3rdworldresident

Does anybody stay here recently?

thanks in advance

stylo4444

I have stayed here a couple times, but prefer the W City Center. The Lakeshore has the view, but the rooms are starting to look a bit dated - although they are still nice and clean.

Chicago has quite a few *woods, but I've been staying at the City Center recently and will continue to do so for future travel.

landeej

I was just at W Lakeshore on Thursday evening. Quite an interesting experience - between all the people in town for the Chicago Cubs' home opener and the Playboy open casting call going on at the hotel Thursday and Friday, the bar was quite worthwhile.

Looking back over this thread a few pages, I'm going to break with the ranks and say that I prefer this property over W City Centre, which I stayed at Friday night just to see how the two stacked up in 2012. I lived at Lakeshore for a good chunk of the summer of 2011, and as recently as last week, the staff really make it work. Being welcomed with a smile and warm "it's so nice to see you again" at Lakeshore by both the front desk as well as the concierge was much nicer than interacting with the most scornful, entitled, condescending, and dismissive front-line employee I have encountered in decades of travel at City Centre.

The hard product is a little worn and beaten, but I prefer the look of it more than the stark white with Stuart Smalley-esque slogans I experienced Friday night at City Centre.

Last, but not least, as has been covered in another thread, City Centre committed the cardinal sin of leaving my folio sitting outside the door sans-envelope (although tucked into the newspaper).

All in all, I'm happy staying there with either my corporate rate or the incredible AAA Hot Deal I've found there lately (which includes parking, for those of you driving there). I do *not* consider it a W worthy of the Cat 5 designation though, and if you intend to use points, I think you'll feel scammed.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

3rdworldresident

how's about platinum treatment here, after new benefit policies have been effected?

thank you

landeej

Well, I just opted for the points, as I had free breakfast and coffee at work.

As for suite upgrades, the front desk and concierge apologized profusely to me about them not being available, due to the events taking place in the hotel that day, and I didn't bother spending a suite night upgrade for one night. I trust the people giving me the information, and also had business partners who had paid for multiple suites that week, so I know supply was down.

The next day at W City Centre though, I was on the receiving end of a haughty remark from the front desk person, as she informed me that City Centre only has 7 suites, while Lakeshore has 30, and I'd likely not be upgraded at City Centre.

As always, your mileage may vary.

stylo4444

I have never been upgraded at the Lakeshore other than a Spectacular room which is just the same Wonderful room on the other side facing the lake or on a higher floor. I don't know how many suites the Lakeshore has, but I do know that both hotels see a lot of events taking place, the Lakeshore has always had a wedding every time I have been over there. The City Center does have less than 10 suites true, but I've been upgraded over there. Everyone has their own experiences, but it's interesting how they vary as mine was the complete opposite of yours. I personally have found the City Center Welcome desk and Concierge staff to be among the best of all W's, and I have stayed at plenty of them around the country.

Best of luck next time, hope you're able to score an upgrade...the Lakeshore might have more of an opportunity for a suite upgrade since it has more suites as you say but I have found that the City Center takes better care of Platinum guests.

landeej

Well, I'd had a long conversation with the FDM on Saturday, and wrote an in-depth note both praising and pointing out gaps to the GM of both properties, which was received with both grace and appreciation. I plan to be back in Chicago in ~6 weeks, and since the W's are equidistant from my office in the Mart, I intend to sample them both out again.

One question - where are the suites located in City Centre? If there is one reason I'd not stay there again, it is noise. The "upgrade" I got there to a Fabulous room from a Spectacular put me in the "Courtyard", where I got to listen to the below dumpsters getting deposits of large, heavy, and loud items between 10PM and midnight. At least in a Spectacular room at Lakeshore, one is generally high enough, and without a facing building to reverberate noise, that sleep can be peaceful.

stylo4444

I've stayed in both the Fabulous Room and the Fantastic Suite (twice), the Suite that I was in was in was on the 5th floor - no it's not a high room floor but that's because this isn't the property you want for the views, just like the JW Marriott across the street and a lot of hotels within the Loop. I had a view of the courtyard, but I found the room to be quiet in all honesty. I'm one that notices noise rather easily I think, and I have stayed at other W's in which the walls are paper thin and you can hear the noise outside but I don't ever recall any noise at the City Center. I've had rooms that face both Adams Street and the courtyard - both times noise was not a concern for me but I'm just one guest. I'm not sure where the other suites are.

The Fabulous Room was on a higher floor, I think it was 14 if I'm not mistaken (this was back in late December). I was actually surprised by the size of the room, no it wasn't massive but it was big, modern, spotless and quite comfortable. I actually dig the rooms and the hard product is in line with other modern W's out there, I compare it to the W Hollywood, W Washington, the W San Francisco...the W Lakeshore is a bit different, nothing bad but when I have stayed there it almost doesn't feel like a W (but some people do prefer that older style).

Sorry to hear about your folio issue, I've never had that happen at any Starwood...actually I take that back, it did happen once but never at a W. Any time I have ever had an issue at the City Center (hasn't happened very much), they've taken care of it in a manner which I've actually found to be superior customer service comparing to other Starwoods (but really I've never had much of an issue there anyways)...so that's why it's interesting to see how different guests experiences can be. I'll be up in Chicago probably every other month for business, and I'll stay at the City Center.

playbbg

if you are working in the Mart, why don't you stay at the Westin River North? In my opinion, it is the nicest SPG hotel in Chicago and very close to the mart. While they don't have tons of suites for upgrades (I wouldn't expect it) their regular rooms and lounge are very nice.

If you just want space, why not do the Sheraton on the river, where I've been upgraded almost every time I stay there and is also closer to the mart than the W lakeshore.

I just don't think either W is really worth it, unless its location you are after. They both are due for a bit of touch-up...

3rdworldresident

just book this place because it's the only place where offer cash+point in my period of stay.

landeej

You have very good points, but if it were truly convenience and access to the office I was after, I could just stay at the Holiday Inn in the Mart itself, which is actually much more presentable than when I was first there in 2005, and much more so than the Sheraton, with it's legacy decor, and failure of upkeep (had to have my door lock/keycard reader replaced, deal with A/C issues, and the mailroom lost a package of mine for a week - all during one stay last year, and I shan't return to give them another shot). Not to mention that the bar at the Holiday Inn makes a killer martini.

The Westin is, even with my corporate rate, way above my permitted daily max for Chicago. I don't expect to stay there at any point in the future.

W Lakeshore just works for me. From the personal touches of the staff, the convenience to work (jump over the Chicago River, take Wacker west, and then hop the river again - $7 with tip in a cab), and waking up to the sun glowing red and reflecting off the lake. Best of all, the bar has never failed to yield interesting and random experiences, from chatting up Playboy bunny-wannabes to hanging with musicians in for some random summer music festival, or just sitting back to watch the fun unfold. It's cheap, cheerful, and most of all welcomes me back like I'm coming home.

hopegrad

Just posted a note about my upgrade failure in the upgrade failure thread. I just don't understand how this property chooses to deal with SPG elites. The only "solution" to my problem room on the 11th floor next to the ice machine and elevator per the GM was to downgrade my room from the original booking. I would understand the problem and inability to resolve it had I checked in at say 11pm. But, I checked in at 5:30pm. Good luck if you choose to stay here.

babiemindy

stayed at the property over the weekend, got a fantastic rate on priceline.

We took the blue line to Clark/Lake and then took the taxi to the hotel. I'm not a frequent traveler and do not have status, just the SPG Amex. Check in process was smooth, we had a wonderful room with a view of buildings across the street (we only paid $370 for 2 nights). Room was nicely furnished, flat screen, high beds, window shades between bedroom and bathroom. The room smelled nice and the furnishings were in a fine condition.

We got a glimpse of the rooms with a view from the elevator waiting area - it looks our directly at a beautiful beach with Navy Pier to the right. I can imagine how amazing it must be to wake up with that view in the morning.

I had e-mailed the hotel in advance because it was our anniversary, they sent up a cheese/fruit plate and bottle of Chardonnay - it was a nice touch.

It was raining on Friday night, we asked to use the hotel umbrella when we went out for dinner but apparently they were all out. The agent at the front desk offered us her personally umbrella but we declined (I think her name was Arianna - great service).

We also had forgotten the charger for our iPhones, although they weren't able to send us one for our room, it was no problem to stop by the front desk and leave it there to charge in the back. We did that for 2 nights.

The welcome desk was a little chaotic the two times we needed to speak to them, and when we did their attitude wasn't entirely pleasant. That was the only minor flaw to the hotel besides the unusually slow elevators that seemed to stop at every floor every time we needed to go to the lobby.

We had plans all weekend, so didn't get to use the pool, restaurants or bars on site.

We rented a zip car for 2 hours for our little excursion on Hot Doug's on Saturday morning. The car was parked a block away in a lot, very convenient. Other times we took the Red line (Chicago), explored the city on foot, and at the end of the night we took the taxi to the hotel. The W Lakeshore is located a bit far from the river and Michigan Ave. but the lake view is simply breath taking. If the weather was warmer, the pedestrian path by the lake and the beach is just across the street. Perfect for someone who wants to go for a jog or just relax by the water.

Peatisback

Recent one night stay using Starpoints:

Upgraded to Marvelous suite on 20th floor: room clearly had been trashed/smoked in- it had a lingering odor, an intrusive amount of cover-up W scent sprayed, and the ozone machine left in the room. HVAC unit was incredibly noisy.

After an hour of back and forth was able to switch to the same room type on the 23rd floor: surprisingly the room was in much better shape, smell aside: furniture was much less worn (and better quality), fixtures/light switches and panels were in much better shape, and the housekeeper for this suite did a much better job.

I was astonished by how two suites in the same category could have been so starkly different- the first was clearly in much worse off shape. Had I actually paid for that room type and received it in that condition, I might have been upset.

landeej

If there's anything I am looking forward to in the upcoming refurb to this property, it's new AC units in the rooms.

I'm quite surprised though that you would have been given a room with the ozone machine still in there. When I had issues with a smoking odor in the W Montreal the FD insisted that it had to run when I was going to be out for a few hours, as it was dangerous for me to be there while it was on. Maybe that's another Health Canada regulation, though.