Great location, views and food: Hyatt Regency Chicago review

Last week, I went on a quick 3-night trip with two of my kids to Chicago. I booked a Regency Club room at Hyatt Regency Chicago for just 14,000 World of Hyatt points a night (off-peak rate). Overall, we had a great experience at the hotel and found it to be a tremendous value on points.

Location/Arrival/Lobby

After landing at O’Hare airport, we took the Blue Line L train to downtown. This was definitely the right call as opposed to taking an Uber, as we were beside the highway and going much faster than the cars that were in a continual traffic jam.

When we arrived at the Clark/Lake stop, we planned to take a short Uber ride the rest of the way to the hotel. However, we didn’t realize that there would be a Christmas parade that night that blocked off most roads in that area. So, we ended up walking the rest of the way. It wasn’t a bad walk since we packed light.

The lobby was festively decorated for Christmas and Hanukkah. There was no line at the front desk, and we got our room assignment on the 32nd floor quickly.

The Christmas parade actually went right in front of the hotel, and we watched it from the Regency Lounge. We walked just outside the lobby to see the fireworks at the end of the parade.

Hyatt Regency Chicago is actually comprised of 2 towers, the East tower and the West tower. There is a skywalk between the buildings on level 2.

From the hotel, we could easily walk to the Chicago River, Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue and several L stops.

Room #1

Our room for the first night was on the 32nd floor of the East building, which is connected to the lobby and the restaurants. It was a spacious room with two queen beds.

We had a glimpse of the Chicago river through our window.

The bathroom was large and had a tub/shower combo.

The beds were comfy, and we slept fine in this room.

Room #2

In the late afternoon on our second day in Chicago, I received a call from a manager at Hyatt. He told us that the hotel was starting a renovation on our floor and we would need to move to a new room in the West tower. We were still out touring the city and wouldn’t be back to the hotel until around 8 p.m., but he said that wasn’t a problem. So, when we got back, we packed our stuff and headed to our new room.

This room had already been renovated.

The carpet was replaced with a hard floor, and the room had the addition of a chaise lounge by the window.

The closet was open concept:

The bathtub was replaced with a larger shower:

I liked these reading lamps on the beds:

Our new room had a better view of the river, and we could see Lake Michigan:

Regency Club Lounge

When I booked our stay, I paid an extra 5000 points per night to get Regency Club lounge access. I’m happy to say that this was totally worth it! At check-in, the employee informed us that even though the lounge has a small breakfast offering, we could eat in the hotel restaurant for free because of our club room. Gratuity was included, too. We ended up having 3 breakfasts and 2 dinners at no charge, which really cut down on our out-of-pocket expenses for this trip.

On the night we arrived, we ate dinner in the lounge.

The lounge attendants were very friendly. The lounge even had a wall of board games to play.

Food was located in the middle, with seating on both sides.

In the evenings, the lounge had an assortment of cold vegetables, cheese and cold cuts, rolls, and two hot items (usually a soup and an appetizer).

There was also a dessert counter, fruit, and plenty of drink offerings including sodas, water, hot drinks and alcohol (for a price). We had no problem filling ourselves up for two dinners in the lounge.

We ate breakfast all 3 days in the hotel restaurant. On the weekend, it was set up as a buffet. It had almost everything you could think of–eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, donuts (from a local donut shop), pancakes, waffles, etc.

On the weekdays, the restaurant did not have the buffet. But, as Regency Lounge guests, we could order from the regular menu. Several entree options were combos that included pancakes, eggs and meat. Nobody left hungry!

Potential Downfalls of Hyatt Regency Chicago

Hyatt Regency Chicago is a very large hotel with over 2000 rooms. It frequently hosts large conventions and in fact, even during Thanksgiving week, there was a convention there. So, if you don’t like large, crowded hotels, this may not be for you.

In addition, this hotel does not have a swimming pool or hot tub. This wasn’t a dealbreaker for my family since we had a packed agenda. But, for some families, a vacation isn’t the same without a hotel swimming pool.

Note: I did not visit the fitness center or eat at the hotel’s Steak + Sushi restaurant.

Bottom Line

I would not hesitate to stay at Hyatt Regency Chicago again. The location is really hard to beat, and we got a lot of value from the Regency Club lounge. This hotel has the consistency of the Hyatt brand and is a solid choice for a trip to Chicago.