The Westin Chicago North Shore — Hotel in Wheeling Township

I decided to go for a little getaway with my family for my birthday. Somewhere not to far but nice. I am a SPG Pro member (Pro if you are a travel agent) so I wanted to find something that would be Luxurious and family friendly. Although it looks to be more of a business hotel I feel it was still family friend. So happy I did because we had a fantastic time and I received some benefits for being a SPG member.

Lobby:

When we pulled up a bellman offered to help us. You would think we didn’t have many bags for one night but with a 7 year old and a 1 year old you need more then you think. So we did use the bellman. He was kind and very knowledgeable about the hotel. He also interacted with my daughter instead of just acknowledging me. We arrived at 1:30ish on Saturday and the lobby was very busy because a convention was going on but surprisingly there was no line to check in. It was a very clean and beautiful.

Guest Room:

We two queen bed club room on the 13th floor (yes the 13th despite some peoples superstition). The club floor offered exclusive privileges and amenities. When we walked in the room it smelled clean and looked like one of the cleanest rooms I have seen at a hotel. The view was amazing also. I did ask for a new comforter because it looked a little dirty. Just a few spots that I was not comfortable with. They staff came up within 10 minutes to replace it. Housekeeping was very friendly. The beds were really comfortable and the bathroom was a pretty good size. They had a rain shower head and wand that detached which was fantastic. I am pleased with my choice I made to spend the extra money and book the club room.

Saranello’s Resturant

We went to Saranello’s which is attached to the hotel. The inside is cozy and the experience at this restaurant was excellent. My husband and I both had a burger. Our burgers were done to perfection. Our kids didn’t eat much but our food was exceptional and dessert was amazing! I recommend this place for a nice evening out with your loved ones.

Parking:

Just a small gripe, but parking is WAY far from the entrance.

Pool area:

The hot tub is broken; jets were broken and little kids were jumping in and out of it so it wasn’t relaxing. The pool was a little warmer Saturday then it was on Sunday. I do like that fact that you need a key to get in the pool and in the bathrooms by the pool. Saturday night some kids around 9 or 10 years old were in the pool and not with any parents (they do have a rule that children under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult. They were being very wild and jumping all over in the pool disregarding anyone else in it. I did bring this up to the front desk and they took care of the situation because the next day those same kids came to the pool and this time had an adult but still acted the same way but the parent did nothing. I did notice people leaving the pool. Very sad that they have to ruin it for others.

Overall we had a great time and I would go back. I would recommend staying at the Westin...

​Upon arrival, we were met with a less than pleasant (but not incompetent) check-in. Just not friendly in any way. This does not make a hotel a bad one...but it adds to my overall experience (I will later learn that the front desk personnel that I spoke with was the front end manager I would later complain to).

Prior to our arrival at the hotel, we called ahead and confirmed that the whirlpool was in working order. We were assured it was. This is a priority on all our stays as my wife and I are in the fitness industry and we wind down and recover in this way. Shortly after check in, we proceeded to the whirlpool. This being the only reason we arrived at 10am on a Friday. However, we found the whirlpool to be at room temperature. One call, two calls, three calls to the front desk, with a 25 minute wait after each call came with no response from staff irritated us to no end. With each call we were assured that "someone was working on it!" Even though the equipment room was a mere 30' from us and void of personnel.

We then went back to the room to shower and regroup, and found no complimentary amenities in the shower in which to use. A call to the front desk manager for both issues came with an "I apologize and will look into it and call you back."

After 2 hours we received a call back by the front desk (not the manager), and we were told the whirlpool will be up in 10 minutes.

We decided to go to the restaurant to eat first, and again experienced unfriendly (not rude) staff. The bartender was just preoccupied with stocking and gabbing than to tend to our needs. However, the food was delicious.

Afterward, we changed and went to hopefully enjoy the whirlpool. Guess what? Room temp water. Front desk, again. This time the manager was there and literally told us face-to-face, "Maybe you should explore other hotel options", in his arrogant tone.

Each experience above does not warrant a negative review, but put together it compounds the problem.

We reluctantly decided to stay for the rest of the business weekend and experienced numerous other issues with this hotel on a multitude of levels, however, I choose not to post each one in an effort to not seem like a nitpicker. However, this entire situation would've been lessened by kind words, a friendly demeanor, and a "customer first" philosophy by all hotel staff, but most importantly the front desk manager. It would be my suggestion that the front end manager be sent to customer service refresher training.

You have hundreds of choices when coming to the greater Chicago area...I would definitely suggest you explore those other options before ruining a day, a weekend, or maybe more here at the Westin Chicago...

Everything that could have gone wrong did. I have stayed in a lot of hotels but I have never experienced anything this bad. I am so disappointed in both the quality of my room and the lack of service at the Westin. There were no close parking spaces- making it very difficult to unload and reload. I requested that my room be feather-free but after 20 minutes in the room, I realized that it was NOT as I had an allergy attack. I saw a feather float across the room and went to the phone to dial guest services to change rooms. Near the phone, I saw a vent covered in black mold. I tried to get a hold of someone at the front desk or in guest services and the phone rang and rang and I hear many different automated messages as I was bounced around and could not reach a single person. My room was too cold and when I tried to turn up the AC nothing happened. I tried to turn on the heat instead and nothing happened either. The fridge wasn't cold at all and made loud, weird noises throughout the entirety of my stay as if it was haunted or something. My shower wasn't hot. Uncomfortable but exhausted, I gave up and fell asleep. Upon returning to the hotel Saturday night, I had to walk through crowds of people smoking in front of the doors. The pounding bass from the ballrooms happened to be right outside my 5th-floor window. I called guest services past midnight to complain about the noise. They told me they would finish in 30 minutes and they would ask them to turn it down. Not only did the music continue for over an hour, but it got LOUDER. When I checked in, we scheduled a housekeeping appointment for Sunday at 1 pm. Sunday at Noon, I called guest services to tell them all about my allergies in the room. They offered to replace all of the bedding AND vacuum my room to help me cope with the allergies. I returned to my room late Sunday looking forward to a more comfortable space but I found the room, the bedding, and the overflowing trash untouched. Housekeeping had not shown up at all. A nice man brought up new bedding for me as housekeeping was gone for the day. However, 2/3 sheets he brought were soaking wet. They were hot and pressed but very wet! Tired, in pain, eyes swollen, I was not happy to have to replace the bedding and make the bed myself. Still waiting to hear back from management...