Review: My Stay at the Peninsula Chicago

Background and Location

I had a business trip and was staying at the Peninsula Chicago for a night. I was excited to try out the Peninsula as I’ve only visited the New York and Hong Kong properties for a meal but have never stayed the night.

The Peninsula Chicago is located in the heart of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile on North Michigan Avenue which is near plenty of upscale shopping and restaurants. The Peninsula Chicago has received the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating each year since its opening. And in 2023, The Peninsula Chicago was voted the “Best City Hotel in the Continental U.S” by Travel and Leisure.

Takeoff Points

Date of Stay: November 2024
Room Type: Superior Room
Pros: Luxury five-star property, with exquisite rooms and a nice pool. 
Cons: Service was not up to five-star standards, impossible to utilize the house car service.

Fora Travel Agency Benefits

I work with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays. Fora is part of the Peninsula PenClub and Virtuoso. These partnerships give you special perks when booking with me. The Peninsula Chicago comes with the following:

• Daily breakfast for two
• Guaranteed room upgrade at booking
• Peninsula Time flexible check-in and check-out program (guaranteed check-in as early as 6 AM and check-out as late as 10 PM)
• $100 Hotel Credit per stay
• Upgraded welcome amenity

If you are interested in getting these perks and want to stay at the Peninsula Chicago, feel free to email me at takeofftotravel@fora.travel and I would be happy to help you plan your trip.

Arrival and Check-In

First, I loved the main entrance which was already decorated for the holidays.

As you enter the property, there is a lower-level lobby that has the valet desk, and then you take elevators to the main lobby located on the 5th floor. During my stay, 1 of the 3 elevators was out of service, so it sometimes took a couple of minutes to catch the next one as the elevators were on the slower side.

The lobby level was adorned with classic decor and gave a sophisticated vibe. I arrived at the Peninsula Chicago just before 8 am, and to my delight, my room was already ready for me to check in. My booking was for lead-in room category, the Superior Room. I was assigned a room on the 9th floor towards the end of a hallway. Guest rooms are located on floors 8-19. My initial impressions were quite good as the front desk associate who assisted me was very friendly.

Superior Room

The Superior Room ranges from 531 to 542 square feet in size. For a lead-in-room category, that is quite spacious. There was a nice hallway, the walking into the room to the left, led to the bathroom and closet area. The closet area was quite big and it was an open concept.

I really enjoyed the closet. It had a nice robe, slippers, umbrella & shoe brush. The best part was the big booth that you could either sit on or put your luggage on. Additionally, it was really nice that they labeled all the drawers that had items. For example, they had a safe label, a laundry label, and they even had a wet garment bag, which was really helpful because I went swimming.

There’s no iron/board in the room. but they will gladly deliver one upon request. I needed to iron a shirt, and it was delivered quickly which was appreciated.

Bathroom

Heading into the bathroom, there was a sliding door and there was a standup shower with a wand function as well as an enclosed water closet, vanity area, a large soaking tub with TV, and a single sink. The bathroom was a bit on the dated side, but I thought it was still very well-appointed and had everything you needed. There was control on the wall as well as the tub to control the TV, radio, audio, lights, & privacy sign. A scale was also provided.

Additionally, plenty of amenities were included such as a dental kit, shaving kit, nail care kit, cotton balls/pads, and a comb.

Plus during turndown service, they provided bath salts, an exfoliating body pad & hairbrush. They also replenished the body milk, shower gel, and shampoo. They utilized single-use bottles which is rare nowadays, but they were nice containers with metal caps. The scent was created by local fragrance curator Russell Weiss, and it had red apples, spiced berries, and florals. A pretty decent scent, plus it was made in Italy.

The towels were of great quality, and everything was very clean.

The Room

Before entering the room, there is a fully stocked mini-bar for purchase. There is also an espresso machine and both Peninsula branded teabags as well as espresso capsules. Additionally, they have snacks per purchase as well as glassware with a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon for purchase as well.

As you enter the room, you will see a large king-size bed. There is a phone and a big tablet on the nightstand. The tablet is able to control many parts of the room such as lights, AC/fan speed, TV, and privacy signs. It also lists the services at the hotel, and the dining menus, as well as pulling up activities in the city. A notepad is provided, as well as a power charger, and some magazines for reading. One nightstand also has cables to fit most devices if you forget your own.

The bedding was to the five-star level and was quite comfortable.

Near the window is a dining table with a chair as well as an armchair with a small side table, which could be good for lounging watching TV, or reading.

I had a view of the building in front of me, and while it was not a bad view, it was not the most scenic. My favorite part of the room was that it was very easy to go to bed with the nightlight function! The attention to detail is amazing where the bedroom is dark, the closet is a bit brighter and the bathroom has good night lights on.

Tech & Office

Then there’s a desk area with a mirror and an ottoman-style bench. Also, bottles of water were provided around the room, like here near the desk as well as on the nightstands. On the desk, there’s another tablet and phone similar to the tablet near the bed. Interestingly enough there is plenty of technology in this room as there’s a broadband printer, USB chargers, and a whole audiovisual drawer.

An area where Peninsula Chicago shows their attention to detail is the proper desk area. It offers postcards, stationary envelopes, as well as paper clips, a stapler, an eraser, a highlighter, pens, mini note pads, and rubber bands. They really have a ton of amenities for those who like to write at the desk. Nice special touches!

Dining

The Peninsula Chicago has numerous dining options on-site.

Shanghai Terrace

Offering a Chinese cuisine highlighting contemporary interpretations of Cantonese, Sichuanese, and Shanghainese classics. During my stay, dinner was available Wednesday through Sunday. And in springtime, Shanghai Terrace’s lunch service and outdoor terrace resume.

The Lobby

Serving an American menu, the venue features 20 ft high floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the Terrace. The Lobby serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily plus afternoon tea on the weekends. It also has live piano music on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Z Bar

Located on the 6th floor, above Chicago’s iconic Michigan Avenue, Z Bar offers hand-crafted cocktails and global cuisine. It has iconic views of the city and a rooftop terrace. 

I stopped by for some dessert, and the vibes were quite hip and modern, definitely different than the rest of the hotel. The chocolate cake & ice cream were great, and the waitress was super friendly and attentive.

Pierrot Gourmet

Pierrot Gourmet is a European-style café located on Rush Street, offering breakfast and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday.

In Room Dining

And of course, the Peninsula Chicago offers room service 24/7. I placed an order for breakfast and it was delivered right on time. I ordered the Chinese Set which came with:

Peninsula long Jia tea or pu’er tea, non-sweetened hot soy milk, steamed shrimp and BBQ pork dumplings, lobster and scallop congee, stir-fried egg noodles with shredded chicken

Everything was quite decent except the stir-fried noodles were much too hard and felt undercooked. Plus the chicken was dry.

Amenities

Spa

The Spa is located on the 19th and 20th floors. The steam room and relaxation lounges are available for Spa guests who are enjoying one hour or more of body services. Those using the indoor pool can utilize the spa locker rooms.

Fitness Center & Indoor Pool

The fitness center can be accessed 24/7 and is located near the spa reception on the 20th floor. It was a solid-sized gym with plenty of equipment. I was happy to see Peloton machines, but I didn’t find time to utilize them. Next time perhaps!

After work, I decided to check out the indoor pool and to my delight, there was no one there. The indoor pool located on floor 19 offered floor-to-ceiling windows with views over Chicago. Hours of operation are daily from 6 am to 9 pm (8 pm on Sundays). The pool area also offered a jacuzzi. It was certainly nice to have a peaceful evening swim.

House Car

The hotel offers a Peninsula-branded Mini Cooper as a courtesy vehicle on a first come first served basis. I tried on a few occasions to utilize the service to no avail. I found the service lacking as one time they couldn’t reach the driver, and another time they said it should be 10-15 minutes until he was back and he never showed up. Surely a hotel should be able to contact the house car driver? Or they should be able to see where the car is at.

This issue was confounded when it was extremely difficult to get a taxi in the morning. For such a luxurious hotel in the middle of the city, I was shocked that there weren’t taxis waiting outside, but even more surprised that the valet had issues securing a taxi for me despite calling dispatch. I had to resort to a Lyft, which was on surge pricing.

Room Service Woes

So I ordered the “Chinese Breakfast” Prix-Fixe, and the below screenshot of the menu states that the prix fixe is:

served with your choice of freshly squeezed fruit juices & coffee or peninsula tea

When the room service attendant came with the bill, they charged me for both juice & tea. I asked if this was a mistake, and then when he said no, I showed him the attached screenshot. He said he would go back and reprint a new bill, and returned about 20 minutes later. He removed the tea, but not the juice. I showed him the menu again, and he said that the juice wasn’t included in the prix fixe. He said to take it up with the front desk as he claimed that this menu was wrong.

As I was checking out, I showed the front desk associate the menu clearly indicating a tea and juice was included, and how the room service associate told me only a tea was included. It seemed she understood the issue, and she said she would take care of it and work with room service.

Two hours later the front desk texted me that they “spoke with in-room dining regarding my breakfast and they informed me that your breakfast included one beverage, not one hot and one juice”.

I guess she didn’t understand my issue…as that’s what I told her at checkout…

I then texted the photo of the breakfast menu and stated that the menu was misleading. 4 hours later I got a text stating that “we have taken off the apple juice”. It should not be that difficult when clearly the menu shows that juice is included in the prix fixe sets. This left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

The Verdict

Overall, the Peninsula Chicago is a beautiful five-star property in a great location. I truly loved the attention to detail in the guest rooms, but I was a bit disappointed with some aspects of the service.

Have you stayed at the Peninsula Chicago before, or another Peninsula location? How was your experience? Comment below!