Introduction
Since this was a cat 4 hotel, I used a Chase Hyatt annual certificate for a 1 night stay since I had no destinations planned with a Hyatt category 4. We got to the hotel at around 11AM, and we immediately noticed there was a convention going on. The hotel lobby area was HUGE and beautiful. The hotel had 2 towers of rooms (East and West towers.) We had to take an escalator upstairs to the lobby.
Checking in
There was a dedicated World of Hyatt desk where we checked in versus waiting behind 4 other people at the check-in desk for the serfs. The rep mentioned that as a Discoverist, we got 2 coupons for bottles of water at the cafe downstairs. Turns out there isn’t any water bottles in the room, which is always my biggest annoyance at hotels. I was appreciative of the 1 liter Aquafina water bottles that the coupons got you.
Wifi
I didn’t even use it since I wasn’t in the room that long, but my wife didn’t seem to have a problem with it.
Room
Nothing special. Just a regular room.
Lounge
I heard the breakfast at the lounge wasn’t that good. Only 1 hot item and the usual bagels and cold cuts of meat. The 6PM snacks were a bit better with some chicken fingers, cold cuts, and lots of vegetable options. However, the alcohol wasn’t free and was based on an honor system – $4 for beer/wine and $5 for liquor, which wasn’t outrageous once you’ve calmed down that it wasn’t free.
Conclusion
I thought the location was great (just south of Michigan Avenue.) Convenient Uber/Lyft pickup spots. However, it is MASSIVE, so if you’re into small boutique hotels, then this isn’t for you. Also, the overnight parking fee was something outrageous like $67 all in per night (only waived if you are a Globalist booking on award!)
I have reservations there the weekend of my birthday in October. I don’t usually like the huge convention style hotels but points and cash were available here and not at most of the other Chicago Hyatts.
It’s a good location and elevators run fast. Enjoy your bday!
actually, Centric Magnificent Mile is now available on Points and Cash. Is it worth the extra points and $?
Centric location is slightly better. Room should be better too. Depends on if you think that’s worth the extra $$$
I had drinks at the big bar there when I was 19 or 20 – I will always have fond memories of the place because of that 😉
Parking charges everywhere in Chicago are outrageous – sometimes it is about half of what they are charging for the rooms.
I figured that, but $67 is the highest I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure NYC goes up that high.