Advertised as a luxury hotel the Conrad Chicago is more gouge than grand. My wife and I decided to splurge on a fabulously decadent weekend in Chicago for our tenth anniversary. After looking at several hotels in the "Magnificent Mile" territory of downtown Chicago we selected the Conrad. The Conrad's website impressed us immediately. The pictures of the rooms were lovely, they promised what was supposed to be a world class spa and several amenities such as huge flat screen televisions, not that we were planning to watch much tv. We called to make reservations and after navigating a ridiculous automated phone system, I was greeted by a rather irritated sounding young woman who couldn't figure out how I was unable to make my reservations via the automated system. In any case I picked the deluxe king-size bed room for two nights in mid September. My wife oohed and aaahed over the picture of the room online, most impressed with the view. It cost a pretty penny, more than I would normally spend on out of town accomidations, but her happiness was worth it. Unfortunately her happiness was short lived after arrival at the Conrad. Valet parking was a breeze but they accidentally grabbed my wife's purse when unloading the luggage. We spent an hour in panic before a bellhop finally located it. At the front desk they were pleasant but adamant that we had reserved a room with two double beds via the automated phone system. I explained the error to the woman at the counter who was able to get us into a king-sized room but at an additional cost. By the time we arrived at our room we were a bit haggard but still looking forward to our stay. That ended when we found out that our "view" was of a back alley service corridor. So much for the skyline. Overall, the room was clean and lovely though housekeeping seemed unduly slow. I hate to be picky but I was drip dried way before my extra towels were sent up. The spa had very limited hours as well. Somehow amidst it all we managed to have the anniversary of our dreams, away from the hotel. It was far from luxury service even if the sheets were of an extravagant thread count. I would not recommend the Conrad Chicago. I would absolutely save my money next time to spend on activities and sightseeing in Chicago. I was expecting outstanding hospitality and found it no better than a mid-range priced hotel which would also have had clean rooms, but wouldn't have cleaned out so much of my wallet.
