Although I'm fairly young (25), I have been a Chicago resident all my life, and am aware of the Intercontinental's history. I was looking for a bargain hotel rate to enjoy a romantic night with my girlfriend, and searched on hotwire.com. Although hotwire doesn't tell you the name of the hotel until you've purchased it, I ended up spending $69, and the Intercontinental came up. Very good price for a hotel room in downtown Chicago in general, very good price for a Friday night and a very good price for the Intercontinental, which goes from around $150ish-200 a night for basic rooms. Check-in time is at 3pm, but I decided to call and confirm my reservation earlier in the day. It took a little while on hold, but a nice woman eventually came on to tell me that my reservation was, in fact, booked. I came into the hotel at about 3pm exactly, and was helped by one of the desk staff, who, while not seemingly overly friendly, was nice enough. I did not encounter a long line while checking in, but later that night, I did notice longer lines gathering. The actual check-in process was fairly quick, but they didn't always have enough people, it seemed. It was as if maybe if they had one more, they could get the line down more effectively. I had no trouble getting a non-smoking room (I brought these room sprays, just in case, since I didn't know where they'd stick me, given what I'd paid). I had a bit of trouble with the key in the door, but a nice maid showed me how to open it (I was turning the handle down instead of up. Who knew?). The room itself was nice, if on the smallish side (I didn't expect the Presidental Suite for $69, I just wanted something fairly nice). Everything seemed clean and tidy when we arrived. The room has a small hallway when you walk in, with a closet (robes inside) and bathroom (very pretty, but small bathtub) to one side. The room itself had a large bed, TV (27in) in the cabinet and a couch against the window. There was also a minibar, but I wasn't about to go for that. There was also a little trick in a couple of places in the room - a couple of bottles of Evian were out and when I first got in the room, I quickly glanced at them and thought they were free. It was only when I looked again that I noticed the tag around them stating that they were $5.95 each, which seemed ridiculous when the Walgreens down the street or the White Hen around the corner had the same thing for $2.50. For $5.95, that'd better be some awfully good warm Evian. The TV had in-room movies for $10.95 each. Not awful, I guess (there's two movie theaters a block away, though) and a decent selection. The TV had a fair amount of channels, but nothing too noteworthy. The bed and couch were very comfortable. The decor in the room was really nice - liked the warm, dark colors. The hallways, however, had a wallpaper that seemed just a tad tacky for such an upscale hotel. The rest of the hotel is luxurious and elegant, but maybe sometime they should think about changing the wallpaper in the main wing (the historic wing has a more subtle look). Of course, I couldn't go to the Intercontinental without swimming in its famous Junior Olympic-sized pool. Architecturally stunning, the pool area must be seen to be believed. A historic feat (above ground pool) when it opened in 1929, the pool has a lot of history and it was really a cool thing - being from Chicago - to have taken a dip there. The only problem is that it seemed like it wasn't for casual swimmers - lap-swimmers were pretty much the main population there. People have to rinse off before going in the pool, and there are towels and lockers. You can take the robes from your room to wear out. After the pool, I took a sauna for a little while. It wasn't a steam room, but a dry heat sauna, w/heated rocks. Really nice, but had to get out after 10 minutes (just a bit too much heat for me). There was also a mid-sized exercise area, with treadmills and other equipment to use. Check-out was a little longer, as there were more people coming in-and-out (the hotel was booked solid for the night that were leaving), but everything went fine. Took a peek in the gift shop, which seemed overpriced a bit, but no surprise. We didn't eat in the restaurant, but there was a coupon on the bathroom window for a free bottle of wine with two entrees. There is also room service and they really seemed to be service-oriented in the book, noting that if there was something you wanted that wasn't on the menu, the culinary team would try to make it. There was also newspaper delivery to all rooms in the morning. My girlfriend and I had tried hotel bargain hunting once before and ended up in the Marriott Residence Inn, which is by Chicago's Water Tower on Walton. For $54 (on Priceline), we were in a Suite that offered a bigger room, a full kitchen and a larger bathroom. We also had a better view (at the Intercontinental, we pretty much looked at the building next door, although we could see the rooftop basketball courts at the Marriott across the street.) and the Marriott offered a large free breakfast. The front desk staff also seemed a bit more welcoming. Understandably, completely different hotels. Overall, we went to the Marriott on the first try and I wanted to take my GF to something more "upscale". While I'm glad we tried the Intercontinental (nice experience, overall), I guess I'm more practical and enjoyed the Residence Inn's offerings a tad more. For the size of the rooms in the main part of the Intercontinental (if my room was any indication, which I've read it is), I just can't see paying $150-200 a night. The location's great on Michigan Ave, but there's a lot of other choices that are more reasonable. If you're looking for upscale (the basic rooms aren't too big, but they really do act like they are there for you at any time. The location is also good, but there's certainly other hotels within a minute's walk), try the Intercontinental. It is set-up for business travel (business suites, fax, wireless internet and more) If you're just in town and not going to be in your room a lot, try one of the Marriotts or the Hyatt on Wacker, or maybe the Sheraton more towards Navy Pier. There's a lot of choices nearby. I'm really glad I stayed in the Intercontinental, being from Chicago and knowing its historical value. However, I think I'm going to try for someplace else on my next bargain trip. (review also posted at epinions.com)
