Review Hyatt Place River North

This is post eight of a ten part series of Chicago hotels reviews. Link to other hotel reviews are below. During lockdown from November 2020-February 2021 I took some staycations. At the time hotels were offering insanely low rates plus I had some accumulated free nights.

Pretty much everything in all hotels were closed at that time so I won’t be reviewing too many amenities. You can check the link to the hotel for more details. I also don’t discuss decor because I don’t care about that. When I travel I care about location, price and cleanliness. That is I want a clean room close to transit and all the things I want to do at a reasonable price.

Review Hyatt Place River North

Hyatt Place Chicago/River North, 66 West Illinois Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60654 312- 755-1600. This is an 18 story building completed in 2013. Hotel tax in Chicago is 17.4%. I stayed for four nights at the end of February 2021.

This is the Lobby. Ema is beyond the curtains.

Summary

This is a good location to be based at when visiting Chicago. It’s located five blocks west of Michigan Avenue in the heart of River North. It has good access to transit and there are a ton of restaurants, at all price points, in the area. Hyatt Place’s offer free buffet breakfast to their members so that is a big money saver.

Hotel rooms

The hotel opened in 2013. I don’t know if or when the rooms were redone but I’ve stayed at a ton of Hyatt Place’s and it was in fine condition and a typical Hyatt Place room. I booked a standard room and because of my mid-tier Hyatt status I was upgraded to a King Bed City View (with sofa bed). All rooms have sofa beds. All Hyatt Place’s have small empty refrigerators and single cup coffee makers. I also requested a microwave which was installed when I checked in. Hyatt Place’s removed all their in-room safes starting about two or three years ago which is really annoying for those of us traveling with laptops.

King Bed City View

Hotel amenities

Everything in the hotel was closed including the fitness center. The doors were locked so I couldn’t get pictures. There is no pool. There is Lettuce Entertain You restaurant Ema (Link below to get $10 off) in the lobby which is also where the free buffet breakfast offered by Hyatt Place’s is served.

Dining and room service

As mentioned earlier, the hotel has a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant. Ema, in the lobby. I’ve been to it many times and it is excellent. Most Hyatt Place’s have a small bar where they serve Hyatt food and cocktails as well as a grab and go sandwich and beverage case. They also usually have a dining area where you can eat the free breakfast. No Hyatt Place’s have room service. All Hyatt Place’s serve free breakfast to World of Hyatt members (free to join). This Hyatt Place had microwave ovens in the lobby for public use. During my stay breakfast consisted of some grab and go items.

Room amenities

All rooms offer small mini fridges and coffee makers with packets of coffee and tea.

Review Hyatt Place River North

This hotel is very convenient if you are planning on hanging out in River North. There are four Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, three Rick Bayless restaurants and more on the surrounding blocks.

This hotel is located on Illinois Street at Clark Street. Ordinarily Clark Street runs south at this area. You can usually catch the Clark Street bus (CTA bus 22) south into the Loop. However, due to outdoor dining the Clark Street bus is rerouting to LaSalle Steeet at Grand Avenue. #22 Clark – Southbound buses will operate via Clark, Grand, LaSalle, and Wacker, then resume their normal route on Clark.

Another issue is that when you approach Michigan Avenue on Grand or Illinois you have to walk under Michigan Avenue. A family was recently robbed at 10PM on Grand Avenue. So I would walk down Ohio from Michigan to Dearborn or Clark to the hotel after dark or take an Uber or taxi. Honestly I wouldn’t be out walking around, anywhere, at 10PM.

Another area to avoid at night is around Illinois and Hubbard on State Street. There seems to be a lot of problems in that area.

To get to all the major attractions walk five blocks east to catch all the buses going down Michigan Avenue. Head south (CTA bus 151) to Grant and Millennium Parks, the Art Institute, the Museum Campus and Soldier Field (CTA bus 146). Walk north or take the bus (CTA bus 151) to Water Tower Place, 900 N Michigan and the Lincoln Park Zoo.

To get to Navy Pier catch the Grand Avenue bus (CTA bus 65) at Illinois heading east and it stops at the pier. To get to Wrigley Field or Guaranteed Rate Field walk four three blocks to Grand and State to the Red Line Station. Be careful in the station. Do not go into the station at night. This station has problems with beatings, muggings etc.

To get to the Lakefront Trail walk east on Grand or take the Grand Avenue bus to Lake Shore Drive. Take it all the way to Navy Pier and you can walk over to Ohio Street Beach. You can also pick up the Lakefront Trail there.

To get to Oak Street Beach walk to Michigan Avenue and take the bus north to the Walton/Delaware stop (CTA bus 151). Do not get on an express bus! Then walk a block north to Oak Street to the underpass. Do not go along the Lakefront, Beach or Lakefront Trail at night.

Booking hotels

I always recommend signing up for hotel loyalty programs. They’re free and they usually offer a member discount plus you’ll get emails alerting you to sales. Always click on the Offers, Deals, Specials, etc. tab on every hotel website to find current deals. Log in to your account when you’re searching. Read all the terms and conditions before booking including the terms for changing and cancelling. Some hotels offer prepaid rates. I never book those. Regardless of how attractive the “no cancellations” rate is don’t do it! There are too many uncertainties, especially now, and you don’t want to lose your money.

Check your rates after booking

Whenever I plan a trip I continually check my room rates up until I can no longer cancel. You’d be surprised how many times the rates go down. In normal times you can just call the 800 number and get them to change the rate. If your reservation allows changes call. 99% of the time I make a new reservation online and then cancel the old one online.

Hyatt website and app

The Hyatt app and website do not have a “flexible stay” search option like Marriott and Hilton. For example online flexible stay options allow you to search for a two night stay on any days in a particular month so you can find the cheapest rate. With Hyatt you have to search day-by-day. Generally weekends are more expensive than weekdays.