theWit Chicago - a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel {US-IL}
 

Fairly new hotel at State Street and Lake in the Loop of Chicago. Very modern decor and excellent service. Stayed there on a busy Friday evening with Mrs.Windchill using points. The desk upgraded us to a corner Spa Room without having to request it. The room was large by city standards and the bathroom was worth the upgrade. The spa soaking tub was large enough for two and the shower was in the corner with detachable shower wand. The nightly turndown service was nice and no shortage of staff to respond to and request. ^
The roof top lounge is THE hot spot in the loop so have your key card out at night to get near the evelators. Guests can access via lobby elevators, the club going locals have to use an entrance around the corner. The restaurant on the first floor "State and Lake" had a wonderful menu geared toward local tastes. The deserts are rich and well worth the cost. The bar failed to have a blender so the Mrs. was disappointed since she is a blended drinks fan.
The restaurant on the second floor was Italian in theme however after reviewing the chef's take on on it, we choose more traditional italian fare a couple of blocks away. This is a great city for Italian fare so this menu was a turn off to our party.
The room rates are comparable to Palmer House with a much more modern feel and friendly service. I would recommend this hotel to anyone without children staying in the city. This is not a family hotel, very chic and very hip. This was great for our kid-free date night. The location in the theater district and abundance of great restaurants and watering holes far exceeded my expectations.
Only downside for us was the lack of parking and the lack of space in the mini-fridge for our leftovers from dinner (I like a late night snack). Parking was less than a block away in either direction with an easy walk. We were up high so we did not hear the trains at all. Can't wait to stay there again for another date night with Mrs.Windchill.

We stayed at this hotel last weekend and it is pretty good, a few comments I would add:

* Free breakfast - they said to go to the restaurant or just order room service and they removed it from the bill at check-out, I was reluctant to try room service in case we were given bum information.

* Free internet - the internet is free right now, not sure if that's the long-term plan.

* Triple base points - they have a promo for your first two stays up until a certain date that you earn triple base points for your stay, my wife was in town for three nights on training so we racked up a nice amount of points for this stay.

I have read that the lounge on the rooftop is attracting a lot of people, especially some of the on-air talent from the ABC affiliate across the street. Other than not understanding the choice of the name, it looks like a good property. But it is also another another example of how discombobulated the Doubletree brand has always been.

Curious to know about from the website, they use something different from the standard DT Neutrogena bath amenities ?

Stayed here a few weeks ago on a Friday night, Roof top bar was the in place to be. Great bartenders. The room was very nice as well, and staff top notch. I'll definitely stay here again, usually stay at the Drake, but this is my new favorite hotel in Chicago.

Locals loving it, too..
 

The locals are taking over the rooftop. It's for sure the place to be in Chicago these days. Great atmosphere and awesome bartenders

Count me in for this place. I need to be in chicago in a few weeks and will try this hotel.

Just spent the weekend there
 

I really like The Wit. It is the place to be. My room was on the 19th floor with a so so view. I could see a slice of the lake and some the tops of buildings with beautiful architecture. The decor was nice overall, room new and clean. The bath soaps and lotions were nice and not LaSource or Neutrogena. I wish I would have read Beckles post about breakfast because I paid. The restaurant StateLake was good; at night it is hopping. I bought new gear just to hang out on the swanky rooftop (shallow). The rooftop is heated and offers spectacular views. I invited some friends who live in the city to join me and they enjoyed it a lot.

What is very irritating is the sound track (birds, crickets, roosters) that play in the hall at all hours or at least it seemed. I did not like hearing the roosters in the morning - a bit weird. That's not witty.

The hotel is the happening spot right now and there are always people milling about some fabulous and some not so much.

I would definitely stay here again.

strange question - what do they have for chairs in the rooms? Are the arm chairs, couches - those weird settee things?

I read that the room styles and furniture vary. We had a red love seat and for storage - a wardrobe.

I had an enjoyable stay at this property over the weekend. Was assigned a river view spa king (corner) room, as booked. HHonors Gold benefit was the choice of comp wifi or breakfast. I took the wifi - connection was nippy and robust and represented a saving of $9.95 (24hr rate).

My experience of TheWit was mixed. The guestroom was great, generously sized and well proportioned. The decor, in my view is at risk of dating very quickly. I experienced problems with the shower - insufficient friction to hold the head in position, so good if you're 4'-0", annoying if 6'-0". This is a common problem at this hotel, apparently. Toiletries are by Gilchrist & Soames.

I was not happy having to jostle for position with patrons of the penthouse bar in the Ground floor lift lobby. Nor was I comfortable knowing the hedonistic revellers had free access to every guest room level, so security wise this set up isn't great.

Staff were awesome, couldn't have been more friendly or helpful. At both check-in and check-out I was reminded of the current 3,000 bonus points promotion. Management just seem to be trying too hard to be different. The principal example of this being, this property does not have a concierge, it has a "Chef Experience Architect". When I read tosh like this, all credibility goes straight out of the window. Which is a pity as overall TheWit is a very nice hotel. Next visit? I'll probably return the Conrad.

I checked into The Wit this evening. Here are my thoughts / additions based on the above comments:

Pros:

* Given breakfast coupons without having to ask
* Breakfast voucher is good for $17 credit in the restaurant (not available for room service)
* Nice flat screen TV (50"?)
* TV has multimedia inputs on desk (SVGA, RCA, HDMI, etc.)
* Clock radio has iPod input
* Nice modern decor (seems a lot like W)
* Lobby wasn't crowded at all this Sunday night when checking in at 9PM. In fact, I was the only one there. Perhaps the popularity of the roof bar has subsided.
* It looks like they turned one elevator into an express elevator for roof bar patrons to use. It has its own buttons, etc. and doesn't go to the other floors. The other elevators have card key access, but it wasn't turned on this evening.
* Nice gym
* High tech theme with touch screen IP phones, etc.

Cons:

* No upgrade as diamond, even though plenty of upgraded rooms were showing on the website as available. I didn't bother to argue, but since I'm staying 5 nights an upgrade would have been nice.

* 3 Tiers of internet service ($10 / $15 / $19) I use an aircard, so it doesn't apply to me, and this may not be a con to some people as a $10 option isn't too bad.

* Working area / desk is a bit small.

* I wonder if the hotel is using some type of IPTV system given its high tech theme. On some of the channels I see stuttering on the video frames, and others the video / audio is about .25 seconds out of sync, which doesn't make programs unwatchable, but makes it feel like you are watching an overdubbed foreign film.

Based on the fire map it looks like XX01 / XX02 / XX18 are the best rooms.

I stayed in this hotel in September and will never choose it again. It is modern, chic, comfortable, and in a desirable location; however, I experienced enough cons to drop it from my list of choices.

I am a Gold member and my DoubleTree profile preferences are high floor, free upgrade, executive lounge when available, and breakfast. I received no upgrade, unless you consider a corner room an upgrade. I was given a room on the 11th floor--out of almost 30 floors. And, I had to ask for my breakfast coupons. I stayed on a Friday with my husband for his birthday outing. Internet service was not free. On the positive side, the food was excellent, and we were given "priority" passes for the nightclub that evening.

I have stayed in MANY Chicago hotels, and my room at the Wit was by far the smallest! I can't imagine how cramped a non-corner room would have been. I was much more impressed with my stay at the W and the Hyatt McCormick Place.

I finished a second stay at this property and didn't get an upgrade again even though plenty of upgraded rooms were showing available on the website. I have another six night stay coming up in about two weeks and may change my MyWay to free internet since they don't seem to give upgrades here.

Hi there, just wonder if anyone knows of any cheap overnight and/or hourly parking garage near the hotel. Yes, I'm cheap and I don't wanna use the $45 valet service :D