What: Hotel Review (Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago with Kids)
Where : Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago IL
When: April 2014 for 3 nights
Who: 2 adults and 2 kids
We spent 3 nights at the Club Carlson Visa card to pay for the hotel, which made this free for us. We were able to upgrade to a Club Level room using our points, and this was very worthwhile for us. One of the benefits of the Club Carlson Visa card is a “buy one get one free” on a two night points redemption 99stay. So you use points to pay for your first night, and your second is free. This is most beneficial for a 2 night stay (unless both you and your travel partner have a card, like we do, and then it is good for any even numbered night stay). For this stay, we used 75,000 points for the first night (more points because we were in a club level room), zero points for the second night, and 50,000 points for the third night (and they let us stay in the club room for the 3rd night). We could have gotten the 4th night free, but we only had 3 nights to spend in Chicago.
We are huge fans of club lounges because they save us a ton of money and we just like the whole experience. I had only been to Hyatt and Hilton lounges before, so that was my comparison point for this lounge. The setting was very nice, and there was plenty of seating. The staff members working in the lounge were extremely friendly and helpful. The breakfast offerings were perfect for our family (oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, organic yogurt, cereal, bagels, breads, pastries, fruit, coffee, tea, juice). The evening offerings were a bit less than Hyatt lounges generally offer, but the beer and wine were free (score!). There were snacks (popcorn, chips, nuts, veggies and dip, etc) and appetizers (some hot, some cold), and mini desserts. Overall, we loved it and it was perfect for our family. We saved a lot of money that we would have spent on breakfast, plus we didn’t really buy any alcoholic beverages while we were out to dinner (which we kept on the cheap end…Chicago pizza!), which kept our overall food bills low.
We were given a room on the top floor of the hotel (18th) with 2 beds and a view of Millennium Park. It was very modern and clean. Our kids are young enough that we can still share one room without killing each other, so it worked out well for us. It was quiet (except for our kids), and comfortable. My daughter was really fond of the sparkly floors! The bathroom was funky, with a sliding glass door that covered either the toilet or the shower. There was a minibar and coffee maker, which we did not use. We liked the room a lot. No complaints at all.
We used the indoor pool every day because the kids love to swim. The pool is a long, lap style pool. There is a hot tub in the pool room as well. There is a large outdoor pool area, but it was not open yet at the time of our visit. It looked like it would be a great feature of the hotel, as I have not seen many big city hotels with outdoor pools like that one.
The lobby area is modern and beautiful. It really appealed to my artsy side, with all of the different styles of art and decor throughout the hotel. Even the hallways near the guestrooms have cool wallpaper!
Everyone working at the hotel is extremely friendly and helpful. We encountered one nice person after another, and everyone greeted us with a smile.
This hotel is in a fantastic location for exploring the city of Chicago. It is an easy walk to Millennium Park and Giordano’s Pizza (the kids were happy about that!). It is visible from many places in the city because of its distinctive and super-cool architecture, and the kids loved looking up and saying “that’s our hotel!” whenever we could see it.
OVERALL:
The Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago is a perfect hotel for families (or anyone for that matter), and we will definitely stay there when we visit Chicago again in the future. Everything about the hotel was great, from the location to the service to the room and the lounge. Plus it just looks super cool!
We loved it!
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