Hyatt Regency Chicago

The Hyatt Regency is definitely several cuts above the Best Western and along with that comes higher costs as can be expected. The room I had was in the West Tower and after checking in at the main lobby in the East Tower it was a tad confusing trying to find the right elevator. For some reason even though I gave my Gold Passport number when I reserved the room it wasn't on my bill when I checked out so now I will have to apply for credit.

One of the surprises I received were the package handling charges for the boxes I had shipped for my trip. I was charged $61 for 3 boxes and it cost me about half of that to ship them so I was being royally overcharged. A nice profit center for the hotel for sure.

Hyatt has made a big deal of announcing their wireless deal with T-mobile, but I was disappointed to discover that this property wasn't part of the agreement even though other Hyatts in Chicago were. Rather than spend $10 a day I piggybacked on the wireless network in the ballroom where the exhibit booths were and found another open network just outside the ballroom after show hours. The signal was a little weak, but it worked.

The sleeping room itself was beautifully appointed and was well maintained during my brief stay. For $165 a night I would have expected top notch service.

Rather than pay another handling fee to the hotel I opted for a $5 cab ride to the nearest UPS Store (E. Ohio St.) to get my boxes shipped back to my office.

Since I am a notorius tightwad even when on the company dime so for I found a Subway sandwich shop a couple of blocks away as well as a local Chinese carry-out. Chipotle's is just a block away and Houlihan's is right around the corner. I was somewhat tempted by their $10 buffet breakfast (drinks extra) but decided that the last thing I needed was a buffet.

To get to the hotel and back from O'Hare will cost you $46 on the Airport Express shutltle van and you can get a discount coupon and sign up for frequent rider program off their web site. Dependinng on traffic you can expect the trip to take 30-60 minutes.

For shoppers this hotel is perfectly positioned a block away from the Magnificent Mile and other tourist attractions.

While this isn't a budget type hotel, with a little creativity you can keep the expenses down and not break the bank.