Thompson Chicago, by Hyatt — Hotel in Chicago

I coordinated an event at the Thompson Chicago in August 2021 that brought ~60 people to the hotel, most of them guests staying at the hotel. Many of these guests were Hyatt Globalists (the highest loyalty status with Hyatt). Beginning in February 2021, I started tagging the hotel on Instagram saying how excited we were to host our event at their hotel. I also emailed the hotel's marketing team noting that we would be hosting an event with 50+ high-ranking Hyatt loyalty members and asked if they would like to exchange some drink tickets for video/ photography coverage; they said no, and we said no problem, we'll still see you at our reserved date. I kept tagging their social media (who was seeing the tags) for months mentioning the event.

I called a week in advance to ask about the breakfast situation, and the person I spoke to on the phone said they had free breakfast available for Globalists.

I also emailed them the day before my arrival, asking if an upgrade would be possible for my Globalist status, and since I was bringing them ~50 guests. No response, which is weird for a Hyatt hotel.

When I check into the hotel, they have no record of our event. They had no upgrades available for me, even though I had the highest-ranking status. They also had no breakfast available and weren't comping us breakfast, which most other Thompson hotels are currently doing if their restaurant is closed due to Covid. I asked the front desk (Jose) if they could provide some kind of vouchers, given that they didn't have breakfast. He said he didn't have any available to give to me.

I came back later that night to speak to a manager about using the bar area, since there was a sign that it was closed due to maintenance. The maintenance issue was a lie -- it was closed b/c they didn't have staff. She agreed to let my group use the bar area starting at 4 pm, but we would need to supply our own drinks. She also gave me some drink coupons (the ones Jose told me didn't exist). Jenny was the only competent and helpful person I dealt with all weekend.

The day of the event, they told us they had no record of us being allowed to use the bar past 4 pm, and kicked out our event and we had to move our entire party to another location. They didn't even have the bar open, else we would've been happy to just give them the revenue. They just kicked us out to have a closed bar.

I can't imagine how horrifying this would've been if our event was a wedding. Imagine a bride coordinating a wedding at the Thompson, bringing in 50 wedding guests, not getting an upgrade, the hotel not knowing she was hosting a wedding at the hotel, denying any comp to all the high-ranking guests for not providing a breakfast they were told they would have, and then kicking out the wedding after the bride scrambles into an agreement with the manager to have a DIY event in their unserviced bar area.

This is by far the worst hotel and event planning experience I've ever had. The management and staff at the Thompson Chicago truly does not care about their guests' experience, even if they are loyal Hyatt members or bring in a ton of revenue.

Bring your business...

I'm sad to be writing this review because we just got married at the Thompson, but my experience there did not meet the expectations I had of a 4-star hotel by the Hyatt. I gave the hotel over a week after our checkout to see if they would reach out to me personally, but no one ever did. I signed a contract with one of their sales members for the venue space in January 2024. Fast forward to late April early May, I was not hearing back from the sales rep. My wedding day was June 1st so naturally, I panicked because I couldn't get in contact with her. I called costumer service and they informed me that she no longer worked for the hotel and that my contract was never forwarded to the new sales rep. At the time, the hotel could not confirm or deny they had secured my venue space because only the sales department had access to that information and they weren't open. Having a wedding less than 30 days away, I was worried because I live 1000 miles away and had several contracts signed with my other vendors. The new sales rep contacted me via email and apologized for the miscommunication the next day. I was still upset because no accommodations were made for this major inconvenience (Imagine not knowing if you had a venue space less than 30 days out. Scary.) For the room reservation, I listed that this was our wedding weekend and asked the hotel if they gifted couples (esp. couples marrying at the hotel) a bottle of champagne or roses. I checked into the room and there was nothing. I spoke to the director of rooms, Kelly, and she sat with us while taking notes as I shared my frustration with the hotel. She told us she would talk to her supervisor to see if anything could be done and sent up a bottle of champagne the day of the wedding. I waited a whole week to see if she would reach out or if anyone from the hotel would reach out, but no one did. This weekend was supposed to feel special and honestly the Thompson did not. No discounts were given. No complimentary parking. Nothing. It's very disappointing because we adhered to the payment schedule for the venue space. We communicated effectively with both sales reps and the hotel did nothing on their end to make up for their mistakes.

Additionally, the hotel is under renovations and we were not told that when we signed the contract. Their website even advertised the restaurant they had which made for a perfect cocktail hour and a place for group pictures. Within the last 1-2 months they removed their old pictures but when we visited the hotel prior to the wedding in early April they still had old pictures on their website even though they already had temporary walls installed. Their front desk told they had been renovating for months. I have no idea why the sales department wouldn't have mentioned this or why the hotel's website would advertise this if it had been...

Upon arrival I asked for a complimentary upgrade. After some talk back and forth the staff confirmed they could upgrade one of the two rooms for a specific room type. The sole purpose we didn't go in our room at that time was because we were offered a room on 22nd and 21st floor.

We went to lunch and came back a few hours later. Upon coming back, the staff was very rude and acted as if we had yet to check in. The lady lied and claimed she never was able to get a room on that floor and since sold it. They literally promised one thing and did another.

We had to waste more time checking back in (the second time) and then said the complimentary upgrade the room we were confirmed having was since booked. This boggled my mind how someone could book our room after we checked in. The front desk lady had alluded that our bags would be in the room. They weren't and we were late dinner. We had multiple holds on our credit cards after checking in multiple times. For a 24 hour trip, we just wasted too much time with the check in process.

After checking in for the second time, the lady behind front desk whom we had never spoke started berating us and screaming at us. She was far from hospitable and acted as if we were guilty of some wrong doing for being frustrated that our rooms weren't ready. We realized they got the credit cards wrong even on the second check in and they charged us 7 times for 1 room. One would think this would be resolved immediately. It actually took multiple follow up contact points after the trip to correct it.

I notified them my room had a very foul strong odor. They said they sprayed it and never checked back in to see if the issue was resolve. It was not resolved and we had a horrible sleep due to the overwhelming nauseating odor.

Upon check out, they tried to get us to check in a third time claiming the cards on file were wrong and wanted us to go through this process all over again. I have stayed at Nashville, Cabo Thompsons and had great experiences. Unfortunately, this was a one star all around. We left the property with a horrible experience and many unresolved issues and will not be back.

They really should have offered a resolution for a one night stay gone bad as I have never had so many things go wrong (credit card fiasco, failure to have rooms ready, rude staff, foul odor in room, ect.)

The management should have offered a remedy for terrible experience. Leaving issues unresolved and staff having a "me versus you" mentality caused for a horrific experience. There's plenty of hotels in Chicago, don't waste you time with this one.

I attached pictures of something I don't even know why was in the room and it showed how filthy things in...