Cold Chicago, Warm Planes – To Chicago with AA and BA
Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Let’s Play “Stacking Discounts!” (The Introduction)
- We’re going where the air is free (NX210 to LHR), BA Galleries Lounge AA Flagship Lounge
- AA87 London Heathrow T3 to Chicago O’Hare T5
- Crowne Plaza O’Hare
- Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- One Time Exception – Millennium Park
- Back to O’Hare T3, American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- AA4253 Chicago O’Hare T3 to Toronto Pearson T3
- Toronto, Oh Toronto…
- The British Airways Galleries Lounge, Toronto
- BA098 Toronto Pearson T1 to London Heathrow T5
- Arrivals Lounge, Homeward Bound
- Warming up slowly…
With the luggage I had, plus the cold conditions – there was no way I was going to walk to the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. I therefore got a cab for the 5 minute ride to the Hyatt Regency O’Hare.
I was greeted and recognised at the door by the bellman and directed upstairs to check-in.
Now, a few days before I had been communicating with one of the front desk managers at the hotel after the last omnishambles I had at the hotel. I therefore contacted them over the room type and location of the room; with my fingers crossed the blocking would hold
That artwork…
At Check-in, my room type was confirmed, and all was good for once. I was also able to add a guest to the check-in list too (which would allow them to get a key from reception). With that, it was up to my room, where a familiar face delivered my bags too.
Beds and work area
Work area, TV.
Lounger.
Hey – that’s new – a White noise machine…
Still rather cold outside…
Bathroom amenities … and yes, there was a bath in the room.
After a while getting settled in and sorted where different bits needed to go, I headed downtown to complete some tasks.
I headed back to the hotel later to find my friend had checked in fine, and had made it to the room safely. It was then time to catch up with other friends and get ready for the weekend.
We did look at the main restaurant, but we decamped to the Red bar instead – mainly as we all wanted nibbly food rather than big meals. And this suited both our budgets as well as our appetites…
Fried Calamari
Wings and Calamari
Normally, my weekend is spent down here, catching up with people
The International Ball Room Area
As such, I get to know the conference staff that look after us very well – and they continue to do a sterling job, keeping people happy during the weekend.
However, back up at the room, whilst the room was made up daily and well, the lack of amenities restocking was… sparse to say the least (I counted once over the four days I was there). In the end, I had to ask another person who was making up a room for extra supplies.
I shouldn’t have to do that at this sort of hotel.
Internet remains an issue at this hotel – whilst in the lobby, it’s free. In the rooms, it’s chargeable (and as a non elite at Hyatt, I accept that). It’s at the international ballroom level where the Internet access is dire.
For once – this had consequences for me, as the MH370 incident broke on Friday evening (US time) – where I needed to be writing and bringing updates as opposed to being social. And with the stability of the network on the International Ballroom level, it wasn’t happening easily without a lot of extra faffing around with the wireless networking.
However, everything else seemed to be fine. The Hyatt Regency Bed is still one of my favourites when staying at their hotels, being reasonably firm for my tastes, with the in-room entertainment working well – and the balcony being accessible (allowing me to get a bit of cold fresh air occasionally).
Check out was handled reasonably quickly, with all charges matched appropriately.
Overall: A much bigger improvement with room and service overall, however – there are little things at the edges that need to be seen to ironed out. The requested room did help a lot (especially since I had a guest with me), with the bar service being reasonable.
As I’ve said before, it’s in the details… and sometimes these are overlooked (especially with the bathroom amenities being restocked, and the Internet issues). It was better than my previous visit to this hotel – but there is still a case of “can do better” here.
