Family Stayed in the Spring Hill Suites over the Christmas Vacation

You are not going to have a bad time staying at the Spring Hill Suites especially if you get a great online rate. You will get a good hotel with good service etc with all the basics that you need. The key word is good not wow. In my experience you can get a newer or better updated hotel in Chicago in the same price range which will give you a little more bang for your buck.

Some examples.

The Spring Hill Suites has a TV with a VCR in every room. This would have been top of the line 7-10 years ago however you can now get flat screens and DVD players in the same price range in other hotels. We would have loved to watch a movie but had only brought along DVD’s not VHS.

The work out room does have a flat screen and decent equipment that is available 24-hours a day.

The towels are not as plush in other comparable hotels in the price range though on the other end we were able to get a late check out so it all evens out.

Other things to consider

There is an Outback Steak Restaurant in the main lobby which could be very convenient. If you love Chicago Pizza like my family does than I would suggest Giordano’s in Rosemont which is not to far away from the hotel.

The hotel is close to the airport which is fantastic though just remember that this hotel will have more noise at night because of this than others you can find.

The hotel does have some interesting vintage photos up on all the floors featuring the airline industry which is a nice touch and fun to look at.

Suggestion to the hotel:

Please clean your key boards, computers and other equipment in the business center. The keys had a lot of gunk on them and were very dirty.

Conclusion: While staying at the Spring Hill Suites was nice with so many other great options in Chicago I would probably give some other place a try on our next trip.

Stayed SpringHill for transit.
Bed was comfortable, room was claen, staffs were very kind enogh.
Subway station was within 5~10 min walking distance, so easy to get to downtown.
I was very pleased with this hotel and will return if I need a hotel near O'Hare.

I"ve stayed in several Springhill Suites and have always liked them. This one is no exception. However, the location is just plain odd. It is close to O'Hare Airport and the hotel offers a courtesy shuttle. However, the hotel is right on the Interstate 90, in a largely small commercial, residential area. There is nothing of note within walking distance.

I chose it based on price and proximity to the highway. However, in three trips downtown, it took over 25 minutes one way.

Breakfast was good with lots of choices and the staff was very helpful in every aspect.

The room was large and clean. The bathroom was clean, had good water pressure and there were plenty of towels and toiletries.

I find it hard to separate my overall impressions from my first impressions with this one. I arrived after 30 hours on planes and in airports ex Australia due to the typical delays in LA and at O'Hare.

Hotel Shuttle: (NOTE: You will need Door Two at the shuttle centre at O'Hare, and the shuttle comes at quarter to and quarter past the hour). Might have been nice if they put this info on their website or told you when you booked an international reservation. I had to make a phone call to find out where to meet the shuttle and when it would arrive. It takes about 10 minutes to reach the hotel. Driver was courteous enough.

Arrival: Arrived at 11pm only to find that there was no food available unless I rung one of their two outside providers. Over the week I stayed there I used both of these providers several times and they're terrific, assuming that the only thing you want is pizza, salad or sub sandwiches. But the service is great. Just found it really upsetting to arrive starving and be told by a surly woman that 'they ain't nuttin' unless you call dese guys and y'all better do it quick 'fore dey close too". Cheers. Wish she'd told me that there was a grocery store less than a mile away, but that would have been too much like service.

Room: Bed extremely comfortable and shower nice and powerful. Didn't hear anything from next door. Appreciated that there was a nicely appointed L-shaped desk with free cabled broadband internet that worked reasonably quickly. Nice to have a microwave so that I could buy food from the grocery store about 700 metres down the road for the nights I knew I would be late back. Overall I quite liked the room, but would have appreciated some real cutlery and plates instead of plastic forks and paper plates.

Nice having your bed a bit separated from your working area, although a little odd having your bathroom sink outside the bathroom in your bed area. Didn't bother me overall, but struck me as strange when I arrived. Comfy armchair for watching TV (not that I had time to) and a generally nice room.

Food: The Outback Steakhouse is the lobby restaurant. It's abysmal if you're Australian (will someone tell them that the Ab-Original hamburger is really an un-PC food item, and that kookaburra wings - which are actually chicken, obviously - would put any real Aussie off his or her dinner! Kookaburras are gorgeous birds that are stuffed as toys, not stuffed as meals...). But if you're not Australian, or if you're in for a kitchy experience it's fine and the food is hearty and reasonably priced.

Whatever you do, don't expect much from the hotel breakfast. Americans can generally be counted on for great breakfasts, but not here! Cold poached eggs and a few manky add ons. They theoretically provided the makings of a bacon and egg muffin but everything was so cold that the cheese didn't even start to melt....kind of turned my stomach. But aside from yoghurt and a few old bananas there wasn't much choice. There were make-your-own waffles if you wanted a sugar high followed by a coma half way through the morning, but breakfast it ain't.

Taxi Service - we had to get to a lot of business meetings from here and found that often our taxis didn't arrive. You really need to keep on the front desk staff or you'll die waiting even after they've phoned the first time. Leave yourself plenty of time or rent a car yourself.

I'd stay here again if I had to do business in Chicago and didn't want to be in a massive Marriott or Sofitel (which I find trying after a week) but I'd do all my grocery shopping at the supermarket so that I could look after my own breakfasts and late night meals. Oh, and I'd bring some real cutlery or at least poach some from the hotel 'restaurant' in the morning after I arrived.

Overall it's decent value for a business traveller who wants to stay near the airport.