Hotel Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago
Previous parts to this trip:
- Introduction: USA, September 2019
- Trip Report: TAP Portugal | Airbus A330 | London Heathrow – Lisbon
- Trip Report: TAP Portugal | Airbus A320 | Lisbon – Geneva
- Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza, Geneva Airport
- Trip Report: Iberia | Airbus A320 | Geneva – Madrid
- Trip Report: Iberia | Airbus A350 | Madrid – New York JFK
- Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza, HY36 Midtown Manhattan
- In Pictures: New York
- Trip Report: American Airlines First Class | B737 | New York – Miami
- Hotel Review: Holiday Inn, Port of Miami Downtown
- In Pictures: Miami
- Trip Report: American Airlines First Class | Airbus A321 | Miami-Dallas
- Hotel Review: Hotel Indigo, Dallas Downtown
- In Pictures: Dallas
- Trip Report: American Airlines First Class | Airbus A321 | Dallas – Chicago
- Hotel Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago
The last time I spent time in Chicago, I stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn near O’Hare airport. Whilst it was handy for the airport, getting into town meant a 40 minute or so train ride. Not wanting to do that again, I opted for somewhere downtown. Initially, I found a Holiday Inn. However when it came time to book, the price had gone up to an amout way more than I was willing to pay for a Holiday Inn. So I studied other IHG options. One that seemed to be reasonably well located was the Kimpton Gray Hotel. I hadn’t stayed in a Kimpton before, so was curious to try it out. I paid just under £110/night.
Check In
The hotel lobby is located on the second floor. After going up in the elevator, the reception seemed quite small in comparison to the rest of the hotel.
I was welcomed back and despite having pre-paid was asked for a credit card. Here we go… In true fashion, no mention of any money being taken. Yet a few seconds later, a notification popped up on my phone saying $100 had been taken. I’m amazed there hasn’t been any sort of action taken about this sort of thing going on… but I’ve already made my feelings about this practice perfectly clear previously.
Unlike other IHG properties, the welcome amenity included either points or a voucher to the value of $10 that could be used on anything in the hotel. I selected the voucher and I would say I raided the minibar – but $10 didn’t go particularly far. Although I did make out of the deal – I chose a bar of chocolate that cost $11 (outrageous, I know) and at the time of writing, I’m yet to be charged the $1 extra.
The Room
My room was located on the 7th floor, opposite a large bank of elevators.
The door was in a smaller block of three rooms.
Upon entering I was pleased with what I found. The room appeared to be new and of a decent size. On the right as you enter, there was a wardrobe with a very interesting looking interior.
Heading into the room, there was a large bed.
And a reasonably comfortable chair.
Along the front of the room was a desk area that contained the previously mentioned mini-bar.
Turned out this was very well stocked and even contained a few items that you don’t usually find. Including a tie and a yoga mat!
All around the room were discreetly placed power points.
Moving on to the bathroom, again, everything was spotless in here. There was a decent sized shower with a sink next to it.
As far as amenities go, there was just the one mini bottle of body lotion. The shampoo, shower gel and conditioner were featured in larger pump style bottles in the shower.
One thing of note was that there weren’t any tea/coffee making facilities in the room, which is unusual.
My Thoughts
Without question the Kimpton gray is best hotel I’ve stayed at on this trip to date. In fact, I;m tempted to say its up there with one of the best I’ve stayed in period. The location was great – just a short walk from a pair of metro stations and a lot of the downtown attractions.
The one minor niggle I found, as I’m sure you can guess was the whole pre-authorisation game that was played.
