Peatisback

I've made this request recently and it was denied.

FlyingDoctorwu

I've got a bit of a family vacation coming up to the PH. Family (wife, two kids (3/6) and my mother in law and sister in law. Through a bit of good fortune, I have managed to book two grand exec suites using DSU, plus the family plan add on for an additional room. So, we shall lots of space! Any recommendations for good family friendly restaruants around the hotel? Thanks!

FDW

KENNECTED

I would suggest reviewing the Chicago forum, they have some good food threads.

without taking the property thread off topic here are some places I can have dined:
Giordanos
Eggsperience
The Original Pancake house
Carmines

christof

Hi folks. I'm a Hyatt GP Diamond, who just booked a non-DSU weekend stay with Points and Cash. I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on:

1. …likelihood of a suite upgrade without using a DSU but having Diamond status.
2. …whether the Radisson Blu Aqua is a better property. I've also secured a 75,000 *Premium* Award weekend.

Thanks!

thucanhho

Have stayed at both.

1. highly unlikely since this is already a difficult property to use a DSU

2. Radission is newer and hipper, but regular rooms are smaller.

I prefer the location of PH. I'd give the edge to PH as a Diamond.

christof

How about the Hyatt Magnificent Mile? Reading through the FT thread, it sounds like Diamonds more easily score suite upgrades sans-DSU.

Then again, a PH Standard King is advertised to be 550-square feet while a Hyatt Magnificent Mile Standard King is advertised at 350-square feet.

thucanhho

I'm also a huge fan of Mag Mile. It was a great renovation by Hyatt. There is a decent chance of a suite upgrade (unlike PH) if one if available. Would be worthwhile to contact them ahead of time. Still has a 4-4.5 star less luxurious feel.

For standard room, C&P for PH is only $25/2500 pts (2000pts with the hyatt CC) and would be worth it for me, even if it could use a little refresher.

The general rule is that if you need a suite, you use a DSU, point, or $.

ZBigFam

I have never stayed at the PH but I have stayed at the Radisson Blu Aqua. I really love the Radisson Blu Aqua especially their fitness facilities. They have a great lounge too. If you are Club Carlson gold or higher you may get upgraded to lounge access.

United747

I'd do the regular Hyatt as opposed to the PH. I like the rooms at the Mag mile Hyatt better and, in my opinion, breakfast at Nomi at the PH sucks. Breakfast at the regular Hyatt is pretty good.

sensei

The PH has been very good to us a frequent return guests. We have been less impressed with the Mag Mile property, but the buffet breakfast is quite good if not anywhere close to the a la carte options at the PH.

FlyingDoctorwu

It seems that the PH Chicago gets widely panned for not being up to "PH standards".

Well we just returned from a 4 night stay and we were very very happy with our stay. I booked 2 King rooms; 1 was the AAA rate and 1 was a Virtuoso rate. I decided to book 1 room inclusive of breakfast because I wanted to make sure that both of my rooms included breakfast. In addition, I was able to use DSUs to upgrade both rooms and finally I added a family plan to 1 of the rooms. SO in the end I had 1 grand executive suite and a 2 bedroom grand executive suite. Lots of room for the family! Prior to arrival I found a cheaper rate on the PH website and approached the HGP concierge here on FT to adjust my rate. After a lot of back and forth about this being an eligible rate they were able to accommodate me.

Location: excellent; right in the heart of the Magnificent Mile. we were able to walk to almost everywhere (Milineium park, Navy Pier). Some solid restaurants nearby (not that we got to go considering we were with our kids)- we tried Bar Toma and Frontera Grill. Water Tower place is right across the street which made for an excellent place to grab good and come back.

Room: Plenty of space and comfortable. Small pantry area with a Lilly machine. Very masculine with dark woods and leather. My favorite spot to sit with my kids was in the window seat, looking out over Lake Michigan. The comfy blanket and nice big pillows were a plus. I liked how the connecting bedroom was connected via a hallway to another hallway thus ensuring lots of privacy. This is clearly an older property (? 10+ years) and there is some wear and tear on the wood but all and all things seemed be in pretty good shape. One exception was the toilet paper holder in my connecting room seemed to keep falling off the wall. The iPads in room were a nice touch and wifi seemed to be relatively speedy. MY other suite was directly below and identical.

Pool/Fitness: an appropriate fitness area with modern working machines was nice. The pool seemed a bit sterile and was cold as well but did the job well. My kids definitely enjoyed it every day.

F/B: Breakfast has been criticized here and I can see why. It's pretty average; nothing really to write home about. My kids love french toast but found the french toast at the Andaz 5th avenue to be superior. I did find the pancakes to be pretty solid. I was underwhelmed by the savory options (normally my go to). The eggs benedict and breakfast sandwich were merely okay. We had lunch in room one day with our Virtuoso credit and found it to be excellent. I had the burger which was excellent. My wife's steak salad also quite tasty. Of note the milkshake and cookies were excellent!

Service: I had heard that the service here was a blackspot but found it definitely great. When we checked in our room wasn't ready but our number taken and we were called quite quickly afterwards (so quickly that we hadn't had a chance to order our lunch). Not quite sure what exactly the diamond amenity was but we received a lot of different things: set of macaroons and a bottle of evian, strawberries with chocolate sauce/chocolate cookies one night, and chocolate cookies another night. Still also got a 1000 point amenity posted too. We got kids sized robes, coloring books, and binoculars as well. There was always ice in the buckets as well, which I definitely appreciate not having to call anyone. Everyone seemed to know who I was as we were addressed by name multiple times. I thought it was a nice tough when the doorman welcomed us back and asked us how the museum was (we had told him in the morning we were going). Finally, all our breakfast charges were completely eliminated from our bill (including the gratuity and room service charge) for all six of us. I had inquired if it would be a problem to have everything ordered and delivered to one suite and they said no problem we will take everything off...

Conclusion: The PH Chicago is definitely a value leader for us; especially combined with the DSU and family plan. We had a great stay and will definitely return.

StuckOnSegments

Hi,

I've got a twin room reserved at this property in September for a single night.

I've tried to use a DSU but there is no availability. Likewise there is no points suite upgrades available. The website is showing availability for a double room, but when I called inquiring about using points or a DSU to upgrade to a double, the agent said there were no doubles available. There are multiple doubles available on the date I'm staying per the Hyatt Chicago site.

Was the agent being lazy? Are room upgrades(below suite) even possible with points or a DSU at this property?

So, being new to Hyatt, am I missing a way to confirm an upgrade to a larger room? Doesn't have to be a suite, just a double.

Thanks

peteropny

I wouldn't worry about it saying twin - it's really a city view double (I've been in one of those rooms before). Yes, there is a Park Twin category as opposed to Water Tower or Lake View Doubles, but it's the same bed type - 2 doubles. Technically, you can't upgrade using points (only on Hyatt Daily rates) or DSUs except to a suite which apparently isn't available (and would only have a king bed anyways).

StuckOnSegments

The issue here is that occupancy for a twin in limited to 2. It's 4 for a double. There will be 4 of us. I don't want to have to sneak anyone into my room, but if I can't figure something out, I might. Alternatively, I can get a suite at the Hyatt Centric with a DSU, but I wanted to treat the group to this hotel.

So there's no such thing as a confirmed room(not to suite) upgrade unless you are staying for just the day(10am-6pm)?

Thanks for your help! Is this documented anywhere on the Hyatt site? I looked around but couldn't find much.

peteropny

I don't know if it's documented on the Hyatt site, i don't know if they are able to confirm a DSU into an upgraded room that's not a suite but a couple of years ago they were able to book a credit card suite night (when they were still issued to diamonds) into the best non suite room for us at the GH HKG - similar scenario - booked by my private line agent. Perhaps, PM the Gold Passport Concierge staff here on Flyertalk to see if they can do it.

I wouldn't really worry about it though, since Diamonds should get the Water Tower / Lake view rooms anyways - although with the service history at this property - YMMV.