Hilton Chicago O'Hare
The Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport is located right at the airport and connected to the terminal by a pedestrian tunnel. One could either access it from terminal 1 or 3, if you are in terminal 2, one has to walk to terminal 3 and take the tunnel from there. The signs showing directions are marked with hotel rather than the Hilton Logo and sometimes even without the name of the hotel.
The hotel has 858 rooms.
If one is approaching the hotel from the pedestrian tunnel there is an escalator up into the main lobby level. In the basement are located fitness centre and pool, both are open from 4.30 to 23.00 and is of medium size. Locker rooms are available as well as sauna and steam bath. The pool is more of the smaller seize, but nice for a quick swim in the evening or the morning. The equipment of the gym is okay, the number of treadmills and other machines seem to be sufficient.
There are also some meeting rooms down in this area.
The lobby is difficult to describe. It is a long but not very wide area in the hotel with a few lounge chairs. The most space of the lobby is taken by the huge check in and check out area. There is also a separate desk for Hilton HHonors members to check in and out.
The restaurant “Andiamo” and the “Sports Edition Bar” are left hand side of the check. The restaurant is open from 05.30 in the morning until 23.00 in the night. Here is the breakfast served as buffet, there is a selection of items of the Continental buffet and the items of the American available. The difference is only 2.00 USD. The continental selection is included for guest who at least HH Gold. I decided to pay the difference to the American Buffet as this included also eggs prepared a la order by a cook,
scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and potatoes as well as pastries. The continental selection was toasts, bagels, fresh fruit, cereals and yoghurt as well as different types of cheese, smoked salmon and beef.
The “Sports Edition Bar” is open from 11.00 to 02.00 and serves drinks and food. Room service is available 24 hours.
There are check in machines of American available in the lobby, I did not see any of other airlines in the lobby.
Internet is not free; you have to pay for it. It is 5.95 for one hour or around 12.95 for 24 hours. It could be charged to the room or a credit card. It is one of the disadvantages of the more expensive properties they still charge for the use of the internet, while it is free at the less expensive chains like Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites or Hampton Inns.
visited on USA + NZ
stays 26 February 2008
Arrival Date: 25 February 2008
Departure Date: 26 February 2008
Room type booked: Standard
Rate Plan: Net direct rates
Room Number: 926
Room Rate: 169.15 USD
Status of Guest Program: Gold
I checked in at 23.45, nearly three hours later than I had expected. Though this was late, there were some lines at check in and the Hilton HHonors check in desk was not serviced. Self checks in desks are available as well. But it take not that long before it was my turn.
Check in was okay. I had to show ID at this hotel. I got two vouchers for two free bottles of water to take out of the minibar and two vouchers for continental breakfast. The agent was friendly, but I had to ask for breakfast time and location. I would have liked to get this information without asking for it.
Unfortunately the keycard for my room did not work, so I had to go back to the lobby. The agent programmed another two keys, but there was no excuse for the not working keys.
The room was nicely decorated. The room had standard seize, while the bathroom was of smaller seize. The style was classical for a hotel room.
After I had entered the room, I was standing in the corridor. The wardrobe with ironing board and iron was right hand side, while the bathroom was on the left side. I had a sink, toilet and bath. Seize of bathroom was small. There was a huge mirror behind the sink and a lot of space to store the things like toothbrush, razor, etc. Bathroom amenities by Crabtree & Evelyn were provided (conditioner, shampoo, lotion and mouthwash) and towels for two persons. A hairdryer was lying on a board below the sink. It
was fortunately not one of these cheap ones I dislike.
The lights above and left and right hand side of the sink were okay, while the main light was somehow dark.
Also somehow dark was the only light in the corridor. All other lamps in the room were either bedside lamps, floor lamps or desk lamps and had to switch on and off at the lamp. The room had the king bed on the left side along with two bedside lamps, bedside tables. The Hilton Signature Clock was put on one and a telephone on the other one. A relaxation lounge chair was in front of the window with another table and a floor lamp. Opposite the bed was the minibar, the TV and the working desk. The working desk was
big enough to work with a laptop and it was also featuring a desk lamp with a power outlet and a LAN connection.
Tea and coffee facilities were available as well. It was not a real coffee machine but a smaller for two cups only.
The decoration was contemporary and nice, a bit like typical hotel rooms worldwide, but definitively of nicer appearance.
The bed was comfortable and I had a good sleep. There were six pillows placed on the bed.
The control unit for air condition was placed near the window and one of the more modern units which could be set to a certain temperature (either in C or F). The streamer was also placed here and also one could hear the air condition, it works without too much draught. I switched it off before I went to bed but switched it on again during the night.
I had breakfast in the restaurant and decided to go for the American Buffet. The service was okay, staff was of average attentiveness and I got asked if I liked some more orange juice every now and then. As I wanted to pay for the difference between American and Continental Buffet and showed my voucher, I was told, there was nothing to pay. They must have noticed I had the American Buffet, as they took away my plate with the times of the American Buffet (Scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes).
A nice hotel room in a nice contemporary style. I liked it very much, although I think the most guest only spend a night at this hotel before and / or after a flight like I have done. But the location is not that bad at all, as the MRT brings you into Chicago in probably less than an hour and so one might consider this hotel even if one has two nights in Chicago. But off course the location right at the terminal is the huge advantage of the hotel. Staff was friendly, not overwhelming friendly, but friendly.
