TRIP REPORT: Taking the Longer Way Home – Into the USA and the Candlewood Suites O’Hare

Into the USA and The Candlewood Suites, Schiller Park.
Taking the Longer Way Home

In this trip

• So. Keeping it original for autumn, aren’t we?
• Off to Heathrow in the Dead of the Night
• Terminal 3 Lounges… And more delays
• American Airlines AA99 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin)
• In the USA, Candlewood Suites O’Hare
• TRAVEL PLUS: Fooding around Chicago
• Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Airplane Art Extra – from the 10th Floor of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• TRAVEL PLUS: The Art Institute, Chicago
• Back to O’Hare, Air France/KLM Lounge
• Finnair AY010 Chicago O’Hare to Helsinki Vantaa
• A Helsinki Layover
• Finnair AY1335 Helsinki Vantaa to London Heathrow
• Coaching Homewards
• Sometimes, it’s more the journey

Into the USA

With the plane on the ground late – I headed past the waiting Oneworld connection people who were starting to get inundated with transferring passengers. For me – I headed straight to the US Border.

I completed the APC border check and was directed to an agent. There were a few questions about why I was visiting the USA, and with that satisfactory explanation, a healthy stamp of my passport was made.

With that formality completed, I proceeded onto the luggage claim, wherein the time that I had been through the long way round of immigration, my baggage had just arrived on the belt.

Perfect timing.

With my baggage in hand, it was time to clear customs. A glance of the paperwork and I had completed the gauntlet for entering the USA.

To the exit

With that done, I took a few minutes to assemble myself for the next step of the trip – how to get to the Candlewood Suites.

Hello from the other side. 

In the end – it was easy – get an Uber.

I could faff around with shuttle or some Chicago taxi person who is scared to go beyond the city limits (without a 1.5x danger fee). At that price and the time limits I’m on – it’s easier to deal with a rideshare and be done with it.

Thankfully, using Uber is just as easy using at home – and soon enough, I was heading down the Manheim Road to the Candlewood Suites.

Candlewood Suites, Schiller Park

Exterior: Daytime

Exterior: Nighttime 

Most of you will be wondering… huh? Why the Candlewood Suites? It’s convention season in Chicago. That means prices are through the roof for even a basic room – let alone any sort of “nice” hotel room (getting this room for £85 a night was “good going” in my opinion).

I dragged my bags into a very homely reception and found my name on a screen as a platinum member.

Okie Dokie.

Heading into the main reception I was greeted and checked in. I was advised where the pantry was in case I needed to stock up on anything, and where to go for the room.

Reception area.

With that, I was clear to go.

I headed to the slowest lift in the world – which took me to the 6th floor – and my room not so far away from the lift.

Oh.

To the room

So, let’s see what we have here.

This room could be best described as a studio rather than a suite – but that’s no bad thing in itself.

As you enter, there’s a full kitchen on the right – with all the mod-cons like a microwave, hob and so on – along with decaf coffee and popcorn for some reason.

Moving on, we have a desk, which whilst spacious in theory has a critical problem – no power sockets at the desk.

That’s a little annoying for when you want to work sat down as opposed to lying in bed (and let’s just say my laptop precludes working without power for long these days – especially when Adobe LightRoom decides to consume every CPU cycle it can find – the battery charge vanishes faster than you can say “That’s £200 for a new battery please”).

Moving on, there is also a lazy-e-boy style recliner and a Queen bed. The bed itself is a little soft for my liking – but more than passable if you’ve been travelling, and an hour sprawled out on a flat surface can’t come soon enough.

Bed (Laptop not included)

Lazy-e-Boy)

Don’t lie. You’ve done it too.

Moving onto the bathroom, there was an individual soap and body lotion – however, most of the amenities were bulked packed – and looked rather clean at least.

The bathroom has a nice sized tub in it too – which is always welcome to see.

Sadly, the views were nothing to write home about.

The hotel has one disadvantage – its location. Whilst Schiller Park isn’t an awful location, it is a little far outside the hub of Rosemont – along with the connectivity back to the airport.  Whist there’s adequate parking if you’re driving – if you’re not, you’ll be reliant on Uber, Lyft or other taxi services to get you from A to B.

Thankfully, connectivity to the city is easy – either take a rideshare to Rosemont station, then train – or an Uber to where you need to go. I did the latter – as I had a few things I needed to tick off along the way whilst I was at this hotel – but was running late when I left it.

Check out was simple – I was handed by invoice and sent on my way.

Overall: I haven’t explored the extended-stay brands too much in the USA – mainly as I’m staying a night or two, and that’s it. But the hotel – whilst basic compared to others provided a great experience at a low cost (compared to most in the O’Hare Region).

I’d consider staying there again without a second thought.

Next: Fooding in Chicago

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