Wrapped up a stay here this week a couple thoughts;
- They seem very well staffed, everyone is friendly and there are always 3-4 folks behind the front desk, during breakfast there are folks activelly bussing tables, etc
- The facility is definitely "new" and clean, but on my floor housekeeping seem to like keeping their cart and glass holders in the elevator foyer all-day-long.
- The rooms are definitely big, even though there's limited closet space there's plenty of room to spread out even with the pull-out couch opened.
- I got put on the top floor 17, facing south. Not much of a view, but some rooms seem to face right into the PWC offices directly south, so close those window shades.
- Speaking of window shades there are two sets of roll-up shades, a black-out and a mesh, that run the full height of the room (floor to celing), they seem to have been installed incorrectly in my room as the back-out shades were "inside" the room and light would pour in through the gap along the sides.
- Also to note about the shades, they are loud when opening or closing as the ball-bearing-chain used to open/close seems to loudly rub against the gearing...loud enough that you can usually hear your neighbors opening/closing their shades.
- Probably contribuing to this, in my room there was a small gap where the windows met the wall - big enough for light and sound to leak through. So although the walls themselves are well insulated, you can still hear your neighbors
- For some reason the HVAC in my room and my neighbors room would make a loud bang when turning on/off. facilities was called but they said it was normal.
- The bathroom instead of a tub features a double wide shower, and has a nice little shelf for the shower mat. But its bright, and unlike the Centric you can turn off the mirror light.
- Its a very basic TV system, they don't seem to be using Lodgenet or any other hospitality TV system so no VOD or ability to check-out/check folio/etc. Also there's no "Plug Panel" to connect your devices, but the TV's jacks are easily accessible and there's not a lock-out.
- Breakfast is standard HP fare, but they were turning over food quite quickly.
- This week for being a month old property was pretty much sold-out with largely leisure travelers it seems. Lots of families.

I'm surprised room rates seem consistently higher than the Centric, but for point redemption this is propbably the way to go for staying in Chicago's core.