Hotel Review: Hyatt Centric Chicago Loop

Hyatt has launched a new brand of hotel: Centric. The first Centric property is located in the Loop in Chicago, and welcomed its first guests in late April 2015. We had the opportunity to stay at the Hyatt Centric Chicago Loop three weeks after it opened in a King Deluxe room.

Check-In

Standard check-in time is 3:00 p.m., but we arrived around 12:30 p.m. No room was ready for us, which was fine, and we stored our single suitcase so we could spend the afternoon on the Chicago River. The front desk clerk took my phone number and said she would call me when our room became available. I never received that call, but we were occupied until about 4:30 so it didn't really matter. When we got back to the hotel, I was welcomed a Hyatt Gold Passport member and offered an upgrade from a King Standard to a King Deluxe, which I happily accepted. It's interesting to note that I am a Gold Passport member in name only, as I haven't stayed at a Hyatt since joining the program. Additionally, I had booked this as an award stay just 24 hours earlier for 15,000 gold points. Since the going cash rate for a King Standard that night was $350, I was very happy with how things worked out.

King Deluxe Room

We stayed in room 808, a corner room that felt really open and modern. When you enter the room you walk through a short hallway to the right, where you find the bedroom. The king-size bed is flanked by two night stands and opposite a large, flat-screen TV, a closet, the amenity cupboard, and a short table. A small table and chair are in the corner, and windows wrap the entire room.

Through the bedroom and to the left is the large bathroom. Note, in this room there is no bathroom door. I don't know if that's standard in other rooms. The single vanity has a large counter top, and the shower is large and clean. The tile floor makes it unlikely you'll slip when it gets wet.

The windows have both blackout blinds and sheers, and they're controlled electronically.

There's not a ton of storage space, but it should suffice for most people. To the left of the TV is a wardrobe with a bar to hang clothes and some shelves for other items. It looks like there may be drawers in the console under the TV, but I honestly didn't check because we didn't need them for our one-night stay.

To the right of the TV is another cupboard that includes a refrigerator, coffee maker, and coffee and tea supplies.

Next to the bed is an alarm clock that can connect to your mobile device via blue tooth so you can listen to your favorite music.

Our Experience

While not overly obvious, you could tell the hotel was new. There wasn't a scratch anywhere in our room, and the plastic protective cover was still on the outlet of the hairdryer. The staff were friendly (especially the doormen). We had a bit of a problem with the thermostat. It had energy-saving settings, so it would only allow us to run the fan for a few hours. That was problematic because we wanted to run it all night for both the breeze (it was quite strong, which I liked) and to dampen the sounds of our neighbors coming and going in the hallway (which wasn't any louder than I would expect in any hotel). We each woke up at least once to turn it back on.

The television was one of the highest quality TVs we've had in hotels, and the channel selection was adequate. For some reason, the remote was a bit slow to respond when pushing a button. We used the iHome clock radio to listen to music from our phone while we got ready in the morning.

I can see how the bathroom setup would be a problem for some, but it worked for us. There is no door to the bathroom, so you'll hear everything happening on the other side of the wall. Also, when you turn the vanity light on, it shines right in the face of the person on one side of the bed—not ideal.

We did not eat in the hotel restaurant, but it seemed very popular on an early Saturday evening.

Overall, I would stay here again - particularly if I could get the 15,000 point award redemption. Next month they'll be opening a rooftop bar, which will be an excellent addition to this property.

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