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Hilton Chicago A Great Experience Hilton Chicago

One of the cleanest and most accessible cities Chicago Having lived in Chicago all my life and traveled to many different places C...

Right in the Middle of Paradise. HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE The Hilton Hawaiian Village is such a beautiful place. It has great loc...

I wanted to take the girlfriend to Chicago for her birthday and spend a few days hitting the sights and of course shopping. If you are at all interested in going to Museum Alley (Shedd Aquarium, Adlor Planetarium, Field Museum and Soldier Field) I would highly recommend the Hilton. It is one of the closest hotels in proximity so Museum Alley is within walking distance which is great. It is right across the street from Grant Park on Michigan Street. The walk to most of the shopping further north on Michigan is doable but make sure you have good shoes because it is a little bit of a walk.

Right away you will see the quality when you walk in the lobby of the Hilton. It has been recently renovated and it looks absolutely gorgeous. We stayed on a Saturday night and the rate was reasonable. We arrived around 9:00 am even though check-in was not until 3 or 4. We had no issue checking in at the front desk. The woman checking us in took my cell phone number and told me they would try to get the room done early and call when it was ready. Not only was the room ready by noon but the same woman who took my cell phone number took time out of her day to personally call me to tell me the room was ready. Overall the attitude and demeanor of the staff at the front desk was second to none.

Since we arrived early we checked our bags at the front so we could go shopping. A word of advice, if you don’t need your laptop, don’t bring it. You have to check it in at a completely different location from where you check your bags and there is a fee to do so. It was only $2/bag but it is all the way on the other side of the hotel. As a side note, once you check out you can leave your bags there and get them later if you still want to spend some time seeing the sights but it will cost you. It is a straight $2/bag for anything and you must claim your bags before 7:00pm. All told I spent an extra $10 just checking our bags so factor that in if you need to leave bags. Also, Wireless internet is available for a fee, it’s a little steep so hope you don’t need to get any work done because it will cost you.

The room itself was small and we were one of the lucky ones to get a great view of the back street. Call a couple days ahead if you would rather have a lake view, then you have a 50/50 shot to get it I am told. What the room lacked in size it made up for in comfort. The bed was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in so it was worth it. Besides, we didn’t go there to spend time in the room and were barely there besides to sleep.

The Hilton does have 3 restaurants on premise but we only ate at one of them, The Pavilion. We ate breakfast there and it was the only really negative thing about the trip. It is not something I would recommend. For starters it was a staggering $22/person for a breakfast buffet. Once I cleaned my pants from the initial shock I figured I better make sure I eat as much a possible and maybe skip lunch. I went to fill my first plate and never went back for another. It was probably one of the worst buffets I have ever eaten at and a massive disappointment for the price. The meat was all cold, the eggs were runny and overall the food was not very flavorful. I have heard from others that they do a good dinner but I can only comment on my breakfast experience. I would steer clear of the Pavilion for breakfast.

We actually live close enough to where we could take the train into town and avoid driving. This is great since you will probably not drive once you get there if you are only spending a day or two. I have done it both ways driving and taking the train and it is much more cost effective if you have an alternate transportation option. The hotel says they have parking for guests but rub a lamp if you think there will be any spots on the weekend. If you do get lucky enough to get one you should hold onto it until you are ready to leave. I believe the valet parking they offer at the hotel is around $25-$30. Regular pay lots in the area will be around $20, so if you drive factor that in because you will most likely have to pay for parking.

Checkout was exceptionally smooth and only took a minute. Overall it was a great experience and we will be back again. Can’t beat the price for the location and overall quality of the hotel.

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