Waldorf Astoria Chicago

We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Chicago the night before New Year’s Eve and had an amazing experience. From the friendly valet team to the smooth check-in, the service was wonderful from the start. We loved the speakeasy bar — such a cool vibe and a perfect way to spend the evening. Our room was beautiful and spotless, and the bed was incredibly comfortable. A truly luxurious and memorable stay. We can’t wait to come back!

My point: To guests, this has proven over several years to have professional and friendly staff. To management: Trust your staff and while the restaurant is not under your manager, advocate for your guests when a clear billing error was made. If you check out my other Hilton reviews you'll see that I recognize a hotel delivering above and beyond, and I recognize that in all of the Hilton properties, even their more modest brands. We stayed July 7th through July 9th (2025). At the time I did not write a review because I was conflicted on how I felt about our stay. I did want to compliment some of the staff but had put aside their names. Today, I found their card. As Chicagoans, we enjoy an annual couples get-away at the Waldorf around our wedding anniversary. No flight to catch, a chance to visit museums, walk along Michigan Avenue and the lake sans the weekend crowds makes it twice as special. When we arrived Mia, Logan and Judson (? hope that's correct) warmly greeted us. I explained we arrived early to have lunch in the restaurant and planned to walk around until our room was ready. They quickly noted we are diamond level and that I had set up a spa treatment during the stay. It must have been in the system. I was happy to wait until late afternoon, if they were able to apply an upgrade, especially as it was a benchmark anniversary. Their professionalism and warmth were everything you'd want when entering a fine hotel. She told me she had just the room for us and it would soon be ready. We went to lunch. Before our walk, I went to the desk to check on the room's status. This is when it began to clunk. I approached the women with a smile of familiarity and they smiled as if the room was ready. A gentleman suddenly appeared and forcefully said he could help me. For the sake of mercy, I will not give his name. I motioned toward the women to explain to him they had selected a room. He brushed my comment aside and assured me he would attend to us. For me, the scene felt disrespectful toward the staff, even if he was a manager. If he wanted to check on the room before it was assigned, it's easy to imagine a scene when the original person is not put aside and the manager quietly saying "Oh, you've already started the check-in" inviting the original person to the desk. Even standing to the side to be aware of the room assignment. I told myself to just ignore his self-important tone, assuming the odds were good the selected room was in their system. Looking through the system, he seemed puzzled and then spent a given amount of time carefully reviewing rooms and then gave me our room cards. He did not acknowledge we are Diamond level nor the spa appointment. He did not mention that the hotel has a restaurant. Regardless, given that he carefully reviewed room availability, I thought, golly, did he secure an even grander room than the ladies assigned? Did he know we've stayed before and even brought along a box of chocolates for the front desk? When we entered the room, there was a single large red chair blocking easy access. And a bed. The Hilton website picture of the room I reserved showed 2 chairs and I anticipated that my husband and I could enjoy conversations in those rather than sitting on the bed awkwardly trying to look at each other. Returning to the lobby with my phone opened, I explained that I wanted to have the type of room we reserved, with 2 chairs and that seemed larger than what we were assigned. The look on the women's faces, professional but to me read something like, "sorry." I was not rude; he was not rude. Still he did not use guest service words that signal "Certainly, let me see what I can do." After a minute or two he told me he thought we would like a higher floor, hence the assignment. OK, that made sense. But, had he spent a few minutes as he was checking me in, as the woman had done, he would know that we live a few blocks from the hotel and have a view of the lake and that floor level was not as important as a room that was cozy for conversations and ordering in a meal. I kept the conversation friendly but I was a bit pointed that I had a spa appointment scheduled and we would be making use of the restaurant. He did give us a very nice upgrade. What stays with me over the past months is his dismissive tone toward the women and, in a small way, me when he corrected me and told me he would check us in. The restaurant. I believe I covered that in a separate review but if I did not, one evening meal was quite nice and the service was excellent. We visited for 2 lunches. The unsatisfying issue we had was our room being charged for meals. We paid for all three meals while in the restaurant. When we left the hotel and dropped off the room cards, we were told the bill would be emailed to us. That was efficient; great. When we arrived home and saw the meals, it took us several days to clear up. It's not an exaggeration to say 5 or more. The desk was hesitant to get involved even though they had charged us. The "manager" of the restaurant stalled several times. We got the impression she was not at the restaurant full-time or new or both. We called daily. The Spa - oh my gosh, that is easily 40% of the reason we select the Waldorf. Their workout room is large with a good amount of quality equipment. They have a pool open to all guests and even a discreet patio outside the pool area. The services are quite nice and the Women's steam room/jacuzzie/ locker room is immaculate. I considered a membership but decided I would not use it as much as I would like.

Great hotel it’s beautiful and nice well worth the visit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the most wonderful stay at the Waldorf Chicago. I frequent Chicago for work but usually stay in the loop closer to my office. I stayed here to celebrate a work achievement and from the moment I walked in the door, the staff was incredible. DeAndre at the front desk was the most memorable check in experience I’ve ever had (and I travel 2+ weeks/month for work and stay at comparable luxury hotels.) Every time I passed the front desk, he remembered me and was so wonderful. I also met the GM, Tamas, who showed me around the hotel when he noticed I was there for the first time. I don’t have anything remotely close to a complaint about my stay. The room, the restaurant, the service, the doormen outside, were all flawless. I’m very sad to be checking out today! I don’t think I’ve ever written a review before on a hotel but I wanted to acknowledge this experience. I can’t wait to return again soon!

I liked going swimming. The boss was nice. He gave me ice cream. I loved the teepee and the table in the room. I liked the bed.