Aire Rooftop Bar Chicago — Restaurant in Chicago

Doomed from confirmation to checkout. I accidentally booked the reservation for 4 people vs 6. After several phone calls and messages left that went no where, I emailed Aire and someone was able to help me update the reservation for 6, plus the additional charge per person. Luckily, I re-confirmed that the cost of reserving the table goes towards the cost of our final bill (this will be important later). When we arrived, the Hyatt hotel staff (no affiliation or so I am told) directed us to take the elevator to the 24th floor. There is no 24th floor, the elevator only goes to 23, and then you have to walk up stairs to the 24th. This wouldn't normally be a big deal, but I brought my 60+ year old parents and 80+ year old grandparents with me and would have picked another location had I known. Once we arrived at the top, you enter what looks like a service entrance. There is no clear host stand or anyone to direct you on where to go. After walking around the entire place, I asked a server and bar tender about my reservation. They told me reservations were no longer needed as they were only required for the first two weeks the rooftop is open and that I could sit with my party wherever I wanted. After asking them about my $150 deposit for the reservation, they re-confirmed that this would come off the final bill and that I would need to remind them to make sure it was deducted (glad I am being put to work for a reservation I made months in advance to remind the staff of the money already spent.) Within 30 minutes of sitting down, drinks in hand, the server asked to speak with me separate from my group. I was then taken to the service entrance area where I met the manager. The manager told me they did not have my reservation in their system. Not only did I have the original confirmation for 4 people, the email exchange to update the reservation to 6, and the automated Tock reminder sent the day prior to the reservation, but I kindly reminded the manager that his staff told me reservations were no longer needed anyway upon arrival, to which he said "oh, they are definitely needed." Way to throw your staff under the bus. Finally, they found the reservation alongside one other reservation for the evening and apologized, but I reminded them that this was not a pleasant experience and made this private conversation an awkward experience for my out of town family who came to visit for the 4th of July weekend. After returning to my seat, I noticed the manager having some tense words with another party that I suspect reserved the location we were in for their party of 12. Now their only two pre-paid reservations for the evening were unhappy to say the least. I finally thought the issues were over when I was asked to speak with the manager again privately by our server. Side note, why couldn't the manager fetch me himself? Don't make your staff do the dirty work when you are ultimately accountable. Back at the service entrance, the manager said "you were told by one of my staff that the $150 fee paid would go towards your final bill, correct?" which I confirmed. He then told me that this information was incorrect and the cost paid was only to hold the table. Now I have had it. Not only does the Tock reservation system confirm the amount paid goes towards the final bill, but I also had it in writing from the email exchange to update the reservation. After again showing proof, he said he "had" to honor it, as if he is doing me a favor. We asked for the check immediately to leave as we had been subjected to enough terrible management and service at this point. When I got the final bill, they charged me for an item we had not received yet so we asked them to take it off. Even this took two attempts to get corrected and a rude server inserting herself asking why we no longer wanted this item for no apparent reason, and none of her business, when all we want to do is leave and be done with this place. This was by far the WORST experience I have ever had anywhere. How embarrassing for them and me, trying to show my family...

First and foremost, I wanted to love this place. I truly did. When we arrived there wasn’t a host at the front and we also didn’t receive any sort of greeting when we walked in. A server finally did notice us and told us to order our drinks at the bar and have a seat wherever we wanted. Which I initially was fine with but then I seen he was taking orders for tables that had walked in after us but were 4 or more, so I am only assuming he thought because we were a table of two his tip wouldn’t be big therefore we had to order at the bar. We seen that a couch area was open and nobody was sitting at it, so I asked a staff member if it was okay that we sat there and she said yes. Once I walked away from the table to order my bottle from the bar like I was told to do, my partner was approached by Francisco the “manager” and was told we couldn’t sit there so we needed to move now because that’s reserved for party’s of 7 or more with a minimum amount to spend. Which I thought was insane because this isn’t bottle service at a club, it’s a rooftop with cocktails and small bites… I was at the bar when that conversation happened and he thought it was a great idea to now approach me after already telling my partner we couldn’t sit there. He came up to me VERY RUDELY and said “uh just so you know you can’t sit there, that’s for bigger groups, you can go find a seat somewhere else or maybe the bar, there’s a few seats there” I looked at him in utter shock because why are you approaching and talking to a customer like this, I then told him “that’s no problem and I’d find a different table and declined his offer for the bar seats” he then CONTINUED with the rudeness and said “WHAT DID YOU SAY? There’s no need for attitude or for you to be a dramatic woman”. I looked at him in UTTER SHOCK and told him I heard him the first time, I would be moving and he needed to calm down with the way he spoke to me. He stormed off and I ordered my bottle and sat at another table. The bartender who attended me was very apologetic as he knew Francisco was rude and in the wrong.

Now I don’t ever write reviews, this may just be my first but I couldn’t believe what happened. I should’ve taken my business elsewhere and not even dealt with this establishment and their horrible management but I was celebrating and it was getting late so we just wanted to drink our champagne and go. If this is something the owners and upper management condone at this place then you will be in for a rude awakening when more and more people realize this place is not welcoming and it’s staff is beyond disrespectful. I was trying to enjoy my night and Francisco nearly ruined it but the moment his what I can only assume were friends or people who previously worked there arrived, the nasty attitude wore off, they had a 12 pack of drinks clearly not from the restaurant and were even able to order food after my partner and I were told the kitchen was closed.

Again, I really wanted to love this place as rooftop season is almost over in the city and I was just extremely disappointed and underwhelmed by the management and service. Please do better, that is not someone I would want running my business when...

We were disappointed by the lack of customer service and felt uncomfortable in the cold area with no sunlight. We politely requested to be moved to a warmer spot with a better view but the server did not assist us. Instead we were left to find a new table on our own which was not what we expected from a restaurant. When we asked him to move he suggested that we could go over to another spot because the people sitting there appeared to be only taking a picture. However it turned out they were not just taking a picture but were actually in a meeting. This made us feel like we were being set up to walk over there and then get told that they were already sitting there. The situation was confusing and made us feel uncomfortable. Overall our experience was not pleasant due to these issues with seating and customer service. The experience at the restaurant was clearly discriminatory. My friends and I who are African Americans in our early twenties with locs felt singled out because of our race. The staff took a long time at least 20 minutes to come and take our order. When we finally ordered a pizza it took them 35 minutes to inform us that our order had been lost. This treatment made us feel unwelcome and unfairly targeted. The waiter attempted to improve the situation by offering us the pizza for free but I politely declined. Instead he removed one drink from the bill as a gesture of fairness. However what I truly desire is for their attitude to...