I had a one night stay mid-September. It was booked through AmEx FHR. It was a spur of the moment booking, since I am coming back early October with my family, so my daughter could do a college tour. Since I had a couple of days free after Detroit, I took the Amtrak from Ann Arbor to Chicago.

Monday to Tuesday so the hotel wasn't busy, and maybe that and the FHR booking got me upgraded to a 18th floor one bedroom terrace suit with fireplace. I'm also a HH Diamond but that wasn't mentioned during check-in, and I just got the FHR benefit ($100 experience credit and $30 breakfast credit x 2, plus others) I didn't ask if HH Diamond benefit would stack. These days, most places don't stack, but as recently as last year, I had some success.

The check-in process was pretty perfunctory. The check-in desk is small, at least smaller than other luxury hotels I'm used to. I almost thought it was a luggage dropoff rather than the check-in desk. The concierge desk is also right there, usually staffed by someone. But this being a 1 night stay, I didn't have a chance to ask him anything. I did get contacted a few days before via email and I got some information that way also.

The room is clean and neat, and presents better than Conrad Tokyo and Osaka which is my most recent comparables. I think I would have preferred a rainfall showerhead, or something that would cover the body better, but the water pressure was fine. The tub was deep and pretty comfortable.

Fireplace is gas (obviously) and lit easily with a switch. It puts out a surprising amount of heat, but also some smell. It's good for atmosphere but not at that cost.

Terrace is pretty useable. 2 would be fine, 3 would be cozy, and 4 is pushing it, but the view is nice. I didn't spend a lot of time there; I chose to take bath 3 times.

Sofa (pull-out), chaise lounger, and the chair were all very comfortable. Bed is excellent with really fine linens. I slept very well.

As I said, I'm going back in about a week for 2 nights. I had a night booked at W Citi Center and at WA, but my experience prompted a change from W to another night at WA, The problem is, by the time I decided that, there were no more rooms available at WA aside from $1500-2000 a night corner terrace suites. I checked the Hilton app, AmEx FHR, expedia, tripadvisor, et al but nothing came up. But checking Chase Sapphire portal I was able to find a deluxe double at a fairly reasonable price. But my experience is that booking with Chase, even after entering the HH number as prompted, gives you no benefits. It doesn't even appear on your Hilton app unless you call the hotel and manually enter your number. It doesn't work with the Hilton corporate number or chat. You have to call the hotel directly.

So I'm going to call the hotel tomorrow and add my number and ask if it could be merged with my reservation the next day, booked with AmEx FHR, Maybe I'll have upgrade eligibility for both nights that way. I would have booked directly with Hilton or with AmEx FHR is a room was available, but I guess I'll know if I can get my benefits...