Sleek and Stylish....It's a W!
by garridogal about Whiskey Blue and the W Lobby Bars
We had nightcaps at Whiskey Blue the both nights we stayed at the W City Center. It was pretty quiet on Friday nigh but it was a little more crowded on Saturday. As with all things associated with any W Hotel, it was sleek, dark and very Euro. Not the kind of place I'd like to spend an entire evening at but it was a fun people watching spot!
We also had cocktails in the Hotel Lobby and at a little bar that's off the Restaurant. W Staff is always friendly and helpful and yes, the drinks are probably overpriced but the atmosphere's great and hey, we were on vacation! Dressy is good.
Very cool hotel
by TripAdvisor Member Solochicky
Just came back from a 3-night stay at the W Hotel Lakeshore. What a classy place, but hip enough that I didn't feel out of place being 25 years old. The lobby has really neat chairs and quite a bar scene in the evenings. The room was nicely appointed, lots of pillows and a neat couch. They were very accomodating to changing all the linens from down to synthetic. We were able to go to our room immediately, even though it was only 10 am (of course it was a Thursday so this could have been an anomaly). My only beef was that the concierge service was a little too into themselves, they didn't seem all that interested in helping us find a place to eat for a special night. I don't expect a lot from staff, but I felt that were bothering the concierge (taking him away from his personal phone call). All in all, I would so recommend a stay there. Very nice hotel.
Rude employee!
by A TripAdvisor Member
for work, i travel quite often, especially to chicago. I like to try different hotels whenever I'm in chicago and i've stayed at the W-lakeshore before and thought that the employees were pretty rude but i really like the bed and the ambiance of the room. Therefore, when my friend came over from Germany we decided to meet up in Chicago and stayed at the W hotel for one night during the week since we both had to fly out to some other cities around chicago and 3 more nights on the weekend. I was trying to reach him at the hotel since he checked in first and the front desk personnel who answered the phone was REALLY RUDE and kept telling me there was no guest by my friend's last name and when I spelled out my last name since the reservation was also under mine and it was a long last name he just cut me in the middle and transferred me to reservation!!!!! The reservation lady didn't quite understand why I was being transferred there but she was able to locate our reservation. So I called the hotel back to be connected to the room and AGAIN, the same person kept telling me in a very rude way that there was no guest by that name until he realized that he did not hear the name correctly. Seriously, for a hotel of this caliber, it can afford to employ more courteous and polite employees! for that particular hotel employee, i really don't get what your problem is - if you don't like to work in hospitality, then QUIT! This is the second disappointment I've had in the past 3 days w/ Starwood hotels. The other one was with Westin - Century Plaza and Spa in LA. No wonder I don't have that many points in my SPG account but have millions in Marriott Rewards. Yes, I cancelled my second reservation for the weekend, shortly after that. There are plenty of other nice hotels in Chicago!
Dissapointed
by A TripAdvisor Member
I am a travel agent that lives about 30 miles outside of downtown Chicago and over the years I've had many opportunites to stay downtown at different hotels for various reasons. I chose this hotel because I'd heard many great things about the W properties from clients and friends, so I thought it would be perfect for 4 girls looking for a hip, trendy hotel for the night. My first impression upon entering the hotel was that it was very funky-fun and yet somehow tranquil in a minimalist sort of way. The staff and service I received upon check in, getting directions to a club and check-out were great and on par with how I expected to be treated at a hotel of this caliber. Where my disspointment comes from with this property is in the rooms themselves. The rooms are very small - there isn't much room to maneuver between the end of the beds and the counter that holds the tv, mini bar etc. The lighting is awful - in the bathroom and in the bedroom. Trying to put on makeup for the evening was a complete joke and we all left asking each other if we had too much on because we couldn't see what we were doing. The color scheme in the room doesn't make this any easier either, since everything is done up in dark browns, black cherry, black etc. The ceiling itself is even painted dark brown, which certainly doesn't help reflect light. The one positive thing that I can say about the room is that the beds are as wonderful as they say they are. Amazingily soft and luxurious - it would have been probably the best night of sleep in a hotel bed that I'd ever had except for the fact that there was only a bamboo woven mat shade covering the windows that did absolutely nothing in the way of blocking out any morning light. Needless to say after getting to bed at 5'am weren't happy about being woken up by bright sunshine at 830'am. I would not recommend this hotel to people with kids, anyone looking for a spacious and well-lit room, or for late night people unless you plan on bringing a sleep mask to block out the sunlight. For an overall more comfortable, pleasant stay in downtown Chicago I highly recommend the Hyatt Regency, Swissotel, Sheraton, Embassy Suites, or Hilton.
What a nightmare!
by TripAdvisor Member hirogreen
If you want to enjoy your visit to Chicago, then avoid this nightmare of a hotel. It is run more like a dormitory or frat house attached to a nightclub. There are long lines at night for GUESTS to use the elevators, and they're supervised by rude/thug-like bouncers. The couple in the room next to me were screaming at each other at 2:30 AM. The room across from my friends' had at least 6 people in it, and they started their rampage at 4:30 AM. People go up and down with their drinks all night from one bar to another. The management was marginally responsive/apologetic. We were so disgusted, we checked out after only one night, and went to the Fairmont, where we had much bigger rooms for much less $--it was a welcome and refreshing change! I would highly recommend the Fairmont.
Great Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member russellw2117
I love the W. To all the reviewers who say the bamboo blinds let too much sun in check behind them. There are sun shades that completly block out the sun. The hotel is clean and the beds are the best.
Forum Posts
4th of july baby
by dchi
Hello, my name is Dayana and I would like to celebrate my bday on july 3rd since my bday is the 4th. I would like to know if there are party specials at EXCALIBUR or the W hotel
Thanks
Dayana
RE: 4th of july baby
by midnight_mike
What do you mean by party specials? July 3rd is a Monday, so I don't expect too much nightclub/bar activity. There will be a huge fireworks show along the lakefront that night...
Sign in with Facebook
