TRIP REPORT: Into the USA and the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont

Into the USA and the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont
There and Back Again

Gosh. It’s a little early in the morning to be in Chicago. Time to see how fast I can clear the formalities to enter the USA. It’s also time to try a “new to me” hotel… with airport views…

In this adventure

• Let’s have a Melancholy Introduction
• To the 2:40 Coach and Heathrow Terminal 3
• Lounging in Terminal 3 with Cathay Pacific and American Airlines
• AA99 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin)
• Into the USA and The Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont 
• Airplane Art Extra from the Holiday Inn Rosemont
• Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• An Unveiled Bean
• Did I mention I hate suitcases?
• Exploring The Loop from Above.
• Random Food Adventures
• Off to O’Hare Terminal 3. Wait. T3? With the American Airlines Flagship Lounge
• BA296 Chicago O’hare to London Heathrow (World Traveller)
• Coffee and the Coach
• One step forward

With it just before 10 am in the morning when the aircraft had landed at O’Hare, I had honestly thought that I would be a lot later into Chicago than I thought I would have been.

Nonetheless, I wasn’t prepared to spend hours in immigration to test my theories.

Exiting the Boeing 787-9, I followed the signs for US Arrivals and Immigration – stopping off on the way for a short comfort break.  Whilst my seatmates might have gone a few times for comfort – I didn’t… mainly as I was enjoying the short moments when there wasn’t an elbow in my side.

Terminal 5 arrivals have had a bit of a glow-up in recent times, but lane markers aren’t the easiest thing to follow (least of all, changing lanes is not fun halfway through walking down the lanes).

Eventually, I made it to the US Border, where the staff were trying and failing to manage the queues for border agents. Shouting numbers is wonderful, except when a US Border agent goes off on break.

I was seen quickly and was questioned about my intentions, why I was there, who I was seeing and if I was bringing any banned produce into the USA. With the agent satisfied I wasn’t going to poison the minds of innocent Americans, I was let through.

The baggage from AA99 had been going around for a while when I managed to clean the immigration agent, but there was still a short wait for my two bags to pop out.

Eventually, they came, with both bags arriving in quick succession.

I pulled the suitcase out… and saw an issue. The handle had started to crack from the metal arm of the pull point of the suitcase.

Sigh. I was not interested at this point.

With both bags on the trolly, I wheeled myself around to US Customs and was let on my way.

US Customs queue

To the exit! 

From the door of the aircraft to sitting down in a terminal it took 32 minutes. I’m not arguing with that time at all – if anything, arriving in the quiet hours at O’Hare T5 is a very quick travel experience.  I find it’s only terrible during peak time arrivals – then it’s a pain up the backside, and the legendary two-hour queues happen.

Now, it was… 10:35 at this point of the morning. I was way ahead of schedule and far too ahead to check in at a hotel.

I took the opportunity to commission the eSIM that I got via Airalo and catch up with more than a few things and people.

By the time I next looked at the clock, it was nearly 11:30. That would be good enough to hopefully check in the hotel – or at worst, dump the bags and get on with the rest of the day.

However, it also meant it was time to deal with the Chicago Taxi Drivers’ affiliations for the only time on this trip.

This taxi driver… well, cemented my opinions about them in this city.  Drove like a nutter, grumbled about the short-hop fare and also, the seat belt buckle was nowhere to be found. Also, they didn’t carry any change when it came to pay.

And people wonder why I stick with Uber or Lyft when I travel in the USA.

Unfortunately, thanks to the Chicago Airports Authority, all rideshare departures have moved to the departures level of Terminal 2 – screwing over both domestic and international passengers. This is ok if you have small suitcases or low amounts of luggage. Those with larger amounts of luggage or need to use a trolley are stuck, as the Airport’s Transit System isn’t designed to take trolleys.

Wonderful.

After being dropped off by the Taxi Driver, it was time to try a “new to me” property – The Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites, Rosemont.

Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont

Price paid – $151.71/£121.01, Advance Purchase Rate

In terms of location, the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites is on Manheim Road, theoretically within walking distance of the All-State Arena and the Target over there. At least it’s on the same side of the road, as crossing a 10-lane stroad to get to the McDonald’s opposite looked like an impossible challenge.

It’s slightly north of the O’Hare airfield – so if you can get a room that faces the airport, it could be a good place to split aircraft in comfort and quiet.

Arriving at the hotel, it’s an interesting concept – as they have merged their Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn products into one roof – with a single check-in point.

I was welcomed to the hotel and politely asked if I was too early to check in. A few taps on a keyboard and the receptionist was happy to invite me to complete the formalities before midday.

It’s appreciated.

With my passport run and then confirming the reservation – I noted the payment for it came out of a Debit card, rather than my Curve Card I tend to use for a lot of my travel spending. Well, it’s going to come out of somewhere. That it came out of my Debit Card listed under “Dicey Sites” means I stored the wrong credit card information in Microsoft Edge.

Bing, fries are done.

I’m glad I upfront loaded the Monzo account beforehand, rather than have the card declined during check-in. Oh well. At least it was a “Prepaid” rate.

I was assigned a room on the fifth floor, with promised “Airport views” – this was a £10 uplift on the normal rate. Providing it delivered, that £10 could be a good investment.

I’ll let you judge in a bit.

I was also offered points as a welcome amenity. I’m one to never say no to amenity points, so I’ll take them.

With the formalities completed, keycards were issued, and I headed up to the 5th floor.

The main reception space on the ground floor is large, with a cafe, restaurant and lots of seating – as well as flight information screens and a gym.

Coworking spaces/reception spaces

Onsite pantry 

Restaurant 

Flight information screen. Restaurant in the background

Cafe 

Gym 

Ah. That’s what you call a storage place of luggage carts – a coral. 

Going up, it’s easy to guess which side is which of the hotel.

Thankfully, my room was near the lift bank – but not next to them.

 

Choose your room adventure. 

Elevator art 

Down the corridor. 

 

Interesting – no ice machine… just bags of ice. I wonder if it’s economically cheaper to do that than to install an ice machine. 

Excellent. With this suitcase, I would need these smaller walks between rooms.

Parked up. 

Going into the room, it’s very modern, clean and spacious.  This I like.

There’s plenty of room for baggage to be packed and unpacked, which takes us to the king bed in the room. And it’s large. It’s also firm too – which is always a winner in my book. To the side, there were power outlets, with USB-A outlets.

In front of me was a desk and TV, with a Keurig machine that would do double-duty as a tea and coffee machine.

Wall mounted TV 

Keruig Machine – a pretty automated machine. 

To the side, there was an L-shaped sofa to be comfy on and elegantly slum.

And as for the view – well, we’re north of the O’Hare field – so I get a reasonable view – even if I’m on the 5th floor. Even if the windows were more than a little rain-stained.

Day

Night 

Very early in the morning

Sunrise 

As for the views, I was able to get some good views of the cargo ramp.

It is a good place to watch the parade or arrivals – both domestic and international – subject to the joy of the winds of course.

I think there’s going to be a photo extra thing in this shortly.

In terms of the bathroom, it’s… sigh. A modern hotel – so there’s no bathtub – is a shower. It’s life I suppose.

At least it’s a reasonable size, compared to some hotel rooms.

The amenities were all Dove branded, with a mini Dove bar at the sink, and the rest bulk-packed. Pretty standard for most hotels these days.

To the side, there was space for luggage storage, as well as an iron and ironing board. Yes, German Hotels, I’m going to harp on about this until I start seeing this.

The Wi-Fi was reasonable enough – with 30 MB download speeds or so to keep me connected. With an IHG profile, Single-Sign-On is a thing, meaning you don’t have to fill forms in multiple times when you visit a different IHG hotel.

With a quick shower after a flight, my mind was in the mood to get things done.  And things were done. Sadly, to get to and from the hotel, I needed to rely on Lyft/Uber. Whilst the hotel runs a shuttle service to the airport, they don’t run a service out to the CTA station – although looking back, I might have been able to make the O’Hare Multi-Modal facility.

And whilst it’s just over a 2-mile walk (which I don’t have a problem with) – the amount of Stroads to cross can be downright scary.

Getting back later in the evening, the hotel seemed busy, with the restaurant doing good trade.

As for me – the past few days had caught up with me – and I needed sleep. Heading back into the room, I tried to put on some cartoons to help me fall asleep too – sadly, I had more than a few issues trying to get a signal.

Good thing I can queue up some YouTube videos. “Let play” can do the same thing. (Let’s Play TIE Fighter is a good one)

Waking up in the morning, I was well rested, but I had a bunch of things I needed to do before I left the hotel – so for me, it was laptop out and the joy of sorting queries, tickets, putting out fires and so on, as well as some image management too.

The joy of never escaping IT – even when on holiday. This led me through to check-out time without me realising that time was upon me.

It was time to pack up the trash and head on out – and ponder how many swear words I would have for the bag.

Checking with the reception, everything was settled and I was allowed to go on my way. But not before I saw this in reception…

Overall

The Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites seems an odd combo – and it still does to me, as I was expecting more physical separation than there was. But in this case, it allows IHG to streamline costs down to one set of check-in staff, one set of cleaners and so on, whilst offering two experiences in the same building.

That being said, the room was bright, and modern with comfortable furnishes and decent enough internet connectivity – enough for me to relax and recuperate after a long haul flight and minimal sleep the few nights before and work in the morning closing tickets.

The only fly in the ointment was the TV not picking up a signal – but that seems to be more of an implementation error – but with reasonable enough connectivity, I was fine

As for the views – more than passable. Let’s explore those a little bit more in the first part of Airplane Art Extra

Next:

Time for round 1 of Airplane Art Extra. 

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