We arrived on a Friday night after a 4 hour flight to Midway, picking up our rental, and driving around 30 minutes to get downtown. We checked in at around 7:30 for a 3 night stay.
I booked this hotel 6 months ago using points and a suite upgrade award. It cost a total of 83,000 points for the long weekend, with 2 nights at 29,000 points and 1 night at 25,000 points. Our SUA secured us a Water Tower Terrace Suite, which was confirmed by the front desk, but as is normally the case with points bookings, never reflected on my reservation.
On the morning we were scheduled to arrive, I noticed the reservation had been further upgraded to a Mindfulness Suite. I compared the room to the original booking, and concluded it would be an actual upgrade, though the Terrace Suite could’ve potentially had more space, and a better view, given the room description.
The valet whisked our car away, and I was happy to have free parking as a Globalist booked on points. A bellman brought the luggage into the lobby, and I approached the front desk.
The lobby was elegant and calm. Artwork, plenty of seating, and an infused water dispenser welcomed guests in.
The agent gave us a warm greeting, got us our room key, and explained that our breakfast benefit included a $100 credit to use for the meal. I had already selected a 4 P.M checkout in the app, so didn’t need to make that inquiry. She then led us to the elevator and gave us additional information, including hours of the restaurant.
We used our room key to go up to the 4th floor and walked down a carpeted hallway to our room: 409.
We entered our room to find a small hallway leading to a living room with a couch and TV. To the left of the entry was a bathroom with a decent sized tub, a shower with both a standard and a rainfall shower head, a heated toto, heated floors, and dual vanity.
To the right of the entry was a door leading to a private, oversized patio. There was a dining table with seating for 6, a couple cushioned chairs, and an extra-large cushioned bench. Shrubbery adorned the width of one side, while a flowerbed behind the bench brightened the space on the other side.
In the living room was ample seating and a large television.
There was a Nespresso, a minibar, and glassware. Snacks in the minibar included some Truffle potato chips and Garrett’s popcorn mix. At more than $10 a bag, we passed on both.
I also found a welcome note and a nice plant on the counter.
Beyond the living room, the bedroom consisted of a King Bed, some nightstands, and a TV. There was also bench seating by a window. Standard and USB outlets were available, built into the wall.
There was also a tablet with hotel information, and the ability to order room service.
The mindfulness suite also includes a few special amenities including a yoga mat, some weights, and a Bryte AI powered bed.
The bed has adjustable firmness options for both sides, and can be programmed to wake you up in the morning using motion. I tried this option, and woke up feeling like I was floating as the firmness around me adjusted up and down. In general, this was a welcome luxury.
After taking in our surroundings, we went upstairs to the 7th floor NoMi restaurant for our 8:00 dinner reservation.
The restaurant was a highlight at the hotel. Overlooking the Water Tower, with Lake Michigan in the distance, the space was elegant and enjoyable, and the food at dinner was superb.
For our meal, we picked out several sushi rolls, a poke bowl, green beans, and lobster tortellini. While all the food was terrific, the tortellini stood out to me as amazing.
Service was friendly and prompt, and food was cooked to perfection. The server proactively removed our drinks because the order got shuffled and ended up taking a long time (we hadn’t really noticed). We ordered a flan tart and strawberry shortcake to be sent to the room and went back downstairs. Before going back to the room, though, we took a short detour to visit the pool and fitness center.
Shortly after arriving back to the room, dessert arrived.
Due to thunderstorms and seemingly constant sirens outside, we used a noisemaker app to help get us to sleep. This turned out not to be needed the following two nights.
On our first morning, we ordered room service breakfast. We picked out an eggs benedict, fruit platter, and breakfast sandwich with an addition of ham. I also got orange juice, and my wife would’ve gotten hot chocolate, but none appeared on the menu. Had I paid closer attention, I would’ve chosen differently, as this was not a traditional benedict, but instead came with prosciutto and a green sauce. It wasn’t my cup of tea. Additionally, there was no ham on the breakfast sandwich. I called to ensure we would not be charged (it was a $7 upcharge).
My wife utilized the gym to get some exercise in, and afterwards we took off for a day around the northern states. On our way out of the hotel, we spotted Parker, a staple of the hotel, wandering around the lobby.
We returned late and went straight to bed.
On Sunday we decided to go to the restaurant for breakfast. There I ordered an omelet customized to my liking, while my wife ordered a salmon bagel and discovered that they do have hot chocolate available. I ordered a berry smoothie. My entrée also came with some toast, butter, and jam. We both enjoyed the meal much more than the previous morning.
We spent the morning at the Chicago Art Institute, which was within reasonable walking distance, and picked up some Lou Minalti’s deep dish pizza to take back to the room after. We enjoyed lunch on our patio and R&R before heading back out for an Architecture tour.
By the time we returned, the restaurant and bar had both closed, so we went to bed. On the morning of our last day we went back to the restaurant for breakfast and had fantastic buttermilk pancakes and a Shakshuka. I also had a Sunrise smoothie.
We went out to the aquarium in the morning, but returned in time to enjoy lunch on the patio at NoMi and then pack our things.
We then went to draw a bath, but the drain wouldn’t close. Engineering came to the room within 30 minutes of being called, but they hadn’t returned to fix it by the time we had to vacate the room.
We finished our stay with a couples massage at the Spa.
As much as we enjoyed our stay, I’d be remiss not to note the couple other instances where the hotel went wrong. Prior to our stay, we had requested an additional foam pillow and a couple toothbrushes in the room. We were assured they would be there, but ended up having to re-request when we arrived. After experiencing the Park Hyatt curse of sweating profusely the first evening under the comforter (I swear this must happen at every Park Hyatt I visit), I requested a flat sheet be put on our bed when turndown service came. Again I had to re-request this when we got back to the room. Last, the air conditioning in the spa room rattled through our entire massage. Somehow I still relaxed enough to enjoy it, but for a portion of the treatment, it was quite disturbing. I mentioned a couple of these issues on check-out, and while they were apologetic, there was no offer of compensation/resolution.
Ultimately:
Our several service misses were disappointing here. Nonetheless, a renovated space, comfortable bed, fantastic food, and lovely staff is inspiration enough to get us to eventually return.