We went to Chicago for an extended pre-Christmas trip and stayed at the Palmer House. The building is amazing. Beautifully decorated. You feel quite special walking in knowing that you're going to be staying there. We stayed on the executive level. Check-in was longer than I would have liked. Even though we are Hilton Honors members, the separate check-in for that was closed. It was nice having a separate express elevator that took us to the executive level. The room was amazing. We had a great view, the furniture and bed were very comfortable. We had a problem with the phone not working properly and that was quickly taken care of.
We were excited to go to the executive lounge to have a drink and have some hors-d'oeuvres. Well, the lounge was packed! There really was no place to sit, and our two drinks cost us $30! The experience wasn't as special or as exclusive as we thought it was going to be. The same was true with breakfast. It was always overcrowded to the point that we had to take our food back to the room.
Crowding was a problem in the main lobby as well. The second evening we thought we'd have a drink in the lobby before heading out. There was not a single place to sit. I can understand if the couches and chairs were being used by those who were using the bar, but many of the chairs and couches were being used by people taking naps! That was very off-putting.
The location of the hotel couldn't be better. It was a quick taxi ride from the train station and within walking distance to most of the major sites.
Overall, I loved the place, but something needs to be done in the way of crowd control.
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