Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Central Loop — Hotel in Chicago

I really had high hopes for this property as it is a newly opened hotel in a great location. I had originally planned on staying at Canopy Chicago, their sister property, but it was delayed and not open in time for my visit. The hotel is located in an old train station office building directly across from Willis Tower. It is easily accessible via the CTA or walking. Parking is located next door in the parking garage with a small walk outside to get in the doors of the hotel. The lobby is bright and nicely appointed and there is a decent sized breakfast area and lounge up on the second floor. There is some good and bad to this property.

First off, the photos on the website are NOT representative of the property. The rooms are not nearly as open and spacious. I understand that it's a new property so they haven't updated the stock photos but they should make it clearer what to expect. I am a Diamond member and I was upgraded to a one bedroom corner suite on the 6th floor. The room was of course new but did have some quirks. There is zero view from the suites. They are all located in the corner of the building that faces Giordano's on one side and an alley on the other. So if you want a view of Willis or anything else, do not go for a suite. The suites have a small sitting area separated by a bathroom to the bedroom. The lighting is not what is pictured in the photos and is more similar to desk lamps. The door had to be budged upon every time you entered the room as i am guessing the frame shifted after construction. I reported this to the front desk on my first day but it was never looked at. The light over the coffee area flickered regularly and I finally just shut it off. Saturday night, a guest placed a large amount of shopping trash, empty bags, etc. in the hall near the elevators, it was still there at 12:30PM on Sunday when I checked out.

The elevator situation is just that, a situation. There is only one working elevator for the entire hotel as the elevator bank is shared by the yet to open Canopy Hotel and the HGI. The elevator was having issues on Friday and was out of commission twice when I went to try and use it. Give yourself extra time as during peak times you might be waiting a while to go up or downstairs.

The fitness center is NOT what is in the photos. The HGI fitness center is two cardio machines, a TV, and some free weights. There is a shared water cooler for H2O. It is located in the very back of the 3rd floor, adjacent to a non-functioning guest laundry.

I asked for late checkout on Sunday and was told it would be taken care of. It was not, as when we came back to the room to grab stuff, we had been auto-checked out. Minor inconvenience to go get a new key card but eliminated the reason for the digital key card. The breakfast is very lackluster. The new HIlton daily credit system for Honors members provides a daily credit for 2 up to $20 per day. In more expensive markets like Chicago most brands give a better credit., but HGI has not changed their policy. When I got my folio on the way home, I noticed they actually only credited part of one breakfast each day and not the full amounts, we received a total of $20 for the entire stay. This was disappointing and I had to call the hotel. They said it was a brand issue, but due to my status would comp everything but the tips. You can get a much better breakfast a short walk from the hotel, but if you have status, you will be wasting your daily credit by using it on soupy powdered eggs, chewy potatoes, and bland pasties. Pass on the breakfast and use the daily credit at their sundries shop in the lobby.

Overall, I think this could be a strong 4/5 hotel once they work their issues out. Just temper your expectations. I saw the GM standing at the front desk on Sunday morning but he wasn't even greeting guests, the GM at the last two Hilton properties I stayed at actually sought out Diamond members, while he was on property, to thank them for staying and making sure they had all their needs met. Quite a different stay from what...

The pros: hotel is very nice; rooms beautifully clean with great amenities. Beds super comfortable - high ceilings, ample work space, nicely appointed furnishings.||Cons: Very uneven customer service. We got there early Thursday morning - and knew we couldn’t check in right away but asked if we could get an early check in. The front desk associate (name stats with an f or a v?) very grudgingly said that ‘might’ be a possibility. We then asked if there was a place we could eat breakfast - again, a sigh. She gave us a name (it was a person’s name so it wasn’t clear what it was.) That meant nothing to us so we asked where it was “it’s a 10 -minute walk’ was her response. What it would have been nice to hear was ‘John Doe’s cafe is about a 10 minute walk - go out of the door and turn right’ Nope. No other instructions. We finally found a breakfast place a few doors down in the Willis tower. |We came back to the hotel. I had to take a conference call - I asked where a good place might be - again - she just pointed up the stairs. I could t get the WiFi to work (since we didn’t have a room we couldn’t get on the usual Wi-Fi’) I had to go back to the desk where Ms. Unhelpful scribbled the password on a piece of paper. It didn’t work since it was difficult to read her handwriting. I dragged my laptop back to the desk - where - more sighs ensued as she typed it in.|Ms Unhelpful had told us that she would text us when a room was ready - several hours later - no text. However, I did realize that the desk had a new attendant. I went down and she immediately gave me a room, gave me helpful lunch recommendations and essentially acted like someone who actually cares about her guests. |Throughout our stay whenever I had to deal with Ms Unhelpful (where the nearest subway was for example) she gave me an answer using the least amount of words. ||We also had a breakfast where the cook didn’t show up - after waiting 15 minutes the woman who was running the breakfast area just told me to have the buffet - she had texted the cook twice to no avail. She was friendly and helpful but still - you serve breakfast and the cook goes awol? ||Some of the staff was helpful - others seemed more intent and talking with each other than helping guests. ||I work I customer service and if this was happening in my establishment, I would be definitely taking steps to follow up on customer service expectations. This would have been a 5-star review if not...

The pros: hotel is very nice; rooms beautifully clean with great amenities. Beds super comfortable - high ceilings, ample work space, nicely appointed furnishings.||Cons: Very uneven customer service. We got there early Thursday morning - and knew we couldn’t check in right away but asked if we could get an early check in. The front desk associate (name stats with an f or a v?) very grudgingly said that ‘might’ be a possibility. We then asked if there was a place we could eat breakfast - again, a sigh. She gave us a name (it was a person’s name so it wasn’t clear what it was.) That meant nothing to us so we asked where it was “it’s a 10 -minute walk’ was her response. What it would have been nice to hear was ‘John Doe’s cafe is about a 10 minute walk - go out of the door and turn right’ Nope. No other instructions. We finally found a breakfast place a few doors down in the Willis tower. |We came back to the hotel. I had to take a conference call - I asked where a good place might be - again - she just pointed up the stairs. I could t get the WiFi to work (since we didn’t have a room we couldn’t get on the usual Wi-Fi’) I had to go back to the desk where Ms. Unhelpful scribbled the password on a piece of paper. It didn’t work since it was difficult to read her handwriting. I dragged my laptop back to the desk - where - more sighs ensued as she typed it in.|Ms Unhelpful had told us that she would text us when a room was ready - several hours later - no text. However, I did realize that the desk had a new attendant. I went down and she immediately gave me a room, gave me helpful lunch recommendations and essentially acted like someone who actually cares about her guests. |Throughout our stay whenever I had to deal with Ms Unhelpful (where the nearest subway was for example) she gave me an answer using the least amount of words. ||We also had a breakfast where the cook didn’t show up - after waiting 15 minutes the woman who was running the breakfast area just told me to have the buffet - she had texted the cook twice to no avail. She was friendly and helpful but still - you serve breakfast and the cook goes awol? ||Some of the staff was helpful - others seemed more intent and talking with each other than helping guests. ||I work I customer service and if this was happening in my establishment, I would be definitely taking steps to follow up on customer service expectations. This would have been a 5-star review if not...