Review – Radisson Blu Chicago

Introduction

I had amassed something like 100K Club Carlson from the cc signups back in the day, but never got around to using them all up.  Well, the Radisson Blu Chicago is highly rated due to the location as well as just being a really nice hotel.  I had booked 2 nights here initially, but then I had forgotten about my Chase Hyatt anniversary night, and so I used it at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, so split the hotels in 2 nights.  It wasn’t bad because they are literally around the block from the other one.

 

Getting to hotel

I had some Uber credits, so we decided to Uber it to the Radisson versus taking the blue line, which would have cost $5 OW pp.  We took the redeye, so we landed at around 7AM or so.  The fare at that time was $26 to the hotel.  We got to the hotel at around 8AM and was hoping for an early check-in (I even emailed them letting them know of my ass early arrival time.)  We went up to the reception desk and tried to check in, but they told us that a) housekeeping doesn’t come in until 9AM and b) although the room was unoccupied the night before, housekeeping would still have to take a look at it, and c) we had been “upgraded” as a lowly silver member.  I didn’t have an issue with the fact that we couldn’t check-in early; I was disturbed by the fact the hotel didn’t have 24/7 housekeeping service and THAT IF THE ROOM WAS UNOCCUPIED THE NIGHT BEFORE, SHOULDN’T IT BE READY NOW?!?

 

Wifi

For some reason, they write down passcodes on a sheet of paper versus the standard name and room number.  I had no issue with the WIFI.

 

Room

We got a room on the 6th floor that faced the park, but let’s be honest, there was no view whatsoever.  I didn’t have issues with the room; it was a standard room.

 

Fitness Center

Singlehandedly the best fitness center I’ve ever been in.  They have an indoor basketball court!!!  Mic drop.  They also have an outdoor running track around the pool.  The only compliant was that they didn’t have towels for you to use in the fitness center.

 

Conclusion

My only complaint about the hotel was that there were only 2 elevators that served our section of the tower.  I got done with the fitness center at around 5PM one day and we waited about 3-4 minutes for the elevator to come (trust me, that’s a looong time.)  Then another incident where the elevator took a long time to come to the lobby (a minute or two.)  I know this is a minor inconvenience, but it’s annoying when you want to get up to your room and you’re standing there forever.

 

Pictures