Hotwire Hotel: 4* Chicago (The Loop) W City Center

[revchris]

Did a last minute booking on Saturday for a hotel room.

4* W Chicago City Center

Amenities: Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet

$129 + $24.40 (tax/fees) = $153.40

Not band considering the cheapest room through their site was $249.

Though I now have a strange charge for $145 on my credit card from the hotel itself for the remainder of the charge, I talked to the front desk and she said it was fixed...we'll see.

[AaronJB]

Be prepared for a small room, as this was originally an older hotel (the Midland) and many of the rooms are on the small side (I'm guessing 250 square feet). However, I thought the hotel was very nice, and the bed was terrific, with a very nice staff who always went out of their way to greet me. The bath products are also excellent.

Ask for a room facing South, if you can (along Adams). Not a spectacular view (there aren't any view rooms in the hotel really), but you may be able (depending where you are) see a partial Sears Tower view. Rooms alongside the West side of the building may get some noise from the "L". Many rooms face in towards a courtyard.

Room service was a little pricey (although not as bad as the Sheraton in Chicago), but food was of excellent quality and looked professionally prepared, not like fast food. The lobby turns into a nightclub/bar in the evening, which is pretty wild to see.

[revchris]

It has been a week since our stay, and the double charge is still on my credit card. Everytime I call the W hotel I am transferred to the accounting department, who do not pick up their phones, so I'm sent to voice mail. I've left three voice mails and no one has called back or taken care of the problem.

I called again and explained what happened and the operator told me that the only people I can speak to about this problem is the accounting department.

I'm not entirely sure what to do at this point.

[thereuare]

Just contact your credit card company and dispute the charge... let them take care of it and i assure that the accounting department will return their phone calls!

I don't sugggest the above as a first step as situations such as this can usually be handled with a quick phone call to the hotel, but if you have a property that isn't being reasonable, let your credit card company know and let them sort it out.

[revchris]

Called again on Monday morning, got a person on the phone who once again said "don't worry about it, I'll take care of it"....the charge was still on my account Tuesday night (I'm not demanding, but that's 10 days later and $145 isn't exactly chump change...crediting an account is an immediate transaction, like a charge), so I disputed the charge and lo and behold what just posted, an "account adjustment" (not a "credit" which leads me to believe my dispute is what got the money back).

Though I did like the hotel, this definitely discourages me from booking there again as this wasn't one person's mess up, it was also two people not returning voice mails, two people saying "I'll take care of it" and then not, and a not to helpful operator.