Any reports from CC Gold members re upgrades, etc?

I guess I should have been more clear in my post above, as a gold member we were upgraded to a corner room w/wrap around balcony (but as mentioned, each balcony including ours did not have any chairs, I'm hoping someone had chairs on their balcony & I just didn't see it)

I always marvel that people think parking in a major city is over priced and in most cases should be included in the room price. Considering one is paying $300+ for a 400+ sqft room, and a car occupies perhaps 60 sqft, parking charges are not out of line. If one is local and leaving a car for the weekend, why not just take a cab to the hotel, it's going to be cheaper. Same goes if just flying into the city and renting a car: take taxis and save money!

I agree. I've never gotten a car for weekends in Chicago - or Boston or Seattle or NYC or etc. It just doesn't make sense for a number of reasons, esp financial.

I'm local to the area.
 

this stay was a weekend get away for us. Public transportation from the suburbs to downtown is about 2+ hour long with numerous transfers, for what should be a 25 minute car ride.
My complaint about parking is mostly on the how it is applied. I do not mind paying, however I would like to get some in/out privilege. there are numerous hotel in this city, from other brands that DO NOT charge for parking, or they offer it as part of a combined package. La Quinta and Best Western come to mind, not also here, but in other cities. this is not necessarily a Club Carlson issue, as I have had the same with Hilton and Sheraton.
I do not expect to have the parking included as part of the stay, as that is not fair to those who are not parking the car, however, I would not mind a "park-n-stay' rate that will include the parking at a discounted rate and I could get some points for this.

As for public transportation, one has to consider how convenient and useful it is. Some are not 24hrs, so it is not helpful for late arrivals, taxis are not always there, etc. For me, a car is helpful.

This property is not comparable to a La Quinta or a Best Western, so one should not expect any similarity.

For my future visit:

Would it be cheaper to say, park at the airport long-term parking lot (if there's any in ORD) and take a free shuttle (does the hotel provide it?) or even a cab from the airport to avoid paying hotel parking charges?

Hello tsmith12
 

The hotel does not have a shuttle to the ORD airport, as they are away, however, your idea is not bad.
There is a remote parking at ORD, its called the F lot and it is $9 daily, from there take the shuttle bus to the parking area, then take the airtram to the airport. at the airport terminal on the lower levels you can access Chicago Public transportation, CTA Blue line to the city, from the CTA blue line you can transfer to the red line, which has a stop about 3 or 4 blocks away from the hotel, or take a bus that will drop you a little closer. Total time will be around 1 hour or so transit time. Cost is $9 daily for parking, and around $5 train/bus fare. More info here on the CTA link.
http://www.transitchicago.com/

Great info...Thanks! ^

Sure beats paying $43/day especially if you're not using the car daily.

Blu Chicago
 

I like this hotel a lot although I would prefer a location closer to restaurants and shopping etc. I'll check out Fox & Obel next time we are there as it looks great but there is also a very large Mariano's Fresh Market just around the corner where we went for a less expensive breakfast/lunch option and to stock up on wine, fresh sushi and other snacks (the wine department alone is larger than many grocery stores and seemed fairly priced). For dining we had an incredible lunch at the Gage Restaurant - I ordered Mussels Vindaloo for $14 which was very fresh and tasty and a huge portion, it must have taken me at least 20 minutes just to get all of the mussels out of their shells! My other lunch time favourite is David Burke's Primehouse for their shakenSteak lunch special but I see that the price for an appetizer, steak and side along with a Martini has gone up from an incredibly low $15.95 to now just over $20(Martini refrills were $5, not sure if this is the same); they also used to have various upgrades available at a very reasonable price, for example to a 10oz bone in filet, and other appetizers for just $5 like lobster soup, wedge salad etc. but I don't see any of these options listed on the new menu anymore.

I checked out the lobby last time I was in town and it looked great and now have booked for 10/24 to 10/26 to catch the Barbra concert. A balcony is a big selling point since the only other hotel that I know that has balconies is the Dana in its smallest rooms or suites. Hopefully someone bought the patio furniture by the time I check in or I'll be redecorating. I put in for upgrades, does anyone have experience with getting paid upgrades?

How is Filini's food and prices? I know there's a bunch of inexpensive restaurants on Hubbard and up State St about a 10-15 minute walk. I also recommend Flemings for HH and burgers at the bar at MJordan's rest in the Intercont. The atrium rest in the Hyatt is also good and reasonable.

My family and I stayed here on Thanksgiving Eve, and I highly recommend it. We were on a reward stay-50k points. I know it is not the best use of points, but I really wanted to check out this hotel for free. We are from suburban Chicago, so we drove in and had to pay for parking (about $46?)

As CC members, We were upgraded to a corner room on the 16th floor, with a patio - which was really impressive and different and windy! My kids (13, 12 and 9) loved the bathrobes, the funky lighting, the rain shower, and cool sliding doors in the bathrooms.

I loved the Euro feel of the lobby, bar, and hotel room. Since we were five in the room (!) one kid slept on the floor and in this case hardwood floors were not so great. Next time I would request a blue room with carpeting for a more cozy feel.

Fox and Obel was a highlight for breakfast after we did a Turkey Trot 5k. I highly recommend this fancy, old world grocery store as a good match for the Blu. It is an easy 4 block walk crossing the river.

:D^

Aww, you should've stayed at Fairmont across the street
I got TravelZoo rate $129/night for Nov 22-24 (2 nights)
I also used my FPC suite upgrades, and got Park View suite + Radisson-view suite

but Radisson Blue building looked much cooler than Fairmont for sure

This is in my hood:D. I was going to suggest Mariano's for quick, reasonable eats but 2cool beat me to it. Great entertainment to watch the doggies play below in their park while having lunch. I didn't see anyone mention the pedway that is right below the hotel. Lots of eating places all along the way. One of our favorites is Hannah's Bretzel. It's great for getting around in bad weather and just fun to explore. Oh and a favorite of our guests is Wildberry right next door to Mariano's.

If you're part of the dining rewards network there's a burger place on Monroe just off Michigan. Rudy's. In the direction of the Trump Tower and Nordstrom's back door is Star or Siam. A bit off the beaten path but I've never been disappointed with the food or service.

Don't forget about the free lunchtime concerts in the Cultural Center.

For other parking options there's a thread in the Destinations/Chicago forum regarding Magnificent Mile parking. When we need extra local parking I use the garage under the Shoreham (north side of park adjacent to Radison).

Can't say I've seen any furniture on any of those balconies. Even the condos above have mostly bare balconies. Such a waste. We live on ours during the good weather but we're not as exposed as the ones around the Aqua. Form didn't follow function at the Aqua.

There's several more new eateries by Mariano's but we haven't gotten to them yet. I 'd like to hear impressions of these if others visit them.