ords

Here's a link to an article about the reno that's just wrapping up.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifest...718-story.html

Kagehitokiri

also has residential style units on several floors, not sure how theyre being handled now by management (Sage) and reservations (ritz/marriott)

presumably a fair number of staff stayed on, property had some pretty good reports on FT while under Four Seasons

francophile

I had my wedding at this hotel 7 years ago.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16678047-post46.html

Back when it was a Four Seasons, the guest rooms were nothing to write home about and in my opinion inferior to The Peninsula, Park Hyatt, and Four Seasons at 900 Michigan Ave. It was the employees that made this hotel special.

25milesfromhome

Were the guest rooms renovated or only the public areas?

phant0m

Wonder how this new renovation stands up to the Langham. I have a tripped planned in October.

Kagehitokiri

i think its only the higher level at langham (and trump) that are especially great

but ritz chicago remains older with more traditional style, in terms of hard product

phant0m

Langham has a more modern contemporary vibe?

I'll probably end up keeping my Langham booking. I got a crazy deal on it.

I booked their Executive Club Level Room with 3rd night free on their site and 4th night free with Citi Prestige prior to the change.

Kagehitokiri

you could also see if they would negotiate additional upgrade at checkin

SkiAdcock

Given the renovation was $100 million my guess is the guest rooms were also renovated. The articles mention renovation in the suites.

Have you stayed at the Ritz Chicago since it was renovated, or are you just making a blanket statement re: it based on prior to renovation?

From the article it's more contemporary/modern. Excerpt:

"What this hotel looks like today is nothing like it was before," said Peter Simoncelli, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton property that takes up a nice chunk of North Michigan Avenue's marble-clad Water Tower Place. The guiding principle was to give the Ritz-Carlton a better sense of place, weaving in nods to the city's status as a pioneer of modern architecture and creating more harmony between the building's interior and exterior.

"We want to celebrate the vertical — the skyscraper," said Billy Quimby of BAMO, the San Francisco-based design firm that helmed the redo. "The whole lobby used to be one vast, horizontal space. It felt like you were in a mall."

Floating above the lobby lounge where the heron fountain once stood is "Flying Wave," an art installation suspended from the ceiling. Its 616 orbs of hand-blown glass come in four shades of blue, evoking the nearby lake. It's one on a long list of the hotel's recently procured art collection. A massive piece called "Wallpaper with Blue Floor Interior" by Roy Lichtenstein is fittingly located in the smaller ground-floor lobby not far from the Museum of Contemporary Art."

Part of the reno included adding the Club Lounge (2,600sq ft) & $200 extra/night. Also fitness center update (now has views of Navy Pier) as part of an overhaul of the spa area.

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

TravelLawyer

Has anyone here used their club lounge? We have a stay booked for the New Year weekend and are excited to try it out. We particularly like that it's basically attached to the mall so that in case the weather is bad, we still have options.

Edit to correct typo.

ords

My get away hotel in Chicago when I need a break. I'm booked NYE with family myself, lounge access too.

Presentations are nice and plentiful during the day. Staff is very attentive (use the concierge to make dinner reservations and offer up suggestions) If they don't have it in the lounge, usually will hunt it down. The views from the lounge are ok.

TravelLawyer

Checked in today after some harrowing driving in the snow. We have a lakeview room but unfortunately does not face the correct side so will not have a fireworks view. Arived later than we had intentended but got to the lounge around 7 pm. It does not appear that they refresh the food at all. They had 3 warm options: bbq pork sliders (unfortunately dried out), coconut shrimp (best thing they had), and some melted pepper jack type cheese. They had some crudités, antipasto meats, dolmades, and caviar bites. Ran out of caviar bites, crudités and dressing but it was not refilled. They also closed the station early to put out some sad selections of desserts before 8 pm. Sorry if I am offending anyone, but there was a group of tweens in there in pajamas that were basically allowed to do whatever they want. One of them had a cold and was coughing and sneezing over the displays of food. They also hovered over the food as the staff set up the desserts. Luckily none of it looked that good and so we passed. At $200/night just for lounge access, it did not seem any better than a typical Hilton lounge. I should have taken photos of the sadness. Hopefully tomorrow will be better or at least I’ll post photos. As for tonight, I am regretting not booking the langham or Waldorf.

We had other service issues that aren’t really worth mentioning now. But not what I expect from a 4.5 to 5 star hotel (I.e. it should not take 3 calls and 2 hours to get a rollaway bed that was requested and confirmed prior to check-in.)

ords

No offending anyone here. Hell. I'd be upset if I experienced what you've gone through. I'm checking in tomorrow around 3pm and don't hesitate to speak up, the lounge agents should know better.

Karl Budnik is director of operations and he usually replies on TA after reviews are posted. In this instance however, maybe a walk down to the FD is in order.

TravelLawyer

I hate wasting my valuable vacation time complaining, but it might be necessary. There is no coffee this morning. And no bread. And no juice. What is going on??