Everything about this hotel is lovely without being obnoxiously so (well, ok, sending up a bellhop in an all white sailor suit with white gloves to deliver a grimy fedex package was farily silly but I'll overlook that). Had the most relaxing two day hotel stay and I'll def stay here aging if only for the assurance that a pair of fresh padded slippers, a plush robe, and the best bath towels I've ever encountered will be waiting for me. (Also really like that they have a push button system that declares your room off limits to housekeeping until you push another button that asks for them to make up the room.)

I stayed at The Peninsula for three nights in August. The room was on the 15th floor, somewhat near the elevator, but wonderfully quiet and luxurious. The staff were exceedingly polite, but forgot to retrieve the room service cart, sometimes for hours. Having to take two elevators to get to my room was a bit of a hassle as well. The room service food, and the food in the Lobby, was not worth the money- don't eat in the hotel, go elsewhere. Extremely expensive- but if it's no object and you want a gorgeous, quiet and comfortable room, then go for it.

This hotel is completely over-rated. The staff was mediocre, the rooms had an odd odor. I've stayed at much nicer, actual 5 star hotels. This was not one of them. Maybe it works for Chicago, but I'd rather stay at the Four Seasons, Ritz, or the Park Hyatt. Really, don't believe the hype.

Amid comments of, why are you going to Chicago in March?, I planned a short trip and booked a room at the Peninsula. My wife and I were accompanied by our two children . Our son is aged 5 and and our daughter is aged 18 months. We had never been to the Peninsula before, but its reputation convinced me to stay there. I arranged through the hotel to have a car to meet us at the airport upon our arrival. Inside the terminal a man was waiting for us holding a Peninsula Hotel sign. He greeted us and led us outside to the waiting car. Our car was a black Lincoln stretch limousine. My son loved the car and the driver whisked us away from the airport for a relaxing ride to the hotel. We pulled up to the hotel which is guarded by two very large oriental lion statues. We were greeted by a very friendly doorman named Timothy. He took my name and said our bags would be delivered to our room shortly. We proceeded inside the hotel and took the elevator to the lobby to check in. We were greeted warmly as we completed our check in. The Lobby Restaurant room was near the elevators and it is just as stunning in person as in all pictures I had seen of it. The friendly woman who checked us in led us to the elevator and took us to our room on the twelfth floor. We had booked a junior suite #1217 because we needed the space. The room was done in shades of yellow and gold. The truly great hotels always do the little things that set them apart and the Peninsula accomplished this brilliantly. On the cocktail table in front of the sofa in the living room was a paper model of a 1956 light blue Ford Thunderbird convertible. Inside the seating compartment was a linen napkin wrapped around two chocolate chip cookies. Next to the car was a martini glass filled with gummy bears. Next to the martini glass was a small teacup and saucer and a small silver spoon. Inside the teacup was orange gelatin. There was also a beautiful purple box of Vosges Haut-Chocolat exotic truffles on the desk. The room looked out onto N. Michigan Avenue and the large window made the view exceptional. The room was spacious and inviting. The next wonderful detail that the hotel accomplished still puts a smile on my face. In the closet were robes for us to wear while we relaxed. There were two adult robes and two robes for the children. The robes for the children had hoods and were sized so as to fit them each perfectly. We got some great photographs of the kids in those robes. The room was equipped with consoles by the bed that controlled all the environmental adjustments for the room. The bathroom was gorgeous and well-equipped. There was a television that could be viewed while bathing in the bathtub. The kids loved watching TV while taking their evening baths. Turn down service was completed every evening much to our satisfaction. We had lunch at the french bistro connected to the hotel. The food and service were both excellent. After our visit to the observation deck of the Sears Tower, we returned to the hotel and had dinner at the Lobby Restaurant. This restaurant is a gorgeous palatial space. The food was wonderful as was our server Don. I enjoyed a Peninsula Martini and my wife enjoyed her Blood Orange Martini. After dinner we retired to our room and I slept deeply on the very comfortable bed. The next morning, I watched the kids while my wife indulged in a swedish massage at the Spa. She said Donald did a great job. After that we all had breakfast in the the french bistro and headed out to see some of the culture of the city. We took the kids to the Science and Industry Museum, Millenium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago. The weather was cooperative with the temperature in the mid to upper 40's and mostly sunny. The Cloud Gate was fun to see in person. Upon our return to the hotel, my son and I enjoyed the pool and the hot tub before we went to dinner. What a scenic setting to swim laps. I loved it. I wanted to try Chicago style pizza on our last night so I phoned the Concierge and she recommended either Gino's East or Giordano's. Since we had the kids, we chose Giordano's because it was right across the street on North Rush Street. We ordered the stuffed pizza and it was incredibly good. I was raised on the thin crust pizza of New Haven, Connecticut but I got to tell you, the stuffed pizza here, while different ,was every bit as enjoyable as any pizza I have ever had. After dinner we retired to our room, bathed the kids and fell asleep. The next morning we had an early breakfast in the Lobby Restaurant. Again, the food and service were excellent. We returned to our room and collected our luggage and proceeded to check out. I used the express checkout method and we took the elevator to the ground level. Timothy the doorman saw us off and our limousine returned us to O'Hare for our trip home. What a fabulous stay at the Chicago Peninsula.