My boyfriend and I stayed here on 2/15...valentine's weekend, hoping to have a nice, romantic night in the city (we live in the suburbs). We had high expectations, having known many people who had stayed there before, as well as the hotel's fine reputation, but we were severely disappointed.
First, there was the room. We booked a room with a king. They confirmed this at check-in, yet put us in a room with two doubles. We called them to correct the mistake, and they were not all that nice. They sent someone up twenty minutes later (we were tired, had dinner reservations, and were looking to relax right away). He gave us new keys to another room, again, without so much as a lame apology. We go to the next room, which was far less nice than the previous one. It had older carpet, a so/so view of the city, and old, peeling plastic on the desk tops. Again, not what I expected for the Fairmont.
Then, there was the pool. We love swimming when we stay at hotels, and so I asked them specifically about the pool when we booked the room. They said we could use the one next door at the health club. After dinner, we walk the ten minutes (indoors) between the hotel and the health club, only to learn it was an addition $25 to use the pool, something they certainly hadn't told us. At this point, we complained. They acted interested, but weren't too quick to actually help out. An hour later, they called saying they could comp us the price of the health club. This was 20 min before the pool closed, so we politely refused. They then offered to send a free breakfast, which come 11:30 the next morning, never came. Finally, at checkout we mentioned the mishap. They did give a free lunch at the hotel restaurant (Aria), which was delicious. But quite honestly we really would have preferred that we get treated a bit nicer throughout the whole experience, and correct the actual problem.
If this were a lower class hotel, I would have been fine with the stay... I don't expect too much from ordinary places. But from the Fairmont in Chicago, I expected to be treated really well. That wasn't the case. They're also undergoing renovations, so there was drlling at 8 am, and of course, we got an old room in need of updating. I guess it's hit or miss right now there. I won't stay there again. Next time we plan a special weekend downtown, we will certainly find another hotel that will give us the special experience we expected.
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