Hyatt House Chicago - Medical / University District — Attraction in West Chicago Township

I would really like to give the hotel more than 3/5 stars but there is just so much "low hanging fruit" it is ignoring to make a better impression.

First the positives - it is a very nice looking hotel. They have truly done this historic building justice in its redesign from an old hospital to a very nice looking hotel. The staff were extremely friendly in all interactions. In terms of location, it is very nicely positioned in Chicago where jumping to any part of the city is very convenient but without being in the mix of a lot of traffic. It is also much quieter than you would expect.

BUT, as some others have mentioned, there are some issues and they begin with the parking. The parking lot owned by the hotel just isn't ample enough. We were fortunate that we arrived early enough in the day that we were granted a parking pass. However, our son who was also a registered guest arrived later and was given directions to other parking garages located a couple of blocks away.

Room issues - despite having three registered guests in our room, there was only a blanket and a pillow in the room to accompany the pull out sofa ... no fitted sheet, no top sheet. There were also only two towels and two washcloths in the room. We were able to get additional towels and washcloths and shower gel earlier when we noticed that the shower gel was completely empty, but we did have to wait a while and didn't want to wait for additional sheets when it was time to go to bed so we just dealt with it.

Bar issues - Only two taps and one was a cider. That was disappointing.

Breakfast issues - The food was so-so and honestly I have had better from hotels with fewer stars. The organization of it was a bit of a mess as well. The only salt and pepper available are shakers in the buffet line ... nothing available in the dining area (which is a completely different room) and no salt or pepper packets available to take to your table. One dish was very cold when I got it. They ran out of bagels one day. I had to go through a few plates to find a clean one one day. I had to turn the lights on in the food serving area one day (this was about 30 minutes into the service and everyone else was just going through in the dark).

Cleanliness - already mentioned an issue with some dirty plates but it is also unfortunate that the tables are never cleaned. The 2nd floor area that has the dining areas, gathering areas, pool table, and bar is an excellent place to sit and gather. However, every table stays filthy and I never once saw a single person wiping any of them. I sat in the dining area one morning for a couple of hours and all tables had to be wiped by the guests circulating to them.

I really didn't hate this hotel. I am more just frustrated that all the things that were obviously wrong are very simple fixes and there didn't seem to be any effort towards...

Very nice place! Wonderful customer service and a fantastic location! Also impressively quiet considering it's in the heart of Chicago! They have a pool table at the bar on the 2nd floor, which is very cool!

However, there are downsides to everything, but it's not all bad!

First things first, the hotel is very secure! No lobby access without a key card at night, and nobody can go beyond the 2nd floor without a key card, so you can feel safe while you stay there!

The complimentary breakfast was decent, but it left a little something to be desired, as there were no pastries or waffles and you have to go searching for any drink that isn't milk. I had to direct a family to the other drinks after I heard them telling their 4 year old daughter that she couldn't have apple juice because they thought the serving room contained everything that was available.

$30 to park in their own lot after spending $200 on a room is absolutely insane! Fortunately, the staff realizes this, and are quick to direct you to a much cheaper lot nearby. The downside to that is there's no in and out at that lot, so you may want to pay the $30 unless you're only staying for the weekend and don't plan on traveling outside of walking distance. The staff will inform you of all this upon check-in, so it's your choice. If you choose to park in the hotel lot, there is a security guard on duty in the lot, so that's a plus, but make sure you get there early because their lot is very small and can only hold about half the number of cars as the hotel can hold people!

Bring your own lotion! They don't provide it! In all my travels, including other hotels in Chicago, I've never seen a hotel that doesn't provide lotion until I came here! However, they do provide paper towels.

The rooms are nice and the bed is soft! The shower is very spacious, but unfortunately it makes the rest of the bathroom a little cramped, unless you're a child or petite like my wife. Other than that, no complaints about the room. We only wish they had more than 40 channels. Nice design though to put the TV in the middle so you can turn it to face the bed or the couch!

The food and drink available for purchase at the front desk is outrageously priced and not worth it unless you're desperate, which I confess I was at 2:30 in the morning!

Also, you can request a Peloton bike to be brought up to your room for a while if you wish to exercise in private! That's really cool!

Overall, we enjoyed our stay there and we would return, but there are definitely some improvements that...

Great look, very efficient. Everything is efficient, jarring if you're not quite used to it. The water fixtures like the shower are very efficient because the amount of water per second is quite low (they are very low pressure). The light fixtures are not super bright and turn off themselves after some time, very efficient. The hotel itself has wide roomy hallways with high ceilings. The living area and bedroom we had also had tall ceilings. The room we had included the kitchen which had some stuff already in there, as seen in my pictures. The couch is alright and has a pull out bed for extra people. The bathroom was alright and has the soap and shampoo ready in dispensers as shown in the pictures. The parking situation is not great, there is only this small lot with one access point on a one way alley around the back side of the hotel. There is an attached food court with several food places of different cuisine types that is open most of the day. There are also some games available for people to play and tables outside as well. There is an attached museum that has some of the history of the hotel. If you are nervous about stuff like this, the hotel was previously part of a hospital that was shut down for some time and there's some odd stories the locals have for the building so be aware of the reactions you might get from locals. Breakfast was alright, a decent selection including warm options they refill with fresh pretty often while it's open. Also it's listed that there is an espresso bar open all day on the second floor, but they actually don't have one at all. The reason I dropped a star is that when we got there early and set up the parking they knew we were there at 1 and check in was at 3, then we left and came back at 4 and they told us that our room was not ready and wouldn't be for an hour because of "engineering" and so that was pretty sketchy. They weren't going to do anything either until we pressed them we needed a room and then they got us set up in a dual queen room instead of the one king. If we pay for a room starting at 3 then it should be reasonable for us to get into a room we paid for when we...