chicago are welcomed. Thank you in advance!
Palmer house is best for location for both airports. The orange line to midway is literally outside the adams street entrance and the Blue line to O'Hare is only a block away.
I have been denied access as a diamond at the Drake (not sure if they changed that policy or not) since I wasn't on the exec floor despite the T&C of Hilton.
I don't care for the location of the Drake. The Chicago Hilton isn't that convenient to the subway either, a few block walk to the redline at Roosevelt and you have to transfer trains if you are coming from ORD. I haven't been at the Chicago Hilton in a while, but I did get a suite upgrade last time I was there a couple years ago but the lounge isn't that good.
Palmer House used top have an issue with overcrowding when they allowed all gold's access but now gold's have to take breakfast in the restaurant and don't get access so overcrowding isn't as big of an issue and they have scrambled eggs and pancakes as breakfast choices. Upgrades are hit/miss there, I have received a huge suite upgrade before and my stay a couple weeks ago I received a large exec room upgrade with two bathrooms but other times it's possible a gold will get a better upgrade than a diamond there.
No lounge, but the Wit is my preferred property. They are great about giving upgrades if they are available and the breakfast if a voucher towards a certain $ amount off the menu items in the state/lake restaurant. It is a boutique type hotel and has a great roof top deck and is a good value for points since rates usually are pretty high