Embassy Suites Chicago - Downtown Magnificent Mile {US-IL}
Oct 29, 2012, 11:07 am
#31
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Just finished our four-nighter. Overall stay was okay but the hotel has some issues. The hotel was 100% full all four nights and is sold out through Wednesday of this week as well (according to the bartenders 
).
- The hotel is not on the lakefront, although you can certainly walk there from the hotel. Not does it have any kind of prime lake view, even from the 17th floor. The location is quite nice for most of what you'd want to do in downtown Chicago, but when you think "lakefront" you think you can cruise up LSD and see it. It's actually a few blocks inland.
- Room #1715 was a normal suite...not really an upgrade...but it was down the little "corner hallway". The actual corner room that may have been an upgrade was 1714 - thus perhaps there are four larger suites per floor - I honestly don't know. Never saw the inside of 1714. The little corner hallways have four rooms each, and they are desirable as compared to an atrium room. The atrium area was noisy.
- They do not have different colored keycards for Golds or Diamonds. I asked a couple people about this, including a bartender, and nobody had ever heard of it.
- The hotel was sold out every night we were there and was an absolute zoo at times. Weekday breakfast was a disaster - between the guest yelling at the staff about the coffee and the two guests about to throw knucks by the eggs, it was an adventure to say the least. I just fought through the crowd to reach a couple pastries before they were gone, and the pastries were actually pretty good. I never attempted to get to the eggs and other hot food that day - it would have been impossible. The hotel really doesn't have any kind of good plan for handling a sellout situation at breakfast. For such a new hotel that was built as an ES to begin with, it seems like they vastly bungled the design and process around this area.
- Weekend breakfast was better. The crowd morphed from a business crowd to a family crowd and became quite a bit more sane. On the weekends, the breakfast was pretty brand standard...maybe even a little better than some other ES's in terms of quality. Eating at 7:30AM, we had no issues at all with queues and it still seemed okay when we were leaving around 8:15.
- I was expecting a disaster at the manager's reception but it was surprisingly pleasant - perhaps because we weren't there in time for Thursday. (Just did Fri-Sat-Sun.) They opened it at 5:30PM with four bartenders and kept the drinks queue moving quickly - maybe two minutes' wait to get a drink if not less. By 6:30PM, when the pace had slowed, they dropped to two bartenders but that still handled the queue well enough. There's no upgraded liquor for Diamonds, but as a beer drinker I was okay with the Labatt's. Most people were drinking mixed drinks...all of the primary liquors you'd need for that were available.
- The manager's reception food was pretty basic. Chips, salsa, little smokies, popcorn, pretzels, etc. I've seen other Embassies do a little better with this, but they managed to keep things restocked well enough.
- Elevators to/from the street level and to/from the floor all operated efficiently. Never had to wait any significant amount of time for an elevator.
- Parking is $36/day(!), but there are plenty of surface lots nearby that are a lot cheaper if you need day parking and we had no problem with free overnight street parking a block from the hotel.
- A 24-hour Dominick's is across the street...a plus for families staying here. I was surprised: this was a full-sized supermarket...very clean and bright. (Seems like a lot of downtowns have you pick between a gourmet store with limited selection and hours and a gritty overgrown convenience store that's open all night...)
Probably won't go back unless I'm in another situation where everything else is a lot more expensive. If you're a Gold/Diamond and seeing regular Hiltons at good rates, book one of those instead.
).- The hotel is not on the lakefront, although you can certainly walk there from the hotel. Not does it have any kind of prime lake view, even from the 17th floor. The location is quite nice for most of what you'd want to do in downtown Chicago, but when you think "lakefront" you think you can cruise up LSD and see it. It's actually a few blocks inland.
- Room #1715 was a normal suite...not really an upgrade...but it was down the little "corner hallway". The actual corner room that may have been an upgrade was 1714 - thus perhaps there are four larger suites per floor - I honestly don't know. Never saw the inside of 1714. The little corner hallways have four rooms each, and they are desirable as compared to an atrium room. The atrium area was noisy.
- They do not have different colored keycards for Golds or Diamonds. I asked a couple people about this, including a bartender, and nobody had ever heard of it.
- The hotel was sold out every night we were there and was an absolute zoo at times. Weekday breakfast was a disaster - between the guest yelling at the staff about the coffee and the two guests about to throw knucks by the eggs, it was an adventure to say the least. I just fought through the crowd to reach a couple pastries before they were gone, and the pastries were actually pretty good. I never attempted to get to the eggs and other hot food that day - it would have been impossible. The hotel really doesn't have any kind of good plan for handling a sellout situation at breakfast. For such a new hotel that was built as an ES to begin with, it seems like they vastly bungled the design and process around this area.
- Weekend breakfast was better. The crowd morphed from a business crowd to a family crowd and became quite a bit more sane. On the weekends, the breakfast was pretty brand standard...maybe even a little better than some other ES's in terms of quality. Eating at 7:30AM, we had no issues at all with queues and it still seemed okay when we were leaving around 8:15.
- I was expecting a disaster at the manager's reception but it was surprisingly pleasant - perhaps because we weren't there in time for Thursday. (Just did Fri-Sat-Sun.) They opened it at 5:30PM with four bartenders and kept the drinks queue moving quickly - maybe two minutes' wait to get a drink if not less. By 6:30PM, when the pace had slowed, they dropped to two bartenders but that still handled the queue well enough. There's no upgraded liquor for Diamonds, but as a beer drinker I was okay with the Labatt's. Most people were drinking mixed drinks...all of the primary liquors you'd need for that were available.
- The manager's reception food was pretty basic. Chips, salsa, little smokies, popcorn, pretzels, etc. I've seen other Embassies do a little better with this, but they managed to keep things restocked well enough.
- Elevators to/from the street level and to/from the floor all operated efficiently. Never had to wait any significant amount of time for an elevator.
- Parking is $36/day(!), but there are plenty of surface lots nearby that are a lot cheaper if you need day parking and we had no problem with free overnight street parking a block from the hotel.
- A 24-hour Dominick's is across the street...a plus for families staying here. I was surprised: this was a full-sized supermarket...very clean and bright. (Seems like a lot of downtowns have you pick between a gourmet store with limited selection and hours and a gritty overgrown convenience store that's open all night...)
Probably won't go back unless I'm in another situation where everything else is a lot more expensive. If you're a Gold/Diamond and seeing regular Hiltons at good rates, book one of those instead.
Last edited by pinniped; Oct 29, 2012 at 11:12 am
Oct 29, 2012, 11:26 am
#32
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Chicagoland, IL, USA
Programs: WN CP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,189
Pack Expo has been going on. Packaging/shipping. Over 60K attendees. One of the biggest all year. Bears game, too.
Always check convention schedule at McCormick and sports schedules when coming to Chicago, if you have flexibility in dates. Hotel rates/occupancy vary enormously.
The ES in question has wildly fluctuating room rates, IME. And always try to get there for breakfast as early as you can.
That Dominick's across the street has been reported to be good for (ahem) tricky points/miles maneuvers of various kinds.
Always check convention schedule at McCormick and sports schedules when coming to Chicago, if you have flexibility in dates. Hotel rates/occupancy vary enormously.
The ES in question has wildly fluctuating room rates, IME. And always try to get there for breakfast as early as you can.
That Dominick's across the street has been reported to be good for (ahem) tricky points/miles maneuvers of various kinds.
May 31, 2016, 2:51 pm
#33
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,252
I don't know if I am posting this comment under the right Embassy Suites as I have never stayed at either downtown location, but on Sunday evening when I was staying at the Hyatt Mag Mile I went to a Wholly Foods (my name for whole foods) right across the street from an Embassy Suites. Its pretty new and is great thing to have in walking distance when traveling.
May 31, 2016, 2:57 pm
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,813
I don't know if I am posting this comment under the right Embassy Suites as I have never stayed at either downtown location, but on Sunday evening when I was staying at the Hyatt Mag Mile I went to a Wholly Foods (my name for whole foods) right across the street from an Embassy Suites. Its pretty new and is great thing to have in walking distance when traveling.
Dec 13, 2016, 11:33 am
#35
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: UA 1K MM, HHonors Diamond,PC, Marriott Rewards Gold
Posts: 1,117
Where was that free overnight on-street parking? Do you remember?
Just finished our four-nighter. Overall stay was okay but the hotel has some issues. The hotel was 100% full all four nights and is sold out through Wednesday of this week as well (according to the bartenders ).
- The hotel is not on the lakefront, although you can certainly walk there from the hotel. Not does it have any kind of prime lake view, even from the 17th floor. The location is quite nice for most of what you'd want to do in downtown Chicago, but when you think "lakefront" you think you can cruise up LSD and see it. It's actually a few blocks inland.
- Room #1715 was a normal suite...not really an upgrade...but it was down the little "corner hallway". The actual corner room that may have been an upgrade was 1714 - thus perhaps there are four larger suites per floor - I honestly don't know. Never saw the inside of 1714. The little corner hallways have four rooms each, and they are desirable as compared to an atrium room. The atrium area was noisy.
- They do not have different colored keycards for Golds or Diamonds. I asked a couple people about this, including a bartender, and nobody had ever heard of it.
- The hotel was sold out every night we were there and was an absolute zoo at times. Weekday breakfast was a disaster - between the guest yelling at the staff about the coffee and the two guests about to throw knucks by the eggs, it was an adventure to say the least. I just fought through the crowd to reach a couple pastries before they were gone, and the pastries were actually pretty good. I never attempted to get to the eggs and other hot food that day - it would have been impossible. The hotel really doesn't have any kind of good plan for handling a sellout situation at breakfast. For such a new hotel that was built as an ES to begin with, it seems like they vastly bungled the design and process around this area.
- Weekend breakfast was better. The crowd morphed from a business crowd to a family crowd and became quite a bit more sane. On the weekends, the breakfast was pretty brand standard...maybe even a little better than some other ES's in terms of quality. Eating at 7:30AM, we had no issues at all with queues and it still seemed okay when we were leaving around 8:15.
- I was expecting a disaster at the manager's reception but it was surprisingly pleasant - perhaps because we weren't there in time for Thursday. (Just did Fri-Sat-Sun.) They opened it at 5:30PM with four bartenders and kept the drinks queue moving quickly - maybe two minutes' wait to get a drink if not less. By 6:30PM, when the pace had slowed, they dropped to two bartenders but that still handled the queue well enough. There's no upgraded liquor for Diamonds, but as a beer drinker I was okay with the Labatt's. Most people were drinking mixed drinks...all of the primary liquors you'd need for that were available.
- The manager's reception food was pretty basic. Chips, salsa, little smokies, popcorn, pretzels, etc. I've seen other Embassies do a little better with this, but they managed to keep things restocked well enough.
- Elevators to/from the street level and to/from the floor all operated efficiently. Never had to wait any significant amount of time for an elevator.
- Parking is $36/day(!), but there are plenty of surface lots nearby that are a lot cheaper if you need day parking and we had no problem with free overnight street parking a block from the hotel.
- A 24-hour Dominick's is across the street...a plus for families staying here. I was surprised: this was a full-sized supermarket...very clean and bright. (Seems like a lot of downtowns have you pick between a gourmet store with limited selection and hours and a gritty overgrown convenience store that's open all night...)
Probably won't go back unless I'm in another situation where everything else is a lot more expensive. If you're a Gold/Diamond and seeing regular Hiltons at good rates, book one of those instead.
).- The hotel is not on the lakefront, although you can certainly walk there from the hotel. Not does it have any kind of prime lake view, even from the 17th floor. The location is quite nice for most of what you'd want to do in downtown Chicago, but when you think "lakefront" you think you can cruise up LSD and see it. It's actually a few blocks inland.
- Room #1715 was a normal suite...not really an upgrade...but it was down the little "corner hallway". The actual corner room that may have been an upgrade was 1714 - thus perhaps there are four larger suites per floor - I honestly don't know. Never saw the inside of 1714. The little corner hallways have four rooms each, and they are desirable as compared to an atrium room. The atrium area was noisy.
- They do not have different colored keycards for Golds or Diamonds. I asked a couple people about this, including a bartender, and nobody had ever heard of it.
- The hotel was sold out every night we were there and was an absolute zoo at times. Weekday breakfast was a disaster - between the guest yelling at the staff about the coffee and the two guests about to throw knucks by the eggs, it was an adventure to say the least. I just fought through the crowd to reach a couple pastries before they were gone, and the pastries were actually pretty good. I never attempted to get to the eggs and other hot food that day - it would have been impossible. The hotel really doesn't have any kind of good plan for handling a sellout situation at breakfast. For such a new hotel that was built as an ES to begin with, it seems like they vastly bungled the design and process around this area.
- Weekend breakfast was better. The crowd morphed from a business crowd to a family crowd and became quite a bit more sane. On the weekends, the breakfast was pretty brand standard...maybe even a little better than some other ES's in terms of quality. Eating at 7:30AM, we had no issues at all with queues and it still seemed okay when we were leaving around 8:15.
- I was expecting a disaster at the manager's reception but it was surprisingly pleasant - perhaps because we weren't there in time for Thursday. (Just did Fri-Sat-Sun.) They opened it at 5:30PM with four bartenders and kept the drinks queue moving quickly - maybe two minutes' wait to get a drink if not less. By 6:30PM, when the pace had slowed, they dropped to two bartenders but that still handled the queue well enough. There's no upgraded liquor for Diamonds, but as a beer drinker I was okay with the Labatt's. Most people were drinking mixed drinks...all of the primary liquors you'd need for that were available.
- The manager's reception food was pretty basic. Chips, salsa, little smokies, popcorn, pretzels, etc. I've seen other Embassies do a little better with this, but they managed to keep things restocked well enough.
- Elevators to/from the street level and to/from the floor all operated efficiently. Never had to wait any significant amount of time for an elevator.
- Parking is $36/day(!), but there are plenty of surface lots nearby that are a lot cheaper if you need day parking and we had no problem with free overnight street parking a block from the hotel.
- A 24-hour Dominick's is across the street...a plus for families staying here. I was surprised: this was a full-sized supermarket...very clean and bright. (Seems like a lot of downtowns have you pick between a gourmet store with limited selection and hours and a gritty overgrown convenience store that's open all night...)
Probably won't go back unless I'm in another situation where everything else is a lot more expensive. If you're a Gold/Diamond and seeing regular Hiltons at good rates, book one of those instead.
Dec 13, 2016, 11:59 am
#36
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Join Date: Jul 2002
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I parked overnight on the street (free). I seem to recall it being a parking meter, guessing enforced from 7AM with a 2-hour max. I remember it was perfect for the days we used the car...a buck or two in quarters would get us through breakfast. But for all-day parking, I remember I had to move it to a paid lot and it was a lot, LOT less than $36.
How much of this has changed in 4+ years, no idea...
How much of this has changed in 4+ years, no idea...
Nov 15, 2017, 9:47 am
#37
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,180
I had a 1 night stay here 2 nights ago as a Diamond. I didn't get a chance to have breakfast or check out the reception. I booked a 1 king suite pretty late in the afternoon. Checkin was quick but I found out that we had been given a 2 double bed room once we got up there. The room was showing signs of wear and the bathroom definitely needs some work. It was mostly clean but there was a lot of rusting and some grout on the tub. I ended up going back down to checkin to ask about a king bed hoping I would get a room with a bathroom that was in better shape. I overheard the agent tell the girl in front of me that all they had was doubles at this point but I thought I'd try my luck. The front desk supervisor came out to help me and when I asked he did a bit of typing and went in the back for a minute or so and said that all king rooms were sold out so he would have to upgrade me to get me a king bed. He ended up putting us in the presidential suite #1704 . The room was very nice and while it was still showing some signs of wear and tear it was in much better shape compared to the previous room. It had a living room that was bigger than the one at my house with a large couch, a meeting table, and a mantle full of books for those interested. It also had 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms (1 king and 2 doubles).
The upgrade was unexpected but very much appreciated. I'm fairly certain the room hadn't been used in weeks since the clocks were still set an hour behind. The next morning I asked for a 12 checkout and was asked if I needed anything later on top of that. I ended up with 1 since I didn't need to stay too late. I guess being pleasant does work as opposed to being a DYKWIA. Overall it was a pleasant stay.
The upgrade was unexpected but very much appreciated. I'm fairly certain the room hadn't been used in weeks since the clocks were still set an hour behind. The next morning I asked for a 12 checkout and was asked if I needed anything later on top of that. I ended up with 1 since I didn't need to stay too late. I guess being pleasant does work as opposed to being a DYKWIA. Overall it was a pleasant stay.
Nov 15, 2017, 9:57 am
#38
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Join Date: Jul 2002
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Suite sits empty for weeks...only assigned due to a booking error on a 1-night stay.
Why am I not surprised?!?
Oct 29, 2023, 10:20 am
#39
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Wesseling, NRW, Germany
Programs: UA *S , MR LT Titanium, HH Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 3,940
Any recent stays here? Consider this property for a trip with my wife to Chicago and would like to hear how things are now...
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Greetings - Dirk
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Greetings - Dirk