Elysian to become Waldorf
 

As a Hhonors member this is a great addition!

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/po...otel-/564327/1

FDW

Finally--Hilton/WA has a true #1 in it's market.

Tripadvisor rates this property numero uno in Chicago!

This absolutely made my night! I have been wanting to stay here, but didn't want to pay the rates...hey, I like my free nights! :)

What if it is an all-premium-award hotel?:p;)

It might be...I'd still try it.
I hope they join soon and allow me to redeem a free night cert I'm earning in this current promo.

I know this property has a high ratio of suites:standard rooms..

FDW

I was wondering when Chicago would get a Waldorf. My own opinion was that the perfect thing to do would have been to renovate the Drake and make it Chicago's Waldorf.

On a related comment, I have a friend who works at the Peninsula in Chicago and the GM was in a tizzy several weeks past when the Elysian was ranked higher than the Peninsula in some survey. She (the GM) announced that she would be staying at the hotel for a few nights to get to the bottom of "the problem." :D

Very very very exciting news

Just found this - Elysian has been officially added to WA portfolio:

http://www.waldorfastoria.com/search...tPropertyId=50

The Waldorf Astoria Chicago, currently operating as the Elysian Hotel, will officially be part of Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts portfolio of over 20 luxury hotels. HHonors members can earn and redeem points for stays at the Waldorf Astoria Chicago starting in February of 2012, when the hotel will join over 3,800 hotels worldwide where guests can earn Hilton HHonors points.

I went to RIA at the hotel for dinner one night. It was the best meal I have had in Chicago. All of the hotel that we saw looked very nice. The only thing is that the hotel charges an 18% fee on all dinners at RIA. Other than that it was amazing and it looks like a great hotel. I cannot wait to see what happens.

Delta747

Ack, two months two early for my business trip to Chicago!

Waldorf Astoria Chicago {US-IL}
 

Two days ago, the booking system was opened for the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, formerly Elysian Hotel. Introductory rates are very (!) low, compared with the rates of the Elysian. Booked a stay there for May 2012 and I ended up with a rate even lower than theWit or the Conrad, because I discovered a surprising offer they got. PM me for details. Unfortunately, reward stay rates aren't integrated, yet, so no use calling reservations until the system shows them visible for everyone.

Update: The Elysian Hotel or Waldorf Astoria Chicago was voted the best hotel not only in Chicago, but it got the Travellers' Choice Award as the best hotel in the United States for 2012.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Hotels

I hope that standards won't sink when it's turning into a Waldorf Astoria, although Hilton bought it to make the property profitable at last, which it wasn't until now.

Did you have to call to book? It's not available on hhonors.com. I'm hoping to book on points here in March and would like to do it during January to take advantage of the Get Points Back promo. Fingers crossed that reward nights are available before then.

This is odd, because as recently as like 3 days ago, you could book this hotel for paid stays only. (No reward stays, no cash+points). Now it just says "opening soon." I too was hoping for the ability to book reward stays for the first weekend of February.

(It's off-topic, but I ended up with the top-of-the-line Paramount suite at the Wit for 44K points (premium room reward), which equates to about 31K after 30% discount. I'm loving this promotion.)

That's a nice redemption. The Wit seems to be a good property for finding premium reward redemptions lower than the standard redemption rate. If I can't make the Waldorf work, I may end up staying there in March.