IL Chicago Raffaello Hotel NMA

[flyingcupcake]

My boyfriend and I just returned from two nights at the Raffaello Hotel in Chicago. We won the 4* hotel on Priceline for $140 on a busy weekend. Location was excellent -- it was directly across from the Hancock building.

This is definitely a small, boutique hotel. Lobby is small but really clean and nicely decorated. Check-in was fast, and they gave us a room on the 16th floor with a view of the Hancock building. The room had a king bed, table and two chairs, desk, flat screen sony tv and a closet. Bed was comfortable with nice linens, duvet, and foam pillows. I love foam pillows, but not everyone does. There was also a vanity area and a wet bar with mini fridge and a microwave, plus two wine glasses and corkscrew. Keurig coffeemaker -- we called down for extra coffee one morning when my dad was visiting and they brought it up promptly. Bathroom was lovely -- the rain showerhead was huge and amazing. If you don't like rainshowerheads, there's an option to switch to a handheld shower. THe shower is walk-in, so water gets out a little bit but it didn't bother us. The toiletries were Guy/Girl brand, and they were just OK. Towels were nice and fluffy.

Folks complained on tripadvisor about lack of counter space but I used the vanity right outside the bathroom for hair and makeup. Room had everything you needed -- robe, hair dryer, toiletries, tissues, shoe shine machine, wine glasses, coffee, etc. And anything that we needed was brought up promptly -- we forgot our razors and toothpaste, and they brought that up immediately. Free USA Today at our door daily, and free Wall Street Journal in the lobby. The smallest room on the floor was next door to us, and we peeked in when a maid was doing clean-up. It seemed like a decent size. Our room was the second smallest on the floor and we thought it was pretty spacious.

There was lemon water in the lobby in the mornings, and a coffee shop in the mornings with coffee and donuts you can buy. Concierge was friendly and knowledgeable. Bellman lent us a nice big umbrella, and also checked our bags for us on our last day. THere's a roof deck on the 18th floor that you can visit, and Drumbar is open at night. We went on a weeknight to Drumbar and it was pretty empty. The elevators were small and slow, but we were fine with it. The fitness center was very clean and had fresh fruit and water available, and a set of headphones. No one at the Raffaello was ever overly friendly though service was always prompt. It's definitely a nice, small, well-priced full service boutique hotel in a great location. We'd be happy to stay again.