I Wanted the Ritz-Carlton to be Better

My first stay in a Ritz-Carlton and I expected more but maybe my experience was the norm.

I booked this hotel as part of a surprise but having never stayed at a Ritz-Carlton in Chicago before I was excited about the opportunity. I found it quite strange that upon arriving through the revolving doors from my #UBER ride I had to take the elevator up to the 12th floor to get to the lobby. I found this strange because nothing much on the ground floor indicated that I was walking up to and into a 5-star #RitzCarlton hotel. This was a little disappointing and much less grand than I was hoping for.

Let's get started...

“up on the 12th floor and the doors open to a very open and luxuriant lobby”

Anyway, up on the 12th floor and the doors open to a very open and #luxuriant lobby. Finding the check-in desk was a tiny bit confusing since it was at the complete opposite end of the room to the elevators and there were directions to multiple other places, like the room elevators, the bar, gym, restaurant, etc. Either way, I’m not wholly bothered by any of this, it was just a bit fiddly from the entrance to check-in.

Check-in (6/10)

Once at the check-in area I waited for a brief moment while the person in front checked-out. A lovely lady, whose name I forget at this time (sorry) helped me out and turns out, after looking at my driving license address, that she was new to #Chicago and came from where I had departed that day. It was quieter so we chatted for a little while about old home and new home but eventually, we ended our conversation and she showed me to the room elevators, although I had already seen where these were en route to checking in. One thing I would say is that the communication from the staff was perhaps a little casual for a 5-star check-in, but I was fine with this.

Room (8/10)

Having arrived at about 4 pm I wanted to make the most of what was going to be a very comfortable room - an executive #suite. My reservation showed a Michigan Avenue view but as it turned out I walked into a big corner room with views of Michigan Avenue and the John Hancock Building.

I always do a quick walkthrough when I get to my room and everything was in place and well-appointed. I didn’t see any personalization on the tv which is sometimes quite nice to have but I wasn’t here to watch tv. I was overwhelmed by the views, there were 3 large windows; 1 in the sitting room and 2 in the (corner) bedroom. The seats in the sitting room were comfortable but the bed itself was the most #comfortable I’ve ever laid in, so I was excited about a good night's sleep. There was, however, a large flat screen tv atop a chest of drawers awkwardly positioned in the corner, somewhat overlapping one of the windows. The room itself was a little basic and outdated but nicely appointed and comfortable. The bathroom though, was top-notch, top-notch looking, at least.

Bathroom (7/10)

Everything was laid out nicely, I had 1 dressing gown since it was just me staying, multiple towels hanging in lots of convenient places and there was also a nice selection of bathroom supplies. The lighting in the bathroom was nice too, especially in the walk-in shower. The toilet was clean and operated well, it was a basic toilet though. I tried the shower out and the switch changing the flow of water to/from the tap/shower was fiddly and wouldn’t say out for the shower to work, so I jimmy-rigged a wedge to keep it out. This was frustrating because I’m no inspector gadget, I couldn’t quite fix it with what I had. Eventually, I kept pulling it out and held it out long enough that I could enjoy the very large shower head. Temperature control was easy and water flow was perfect. This shower was lovely to be in, it was big enough and high quality enough that I could just stand in it staring out the bedroom window through the open bathroom door. Don’t worry, I’m quite sure that no one could see in!

In-room dining (7/10)

I wanted to enjoy a nice morning #sunrise looking out to the huge lake next door, but it appears that I was quite turned around and couldn’t tell north from the east! Oh well, I still had my #breakfast ordered for 6:15 which eventually arrived at 6:20, so pretty darn close, well within the normal 15-minute window. Since I was up already, I managed to get to the door after he had rung the doorbell - a feature I loved about this room. Esteban took over the door holding duties and pulled in the cart with my breakfast. It smelled very good. He asked where I wanted to eat but (correctly) assumed that I would eat in the sitting room facing the John Hancock Building and a large part of the lake. The food was good albeit the bacon was a little overdone and crispy. I had the poached eggs with hollandaise, hash browns, and corn cakes which were all delicious along with a glass of iced water and a small carafe of coffee. I took my time as the sun was slowly rising to the east of me... I had figured where I was faced by this time. To be expected, it was expensive... $40+ all-in but it had to be done since I was without my wife and kids this time. Ordering food for 4 hungry mouths in the morning with in-room dining is never cheap, so we don’t usually do it.

Conclusion (28/40)

I was just here for the night, so I didn’t get to fully experience the hotel amenities; rooftop bar, gym, pool, massages, etc., so I can’t comment on them but I’m sure they were of a high standard. I did, however, manage to leave my credit card at the bar after signing off for the night having enjoyed a #Lagavulin 16-year scotch (Menu price $20, billed price $22, so there is a mismatch here which should be addressed by management). Needless to say, the staff were great and as I was checking out they asked if I had received my card back to which I replied, “no”. They called security and arranged for them to bring it up to me. After checking-out I sat in the comfy-looking chairs in the lobby thinking about what I was going to do next. After the security guy came up and handed over my card, after checking I was who I was suggesting I was, I walked over to the elevators and went down 12 floors to go out for the day. In the meantime, I had left my bag at check-in and was handed a ticket and told that upon my return the bag would be downstairs with the bellhop.

All in all, this was a very #pleasant stay and I’m betwixt between 3- or 4-star for this place but upon my experience with the staff and general quality of the furnishings and food, I am leaning towards 4-star. There were a few niggling details but these didn’t affect my stay. I would certainly come here again and I’m sure that my wife and kids would love to next time as well.