thecoldhandoftechnology

Stayed on their opening night which went very smoothly. Interestingly there is NO signage at this time, however it is the only building of its height (13 stories) in the area so it was not difficult to find. At check-in I was given a one room class upgrade, and asked if I wanted points for my amenity; a few minutes after check-in the staff brought up a bottle of water, that was the only mention of SPG during the visit.

This is a converted 1920's office building in a great location between Wicker Park and Bucktown. Two restaurants on site, one at an adjacent sister property, and a guests only roof-top cocktail lounge for food and beverage offerings. Breakfast at the first floor restaurant was very good, with excellent service. The rooftop lounge is worth a visit for the great views into downtown. There are many other restaurants and bars in walking distance, but this really is a residential area that is great for walking. If you are bringing a vehicle plan to valet at $45 overnight at the time of writing or SpotHero has some options, street parking will be challenging due to permit parking in the residential areas. There is a train station attached to the property providing easy access to downtown, and a 24 hour Walgreens in a very cool bank conversion across the street if you need sundries.

Unique room layouts due to the triangular shape of the building with some rooms featuring a fantastic panoramic view of downtown Chicago. Rooms are comfortable and up to date including Bluetooth speakers but they have a retro feel with physical keys and a room phone your grandparents may have used. The staff was kind enough to show off a few rooms, none I saw had proper desks if that is important to you. Stocked Minibar is available, but don't expect a microwave or much room in the mini-bar refrigerator. Bedding was great as was internet speed (free). Note that many rooms have a frosted glass wall between the bedroom and the bathroom that some might not be comfortable with if there are two guests in the room, but is much preferred to the glass enclosures that many Radisson Blu’s have. While the renovation did a great job with windows and blackout blinds, you WILL hear some noise from the adjacent L station and tracks; because of the location of the trackway, city view rooms will have the least noise as will rooms above the 2nd floor station.

Next door is a sister property, the Hollander, that has some shared (hostel) and some private rooms with a casual restaurant/bike repair shop at street level. Rooftop pool deck is slated to open in late spring of 2017.

Despite any real SPG branding, the property ticked all the boxes for me and stay and points posted promptly and correctly. Other than some very cool AirB&B options in the area, the Robey is the best of the few properties in this area.