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AKCuisine

I'll be staying at this property for 3 nights later next week and after reading through the thread I'm looking for some current observations.

1) Is it worth using a DSU at this property to assure an upgrade? I have a couple left to burn that won't be used before expiration (and new ones arrive).

2) Are the current RC evening offerings substantial enough to make for a light dinner or are they more in line with light apps? And somewhere upthread I thought I saw high prices for wine/beverages in the lounge. Is this still the case?

Biggie Fries

Too late for your stay, but for anyone else who plans to stay here or gets a flight canceled and has to stay here, the RC food offerings do make a perfectly good evening meal (whether light or not depends on volume). Good pour on the booze, and although YMMV, may not show up on bill.

AKCuisine

I personally found the evening offerings to be basic but not remarkable, but that's simply a matter of personal taste. Everyone is different.

But on my third and final evening I had an unsatisfactory interaction with a young staff member who was supposed to be covering in the lounge. I arrived about halfway through service and although food was set out, there was no wine or other beverages available. That seemed odd, because the other evenings it had always been set up as the typical honor bar with vouchers to sign.

Several other guests said they'd been in the lounge for nearly an hour and hadn't seen any staff. I went to the front desk to inquire. A short while later a young lady came in.

When I asked why she hadn't set up the honor bar she bluntly replied, "Because the hotel guests can't be trusted." Yikes!

Initially I couldn't believe she said that to a room full of guests. It was definitely not a very hospitable attitude to show in what is supposed to be the hospitality industry -- and definitely not the type of answer a staff member should give to a hotel guest.

She offered to pour me some wine but turned around and left without offering anything to the other guests.

I commented on this behavior and attitude to management and suggested that the young lady receive some additional training in customer service. They were quite apologetic about her behavior. Sadly, it only takes one bad encounter to cause a traveler to rethink staying at a property, and they may lose return guests if the young lady's attitude doesn't improve.

Other than that, I found the hotel quite satisfactory. Its close proximity to the convention center and presence of sky bridges both are distinct pluses.

Nachtmeister

Staying at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare right now, I was looking for information about their RC breakfast hours in this thread yesterday and noticed AKCuisine's recent comment regarding the honor bar situation.

Actually, I found it hard to imagine something like that should have happened at a Hyatt and decided to follow up on the issue.

It is certainly true that the honor bar remained locked for the evening and alcoholic beverages were served only by a staff member (who was present most of the time).

Today, I spoke to a lady manager and mentioned that the issue had reached flyertalk. The manager claimed that she personally discussed the matter with AKCuisine and literally told me that he was only one of hundreds of thousands of club guests they had and none of those other guests complained. Judging from her whole reaction, she did not seem to consider his criticism to be justified at all.

The manager also told me that the honor bar was never on a self service basis here at Hyatt Regency O'Hare (truth or not?) and I should think of children who could otherwise grab a beer and that it would be illegal to even keep a fridge with beer in it open.

I then told her that the honor bar at the Hyatt Regency downtown Chicago (on Wacker) was open in the evening even though their RC is much less easy to monitor by the staff so it actually can't be illegal in Illinois.

She just kept insisting that their keeping the bar under lock and key all the time had nothing to do with distrusting their guests but was their legal and moral obligation.

Seeing that this was leading nowhere, I left it at that.

Well, I am now convinced that the reasons for AKCuisine's experience are not solely RC staff training issues and that the honor bar will probably remain locked at Hyatt Regency O'Hare for other than legal reasons.

In my opinion, the management of this massive property does not care much about individual guests and has given up pretending to do so (see manager's comment on the insignificance of one negative comment among a hundred thousand guests who don't complain).

For me, this reduces Hyatt Regency O'Hare to just another average airport/conference hotel where one can not expect personal attention regardless of Gold Passport membership level.

The only thing that they have going for them is that they tend to comp upgrade Diamonds to suites during times of low occupancy.

steve64

Personally, I don't care if they prefer to keep the honor bar locked. And if they do lock it, the reason is also irrelevant to me. I've been in too many Hyatt lounges where I seem to be the only one leaving the "honor card" marked with the number of beverages consumed I can't blame the hotel
And on the other hand, if I'm paying $5/6/whatever for a glass of Canvas wine (where IMHO, the entire bottle might be worth about what they charge for a glass) then I say "forget about breathing", fill that cheap glass to the rim

However, having the bar "locked" and not having staff on hand to serve (as AKCuisine claims) is another story, and that story is unacceptable. The "young lady's" reported behavior is deplorable.

AKCuisine

A point of clarification - I stayed at the hotel for 3 nights.

First night there were staff members in the Club lounge. Beverages were set out on the counters for self-serve wine, along with the honor-bar cards that guests were filling out.

Second night there was a staff member who was in and out of the lounge. Some items were set out, but others were locked away making it necessary for guests to go out to the front desk and ask to have someone come to the lounge for service. That said, there were honor-bar cards setting out and some beverages were self-serve.

The third night was when there was no one working in the Club for an extended period of time. I happened to be the unlucky soul who went to the front desk to request assistance in the lounge - ultimately leading to the conversation with the young lady who told me that the hotel guests couldn't be trusted.

All in all, it sounds like there are some inconsistencies at this property - some staff are certainly handling things differently than do others.

FriendlySkies

Hotel was evacuated this morning for a chlorine attack (somebody placed chlorine powder on the 9th floor), causing many to go to the hospital. Anybody stay there last night?


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...207-story.html

peteropny

I thought it was the Rosemont property but the address is the HR O'Hare one in the article.

AKCuisine

Interesting ... It sounds like someone deliberately targeted the Midwest FurFest, "which celebrates art, literature and performance based around anthropomorphic animals, draws thousands of people every year" according to the article

“It was shocking,” said [one guest] while standing outside the hotel dressed in a red panda animal suit."

iluv2fly

Saw a report on this on one of the local TV stations here. It was definitely the Hyatt Regency ORD after seeing the film clip.

Lots of people dressed up as animals!

windycityf

I attended a dinner at the HR and decided to get a room for the night. I used web check in, because I had heard the lines could be long. Stopped by kiosk and was about my way in 2 minutes. I had to attend another function, so I stopped by the front desk to get the parking pass. The lady at the front desk was nice enough to waive my parking fee, because I am diamond. She also asked if the kiosk had offered me the points or amenity, it had not. She mentioned the Regency club, but not the internet. No problem, really. Until I go to check out.
The guy at the front desk gave me a hard time about the internet and parking.
Mind you it's 5.30am, so either he was at the end of shift or the start, but either way, he could use some help in the customer services department. I realize that Hyatt's customer service has really spoiled me, because had this been another hotel I probably would have just ignored it.
But this interaction left a bad taste and I would be hesitant to stay here given their Hyatt Rosemont is a right down the street.
I agree with AKCuisine "Sadly, it only takes one bad encounter to cause a traveler to rethink staying at a property"

FriendlySkies

Just checked in and discovered that the Regency Club is currently closed for breakfast/evening snacks. It remains accessible with a key-card if you would like to get coffee/juice/pop/water.

FD mentioned that this is a slower time of the year for them, thus the closure. First time I've seen it closed in January, so perhaps this is new. On the upside, I was offered breakfast in the restaurant (for up to 4 people!).

After check-in, I was also asked by one of the managers to go through a preference card for elites. We stepped to the side and she mentioned that three Hyatt properties are testing this (DC, O'Hare, and another one she didn't remember). Among the questions asked:

• Low or high floor
• Near/away from elevator
• preferred snacks
• hobbies while traveling
• coffee or tea
• how you relax on business trips
• When you prefer housekeeping to clean your room
• foam or feather pillows
• breakfast preference (lounge or restaurant)
• executive tower or main building (applies to Hyatt ORD)

This info will supposedly be used to create a more consistent experience for elites.

johnwmaher

Is the regency club at this property considered permanently closed or is it considered temporary allowing us to get the 2,500 point bonus?

FriendlySkies

No. The lounge was supposed to reopen in early Feb. I'll be staying here in a few days and can confirm, unless somebody stays prior to that or calls the property to ask.