Great hard product, soft product not so much
 

My wife and I had a one night stay here recently which we upgraded to a suite. Requested a crib ahead of time (by phone) and was not placed in the room, which we didn't discover until after 11PM (flight delays of 5 hours).

The breakfast vouchers were $20 each which is still insufficient to get a full breakfast at either the restaurant or room service and cover the full cost. $25 would do it, but sadly this hotel still continues to shortchange this benefit.

We were unable to enjoy the rooftop bar due to the cold winter weather, sadly.

Subsequently I personally had a 12-night business stay here. Housekeeping was a great disappointment, while I thoroughly enjoyed the room itself. At least 5 nights out my stay the bath toiletries (shampoo, body wash) were not replenished. The bathroom mirror was not washed once though it obviously needed to be. Dirty glasses were not removed nor replaced 2-3 days or more in a row. Housekeeping was clearly in the room each night because the garbage was removed and the bed remade.

To top it all off, in the middle of the stay my wife and 6 month old daughter joined me so I requested from the front desk on the way out Friday morning that additional bath products and a crib be placed in the room that day. Neither happened which we discovered on getting back to the hotel from the airport after 11PM at night (again winter flight delays.)

I'm torn as to whether to stay at this property. I enjoyed the room quality, but the extreme inconsistency in housekeeping quality is a big deal: I expect more from a Hyatt Place.

They are going to have to up their game substantially once the Kimpton Gray opens up right next door - same deal in terms of a gutted office building being converted into a hotel. Add a Residence Inn around the corner on LaSalle near Madison, and there's a lot of new capacity to compete with the W City Center and the JW Marriott.

I stayed here last week. Two major changes. First, the bottled water in 3rd floor lounge is gone, it is now a big jar of "spa water". Second, the diamond breakfast is still on a voucher, but the voucher now has "breakfast" on it so I assume it can't be used for dinner. The amount is $20. When I complained during the check-in how stingy this amount is, the manger agreed and he removed my breakfast bill when I checked out (about $28). Overall nice place to stay inside the loop.

So coming in November to see Hamilton (Thanks Amex Presale!). Debating staying here or PH Chicago with a DSU on either one. Anyone stayed at both and have any insights? PH Chicago seems to be disappointing compared to other PHs, but seems Centric is pretty stingy and unimpressive as well.

With C+P they're within $50 a night of each other, so not a huge difference.

I would recommend Hyatt Magnificient Mile instead having been both there and Centric Loop having used DSUs for both. Hyatt Mag Mile is a nice property unless you are really sensitive to noise.

Centric's advantage is close proximity to the theater where Hamilton will be playing. In November, that might matter.

We are seeing Hamilton in November, and after our stay here last night, I won't be back.

This hotel, IMHO has an identity crisis. Is it a business hotel or a leisure hotel?

Only have time for a brief review, but this place felt like Hyatt gone IKEA. Cheap furnishings, and very little to it. Who builds a new hotel and doesn't put a single USB port in the rooms?:confused:

The rooftop bar is pretty nice, but the service was spotty. I also found it odd that you had to get off on the 23rd floor and take the stairwell to the top. If you have to do that, wouldn't you make it pleasing to the eye? It was basically a bare hotel stairwell with steel steps and insulation on the walls.

Breakfast is now completely free for diamonds. The service and food at Cochon were the highlight of the stay. Excellent food and service.

ROFL - After having stayed there once after they opened I just LOVE this comment. I think that in a nutshell is what bothered me most about the property. There are just too many decent options in Chicago, especially if you are a dual Hyatt/Hilton Diamond.

I considered staying here, but reviews are so all over the place (and sadly they seem to be for all the Chicago Hyatts). I'm currently booked into a suite at PH Chicago, and I'll probably end up there so the one who actually wants to see Hamilton can meet the house dog.

Yeah, a hotel having a house dog just influenced where I'm staying. =/

You won't be disappointed in the PH! Wasn't aware they had a house dog, but I LOVE that hotel, and it is MILES better than the Centric!

Had a one night stay here on Sunday July 3rd.

The Good:
I was proactively upgraded to a real suite this time as a Diamond.

I was pleased with the room, OK views down Madison with a peek of the lake, bathroom was great and the separate seating area looked good although it went unused. The room furnishings also appear to be holding up very well in the 15 months since my first visit. (the next night I moved to the HR for the fireworks, my room at the HR felt very beat-up in comparison to the Centric)

Diamond breakfast does appear to be unlimited now and room service was also offered as an option. Unfortunately I skipped breakfast due to too much Chicago fun the night before.

The Not so Good:
Front desk treated me (see unrequested upgrade note above) well but they were quite inefficient and slow.

The manual shades are still a huge PITA (it takes a while to get everything open / closed). I like this place during the weekends but on a workday the thousands of office workers just outside the windows (everywhere) will be bothersome.

The lack of a desk (even in a suite) is irritating

The lounge is worse than useless, at least when I visited twice in mid day. Nothing was available other than a coffee machine and (on Sunday) ice water (but no bottles of water or anything else). Perhaps its more useful in the evening.

Overall it was a good stay at a very good price. It does appear clear to me that their target market is tourists as they seem to be making zero effort to cater to business travelers. There were a bunch of well-healed Europeans staying and they were having a very good time.

Have stayed here a couple of times in the past few weeks.

This was my first Hyatt Centric experience so wasn't sure what to expect coming in. Now that I've gotten the feel for it, I think I would most closely compare it to Hilton Garden Inn, which is similarly a "no frills full service" hotel if that makes sense. (For example, unlike Hampton Inn/Hyatt Place/etc. both Garden Inn and Centric still do offer room service, but unlike Hilton/Grand Hyatt/etc. Garden Inn and Centric don't offer as much by way of concierge, business center, etc.)

Rooms are fairly nice thanks to newness. No desk, as is the annoying modern trend, though there is a small table that is good enough for working on a laptop. I found the bed uncomfortable on the first trip for reasons I can't quite pin down, but grew used to it on the second. I think my main complaint is that the pillows are fluffy but compress down to nothing when you lay on them.

In general the rooms seem designed for solo visitors, down to the single robe on offer in the closet. (On the upside, it is one of the best hotel robes I've ever encountered, 5-star hotels included. Indeed the robe may be the best feature of the entire hotel.) You could get stay here with two people, but in addition to the small table there's only one chair, and the fact that there is enough space for two in the room almost seems accidental, a product of the old building the hotel was installed in. I could imagine a version of this brand in New York or London where the rooms were teeny-tiny.

There are some queen bed rooms on the corners with tons of windows, while king bed rooms seem to be more commonly in the middle of the floor with only one or two windows each. If you're by yourself the queen bed is probably the better option, not least because it's usually a bit cheaper. The floor space is also technically bigger, but most of that is sort of wasted in a hallway space leading to the door.

Service is fine, though mainly thanks to Midwestern friendliness. On both stays I've gotten high floors but I don't think I've gotten upgraded to another room category as a Diamond. Not that there is much effort to recognize status by the front desk at all, on my first stay they forgot to give my breakfast vouchers too.

Gym is serviceable. No windows.

Room service food is decent, if on the greasy side -- most things, even the salmon, are served with fries. Per the Centric brand, everything is served "take out style", which means it's as if you ordered delivery from Seamless. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, though it has its quirks -- make sure you ask specifically for any condiments you may want with your meal, as the basic ones (ketchup with fries) are not always included by default and more unique options (hot sauce, mustard, etc.) definitely won't appear unless requested.

On net, if you need to be in the area of the hotel and are looking for a full-service Hyatt property, it's a solid choice. I've also recently stayed at the Park Hyatt and the Hyatt Regency, and would gladly take the Centric over the Regency for the newer rooms, assuming the location works. Against the Park Hyatt it's not really a fair fight, but then the Park is usually a fair deal more expensive, and is out of the way if you need to be in the Loop.

Planning to stay here for Hamilton this weekend, can't beat a $91 rate and the proximity. Does anyone know if they've removed the $20 breakfast limit for Diamonds?

Going to have a short stay here this weekend. Any update on diamond treatment here? It's as cheap as a Hyatt place and am looking for a good breakfast here. Is the breakfast and gym decent here?

Breakfast in the restaurant is excellent. Get the avocado toast and bread basket. No $ limit imposed on Diamonds, and they will give you a ticket upon checkin for each registered person in the room, up to 4. You must present the ticket to the server at breakfast, one per person.

Gym is small, but OK...no windows, very hot in there when I worked out.