jerry a. laska

You can search for HGI by putting HGI in quotation marks: "HGI".

pinniped

^ to this hotel. Excellent staff, fantastic breakfast, and all around pleasant hotel. Calm, quiet, uncrowded feel...totally the opposite of Palmer House, Hilton Chicago, etc.

Probably the best breakfast I've ever had at an HGI, anywhere.

kpbadger

I (Diamond member) stayed here for a Friday and Saturday night with my wife and son. This is my second time staying at the property. I reserved a 2 queens room for $89/night (AAA rate).

Check-in

Up to the day before check-in, the website and app were trying to sell upgrades to a "city view" room or suite. At OLCI the assigned room was on the 15th floor, and there was an additional purchasable upgrade to "high floor", but I was able to select a room on the 22nd floor without buying the high floor upgrade. The hotel has the lobby and restaurant on floor 1, nothing on 2-11, pool and fitness center on 12, and guest rooms on 13-23. So floor 22 was the second to top floor.

At the front desk, I was given 2 bottles of water and asked if I wanted breakfast vouchers or 750 points. They issued breakfast vouchers for 3 of us each day, or 6 vouchers total, which was appreciated. The front desk employee recorded my name, voucher number, and status in a log as she issued them. When we got to the room, there were 2 bottles of water in the refrigerator already.

The room

The room itself was nothing special - clean with the typical HGI refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker. Annoyingly, the frame for the beds extended well beyond the mattress, leading to numerous bumped shins. It was difficult to squeeze between the desk and the window, and there was only one night stand between the beds (no night stands on the other side of the beds).



The bathroom was small-ish, with a single sink, and a combination tub/shower.



The view was nothing spectacular, but then again we didn't pay the extra for a "city view" (whatever that may be) so this was just a standard view. We were looking west.



The room itself was noisier than average, as the street noise was very audible (even on the second-to-top floor). Also the walls are thin, as we could hear ongoing conversations in adjoining rooms. Finally, we could hear people in the hallways, doors closing, etc. Fortunately we were near the end of one of the hallways. I would say it's especially important at this property to be far away from the elevators.

Breakfast

Breakfast here is at the Weber Grill restaurant, which adjoins the property. You can enter the restaurant from the lobby without having to go outside. Quite frankly this breakfast is one of the best I have encountered at a HGI and it's better than most DTs and Hiltons I've been to as well.

The regular price for the full buffet is $14.95 for adults and $6.95 for ages 6-11. This is what the voucher covers, although I think it's a fair price even if you don't have vouchers for everyone. (There is a continental option for $10.95 per person as well.)

Items on the buffet included: pastries, fruit, cereal, yogurt, scrambled eggs, French toast, sausage, bacon, potatoes, etc. The highlight was the steak and potatoes, which had a fair amount of actual steak. Made-to-order selections (order from server) included omelettes, waffles, and pancakes. Coffee and soda were available from the server, and juice and milk were available on the buffet. The menu claimed that there was 1 free refill on juice and milk, but with this right on the self-serve buffet, it's hard to imagine them enforcing this. My son got hot chocolate, which wasn't on the menu, but we were not charged extra which is nice.

Gratuity is NOT included with the voucher, so we left a cash tip each morning for our server.

The voucher also allows for "one venti drink and 1 pastry at the 'We Proudly Brew' Starbucks, located at 10 E. Grand Avenue" if you choose not to use the Weber Grill.




Miscellaneous

- We did not use the pool or fitness center, so no reviews of those.
- Internet was 3.5 down and 0.3 up. There was no indication if this was "premium" internet or regular, but we accessed it by signing in with my HHonors account, so it should have been premium.
- It's a pet peeve of mine when clocks aren't set correctly, and in this case it was the microwave clock that was an hour and 10 minutes fast. Unfortunately I didn't notice this until I was awoken at 6:50 AM by my wife, telling me it was 8:00. I subsequently set the clock correctly for them...
- The staff was friendly. The restaurant seemed under-staffed on Saturday morning resulting in a wait, then the hostess seating us at the bar, and finally the manager telling us we couldn't sit at the bar because my son was under 21. They finally put us at a table after this mini-fiasco...
- Parking is steep but typical of downtown Chicago. We did not park at the hotel ($45/night), but rather parked at the Cumberland CTA garage and rode in on the 'L'. This cost $12/night plus $2.25 each way for the ride, and as a bonus we got to watch an impressive traffic jam on the way in as we breezed by it. The stairs to the red line Grand station are literally 20 paces from the front entrance of the hotel (when arriving at the station, opt for the stairs serving the northeast corner).

Verdict

Although we wish the sound proofing was a bit more robust, they honor brand standards and elite benefits, and the convenience from the 'L' and awesome breakfast will keep us coming back.

pinniped

I did use the pool when I was there, and it was fine. I remember thinking it was slightly larger than I expected, considering some HGI's have tiny pools. The pool area has a ton of natural light too...

I missed the upthread question earlier about whether you smell the Weber restaurant. Sadly, no...although that would be awesome and I'd DEMAND that upgrade!! I think most of their menu items are direct-grilled meats, like you'd cook on the Weber kettle, not so much true barbecue. If ribs are on the menu, they're obviously cooking them in a smallish indoor smoker, because you don't smell it from the lobby or street.

WoofusMaximus

I'd refer you all to kpbadger's stay report in post #33? of this thread, as most of the points are similar or unchanged. I'm going to post my general thoughts on my specific stay, but the rooms/etc are well covered there.


Diamond status recognition was pretty good throughout, managed to secure a 3pm late checkout because our return flight was an evening flight. Also got cold waters throughout when we were going out if we needed/wanted them; staff basically was very proactive in trying to make our stay a very good one.

OLCI got a 21st floor city view room (we had two windows, both west and north view. Also practically one of the farthest room from the elevator, so noise was minimal, although Friday there was some humming from I think the hotel's A/C unit. Our room's unit was perfectly fine.

Breakfast was great each morning. Vouchers were provided at check-in.

No wifi use, or fitness/pool on this trip. Went from ORD using hired car, so no parking. Rooms also use the Samsung hospitality TV, so hooking up a Roku/Amazon Fire may be problematic.

Location is quite good - right at the Red Line Grand Station. This location also is handicap-accessible with an elevator across the street, allowing you to get from street to tickets to platform. (Very useful for my mom, who is recovering from a knee replacement, and really needs one on the other knee, too)

There's a Jewel-Osco supermarket across the street from the Weber Grill if needed. It's busy, but you can also get your Ventra card there (bus/train CTA card) as well.

All in all, a very solid stay, good recognition, good location, good breakfast, and very good staff. I recommend.

WM

rufflesinc

Stayed at the Garden Inn on E Grand, near Magnificent Mile. Checked the website before booking to ensure they had the Precor branded fitness center and there were no restricted hours (I actively avoid hotels with limited hour fitness centers).

Checked-in and go to the fitness center that evening to check it out. No signs posted of limited opening hours. Go the next morning only to find out it is locked and calling front desk they tell me it doesn't open until 5am.

royalbrett

I always call the hotel and ask about the hours. Even then, it has not been 100% accurate, but about as close as you are going to get regarding the issue.

CMK10

Stay Report - 1/19 - 1/20

Location: A huge selling point of this hotel. It's on the corner of Grand and State near a number of other hotels as well as a bunch of places to eat and drink. There's an entrance to the CTA Red Line (Grand Street Station) directly outside the hotel too. You can get to the river or Magnificent Mile easily too. If there's no traffic ORD is a 25 minute drive ($38 via Uber).



Hotel: Not much about it feels HGI a it's a big downtown skyscraper. The lobby does have a business center and sweet shop in it though the restaurant is an attached place called the Weber Grill which is a bit odd. Do note they only have three elevators for a 23 story building and one was down when I was there.

Check In: A very friendly agent gave me a breakfast coupon, two bottles of water and told me she was giving me a room on the highest floor of the hotel.

Room: Pretty standard HGI room with large bed, TV, decent sized bed, chair in the corner though the smaller and non renovated bathroom was a little disappointing. Soundproofing was fine and there were outlets near the bed though both lamps had broken USB cords in them.







Breakfast: Breakfast ran from 6-10 on Monday and while in an atypical restaurant was the standard HGI fare. There were scrambled eggs, potatoes and sausage set out at a buffet and I was told they were do cooked to order eggs and French Toast. Service was really good too.

Overall this is a solid and well located property. I'd be back.