Holiday Inn Chicago Downtown Wolf Point

What is your Priority Club status?
Diamond Ambassador


Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
The hotel is located at Chicago River next to close to the Marchandise Mart. The CTA station Merachandise Mart (Brown Line / Purple Line) could be reached directly from the hotel via walkway on the first floor of the buildings. Clark and Lake station is a five to ten minutes to walk. It is served by the Blue Line from O’Hare.

The hotel occupies the top 9 floors of an office building. It shares the building and the facililities with the Voco Hotel Wolf Point. There is a check in desk for both hotels downstairs.
You have to take the elevator up to the 15th floor. A huge atrium awaits you. There is also the Waterview Restaurant & Bar. You gave to pass the atrium to reach the elevator for the guest floors.

On the 16th floor is a medium sized gym with pool and (gender) separated sauna. The gym is open 24/7 while the pool is open from 05:00 to 22:00. Towels and loungers are available at the pool which also a skylight; there is natural light.

I arrived at the hotel at 12:40 and walked over via Merchandise Mart. The entrance to the CTA is on the first floor. You can simply stay on this floor and walk along small restaurants and elevators to a covered walkway over N Orleans Streets and then take the escalator down.
I was welcomed at the front desk asked for ID. There are two desks; both check in desk could check in guest of both hotels. There is actually no real separation between the Holiday Inn and the Voco. I had booked a King Premium City View Room and received this exactly room. The agent asked for my choice of amenity and asked if I like breakfast, points or drink voucher. I went for breakfast and hot a breakfast voucher for each day. The agent also explained the features and amenities of the hotel.

Breakfast is served as buffet in the Waterview Restaurant from 06:30 to 10:30 on weekday and till 11:00 on weekends.
Service was okay. Refills of coffee and water took some time, but were done. The restaurant was not that busy and in any case, I would have preferred to get the thermos jug with the coffee. Used plates were also not cleared only after a while. Other than that service was friendly. The voucher does not include tip and the staff make sure, that you need to tip.
The offering on the buffet were a large selection of fresh fruit, cereals, pastries, and bread in addition to cheese and jam. Hot items were potatoes, scrambled eggs, mushroom, bacon and sausages. Quality was good.

The restaurant and bar is also open in the afternoon / evening serving hot and cold dishes and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. I had dinner in the waterview restaurant on both days of my stay. Service was much more attentive than in the morning. My Cesar Salad was large and fresh. I could use the Food & Beverage Amenity without any problems (also for alcoholic beverages).

The gym was not very busy during my visits and it was never a problem to get a free machine. The pool (app. 15 m x 8 m) was empty during my visits in the morning as well. I would have prefer more machines for the body than the usual treadmills, bikes and steppers..

There are four elevators to the guest room of which only two were in use causing some waiting time in the morning and evening rush hour.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Premium City View and received this room. I did not push for an upgrade.

How are the rooms?
My room was located on the 18th floor.

After stepping into the room the bathroom was to the right.
The bathroom was medium sized with bath, bath-sink with place to store items. Shampoo, bath foam, conditioner and lotion were wall mounted larger bottles. Towels (two large ones, two medium sized and two small one) were available. The Bathroom mirror was not heated. The bath-sink had a flat surface and thus water drainage was not the best. Water pressure was okay though.
The curtain at the bath was okay, the water pressure could have been better.

There was a small hallway with an open closet with safe. Iron and ironing board were also available

The room had a large king size bed on the right side along with two bedside table with lamps and additional reading lamps. Power outlets were also available.
Opposite the bed was the desk with desk lamp and coffee machine as well as fridge. The Flat TV was opposite the bed above the desk.

There was a large empty space between bed and window with a armchair with a small table. The ac unit was under the window and damaged with some lose ends. Control unit was at the wall at the bed. It could turned off, but the reaction of the ac was very slow.
The cable and internet were placed at the floor.

What I really disliked was the arrangement of the furniture. The desk opposite the bed made this part very cramped and you could not pass when someone was sitting at the desk. You had to move the desk chair under the desk. Why the desk was not moved closer to the window (where the cable came out of the wall is beyond my understanding.

The design of the room was okay; contemporary and with the exception of the ac unit in good conditions and well maintained. The hotel underwent a soft refurbishment a couple of years ago and thus furniture seems to be new.

How is the exec. lounge?
n/a

What was good and what was bad?
Good
location is well connected to public transportation and roads.
Room is good sized
Size of Pool and gym.

Neutral
Service at breakfast buffet
Only two of four elevators to rooms were in use

Bad
Arrangement of furniture in room
Damaged ac unit

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
The location is good. The rooms are of a good size. Rooms seems to be in good condition and offer real desk.
I paid for the best flexible rate with 5000 bonus points 175 USD / night. Advanced purchase would have been 132 USD. The best flexible rate for the stay would have been 151 USD / night. The Voco was about the same, but only offered max 3k bonus points.
In so far, I would return, if the rates are affordable. To me, having a pool and gym were the major factors in addition to be close to Clark / Lake and the Chicago River Walk.

Pictures below by clicking on Spoiler