Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont
New Aircraft, Old Friends
Time for the first hotel stop this trip. How is the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites holding up after my last visit, and are there any changes of note?
In this Trip Report:
- Well, this year has been a pile of toilet so far
- Take the National Express, when your life is a mess, it will make you smile
- Heathrow Terminal 3 Lounges, featuring The Cathay Pacific and American Airlines Business Class Lounges
- AA087 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare – Main Cabin Extra
- Into the USA… and dealing with a Credit Card Fraud Call
- HOTEL: Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont
- Airplane Art Extra from the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont
- HOTEL Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Playing with the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Camera around Chicago
- Back to O’Hare Terminal 3
- American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow, World Traveller Plus
- Buses and Buses
- The way old friends do
Making my way into the Holiday Inn, I headed to the reception desk. The staff checked me in and welcomed me to the property.
Shot in the evening. Yes. We are back to “Hotels at Night” again. You’ve missed this, haven’t you?
I was checked in a couple of hours early and was offered a choice of welcome amenities. Yes, I went for points, because I can use them later on.
Reception.
Now was the big test – had my bank lifted the block on my credit card? I popped in my Curve card (which I use to front foreign transactions, with 0% up to £3,333 on CurveX). I popped in my pin and prayed – and the transaction went through.
You do NOT know how relieved I was.
With a room on the fifth floor, I headed to the lift bank and upwards.
Walk this way…
Ex-Open office space
Seating
Staybridge Suites service area
Choose your adventure!
This is the second time I’ve ended up at this Holiday Inn. The big reason I like this property is that it faces O’Hare Airport. This can be good when the aircraft are landing towards the west. Sadly, they were taking off to the east, so the views weren’t as good – but still passable.
Taken the day after – apart from the rain not being present, the visibility was a lot better.
Speaking of passable, let’s get to the bed, which is very passable. A nice, firm mattress with some bounce is welcome, and this bed delivered. Put it like this – if I can get 7 hours of solid sleep on a bed, it’s more than good enough.
Day
Night…
Art, they call it
The bathroom is a modern affair, with enough towels to lose one’s self in, whilst using the shower.
This being a Holiday Inn, they used Dove Amenities – with individual Dove soaps, and bulk-filled shampoo, bodtwash and conditioner.
As hotels seek to reduce costs, bulk products are one of the big ways they can do this, whilst reducing plastic waste.
Moving to the desk, there was a branded Kerug Machine, with two coffee pods, a decaffeinated coffee, a tea and a sleepy tea for those who want to be asleep.
Nice.
Iron. Yes. I miss these in Germany.
TV
There was also a chase lounge, too – good for some elegant slumming.
Me? I needed to be awake after my trip to the States, and the minimal sleep I had. Therefore, I slugged some water and a coffee down, as I had a small laundry list to do before I headed out to Micro Center.
After all, there are some things I needed to get ahead of the weekend. Thus, I hailed a Lyft down to the location.
Ah. A real computer store.
If I were a gamer, RGB would not be in my rig. I’m old. Give me a plain side panel with some ventilation any day of the week…
Kitty Chan was here too.
This wouldn’t fit in either my hold or carry-on, sadly.
I needed to pick up a few for the weekend.
… with a vengeance?
Purchases in hand, the sun was starting to set. At least I could see the John Hancock building in the distance.
I need to head over the road to get a few things from another big-box store.
Not pumpkins… crisps and other little bits.
With my tasks complete, I had two choices -either head downtown to get dinner or head back to the hotel and order in after not much sleep. I suspect we all know what I went for after a long day.
After getting myself reacquainted with the Chicago L, trying to understand Google Maps were sending me, and resetting my Ventra account, it was back on the buses and trains to get towards Rosemont. A rather simple run to Logan Square station on a bus, then an L service back towards the airport.
Logan Square.
I suppose I could have ridden the L all the way to O’Hare and caught a shuttle bus back to the hotel. However, tiredness was overtaking everything.
Since tiredness can lead to mistakes (and I’ve had plenty of those by this point of the trip), I chose to be safe, rather than sorry.
Rosemont Station
L Train rumbling past.
Dealing with the final part back to the hotel would be an Uber – mainly as walking the two miles back towards the AllState arena and the Holiday Inn wasn’t on the card at this point. The only thing that was on the card was getting comfy.
Approaching the hotel, the Portilos was still there, with a Popeyes over the road. Interesting options, I thought as I headed upstairs, getting comfortable.
Of course, by the time I had settled in, my body was taking its revenge on me no having much sleep. By 8 pm, I was dead to the world. With a solid 7 hours on the bed, I woke up and autopilot some team’s messages, before going straight back to sleep.
Microsoft Teams can do odd things to you.
After waking up properly in the morning, it was time to enjoy the shower and start feeling human again after a long while.
But at least the weather had cleaned up a little, so I could spend some morning watching aircraft take off from O’Hare. With the sun heading towards me, it was challenging, but fun. My kind of photography.
American Eagle MHI CRJ-700
United Airlines Airbus A321neo
FedEx Boeing 777F
We’ll have more in an Airplane Art Special a bit later on.
I took my time getting my crap together, working on a few bits – the usual Kevin things, as I had a busy afternoon downtown planned.
With the clock moving toward 11:30 in the morning far too fast (as it always seems to), I headed downstairs to check out.
With no further charges (and the holding deposit landing back a few days later), I was all set to go.
Overall
Another solid night at the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, with a clean and comfortable room, early check-in, working WiFi and some good views when the weather cleared up.
Whilst a little expensive (compared to the avid or other hotels), its location and access make it an easy choice for me when travelling in the O’Hare area.
Next:
Who says I can’t squeeze out an extra post? It’s time for an Aeroplane Art Special from the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites, Rosemont.
Hyatt Regency O’Hare – it’s been a lot of years… but my luck has to run out sometime…
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