Waldorf Astoria Chicago

June 22nd, 2024

Enroute:

Over the weekend we made a last minute trip to Chicago. While I’ve been to Chicago a bunch, I don’t think I’ve ever visited during the summer. The rates in the city were understandably high - the Ritz was around $800/night, St. Regis $1,200 and the Waldorf Astoria at about $1,000. Luckily, I had a Hilton Free Night Reward that was expiring soon, a perk of the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card. While I would have loved to use the reward at the Waldorf in Cabos or Conrad in Bora Bora, I don’t think I’ll be making it to either this year. Chicago it is, lol.

Check-in:

Right off the bat we walked into a mess. We arrived shortly past 4pm. The posted check-in time for the hotel was 3. At the end of our check-in process, after a needlessly detailed demonstration of hotel facilities (which there weren’t many), we were told that the room wasn’t ready, nor had they any idea when it would be. The receptionist apologized and explained that they had a system glitch until 1pm. He otherwise didn’t proactively offer anything else. While I understand incident as such can and do happen, I was not particularly impressed by the lack of gesture by the front desk. I don’t necessarily consider Waldorf as a leading luxury brand, but this hotel literally had a Piaget on property, yet it was acting like a Best Western.

I subtly hinted to the receptionist if we could have a drink at the bar while we waited, to which he responded with a mere “you’re welcome to”. At this point it was clear we had to finish the whole dance, so I asked if he had a voucher for us. He went back to check with his supervisor and returned 5 minutes later. Keep in mind that there was a long line of people behind us waiting to check in also. You’d think the hotel would be better prepared if they had been having issues all morning. Oh well. The receptionist told us we would get a $50 credit. Splendid! I can have two cocktails and leave an 8% tip to stay under budget!

Out of consideration for my fellow guests we decided to escape the chaos and head to the bar. We ended up getting our keys at 5pm.

At least the hotel had a nice driveway. This property was a mixed hotel/condo development.

The lobby seemed fine.

There were some additional seating options off to the side. There was no service there.

Unpack:

We booked the base level room, which was a superior king room. The hotel was fully sold out. I did have the Hilton Honors Diamond status, thanks again to the Amex Aspire Card. In general, I find Hilton’s loyalty program to be lackluster(ghetto). They do not guarantee late checkout, and they only provide a f&b credit instead of breakfast.

Closet space in this room was nearly non-existent. I’ve stayed at Moxy’s with more closet space.

A haphazard minibar was on offer.

Opposite from the closet was the bathroom, which was my favorite part of the room. It was spacious and felt somewhat upscale. The Waldorf brand switched from Ferragamo to Aesop a couple years ago, which I couldn’t be happier about. I’m gay, in case you can’t tell from all the bitching, so liking Aesop is basically my personality.

The last part of the room was the bedroom, which was bland but serviceable.

During our stay, the TV was displaying another guest’s full name the entire time. Is it really necessary for hotels to show full names? Can’t “Ms. Lisa’ get the job done just the same?

For a hotel built after WWII, the windows were ridiculously small. It didn’t help that the drapes obstructed half of the windows.

Our room was facing the lake, however, due to it being on the 18th floor, we could not actually see the lake.

Overall I’d say the room was mediocre at best. The chances of me paying $1,000 for this room are slim to none.

Unwind:

It’s been a while since we had a massage, so we decided to get one here. The spa was located on the 4th floor, along with the gym and the pool. You can find the spa menu here.

For a city hotel in the US, I thought the facility was above average. There were a jacuzzi, a steam room and a sauna.

The actual treatment room was standard, while the massage was just okay. The staff and masseuses were friendly though.

The gym was compact - I’m not sure if this was shared with the residences or they had their own.

The pool was long but narrow.

Refuel:

While we waited for our room, we had a cocktail at the Brass Tack restaurant. This appeared to be the only restaurant on property.

The drinks here were much better than at Bernard’s, which was the hotel’s speakeasy bar. Speakeasy might have been a stretch.

It’s hard for me to not like a hotel bar anywhere in the world, but this one had to be one of the most underwhelming ones. The ambience was lacking, and the drinks were sloppily made.

Depart:

My stay at the WA Chicago was about what I expected from a WA in the US. It reminded me of the WA in Atlanta we stayed at, which even had similar exterior and was also a mixed condo/hotel. I came away feeling that this was a cheap property. Aside from not proactively offering anything when check-in was hours late, the hotel’s Nespresso machine was on request only. Once it was requested, it was still never delivered. The wall art in the room all had blistered frames. At the end of the day, I’m glad I tried it out. But I’m more glad that I didn’t have to pay cash for it.