Hilton Chicago O'Hare: Hard to Beat the Convenience Factor
I recently stayed at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare the night before an international flight. I chose to book there, despite lackluster Tripadvisor reviews, because of the convenience factor of staying at the only hotel directly located at O’Hare.
Below is my quick list of the hotel’s pros & cons.
PROs
- It’s hard to beat the convenience factor of staying at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare. It’s the only hotel directly at the airport.
- An underground pedestrian tunnel connects the hotel to O’Hare terminals 1, 2, and 3. From terminal 3 baggage claim, go down one level and it is approximately a 7 minute walk to the hotel lobby.
- The hotel offers a free shuttle that will take you to terminal 5 (and other terminals if you don’t want to schlep luggage via the pedestrian walkway).
- Guest rooms and common areas were clean.
- There was an empty mini fridge in the room.
- There was excellent sound proofing in our room. Despite being directly at the airport, we did not hear aircraft or other airport noise from within our room (which was directly facing a terminal and tower).
- There were blackout curtains in the room. Which we appreciated, because our room faced a tower that was illuminated at night with rotating rainbow colors.
- For aviation geeks, you can get a room facing the runways or terminal.
- Staff were friendly throughout the hotel.
CONs
- The food. We had dinner in the sports bar. It was ok(ish), but not good enough for anyone to have finished their meal. We also grabbed ham, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches at Caffee Mercato, the convenience style, grab & go “cafe” that had a limited assortment of sandwiches and pastries. Our sandwiches were pretty inedible, with cold pre-cooked eggs and ham that tasted like it might have gone off.
- Rooms need updating. Our room felt trapped in the 80s. Furniture was pretty banged up. Carpet had seen better days. Time for a facelift.
- Our room got quite stuffy. With the outdated thermostat in our room, we could not select a “fan only” HVAC mode to have air circulating in the room. The only option to have air circulating was if heat or AC were engaged.
- Room service has limited hours, available only from 4 pm – 11 pm.
Would I stay there again?
Yes, I would book there again if I needed to overnight before or after a flight at O’Hare. The convenience factor and other pros far outweighs the list of cons.
That said, this isn’t where you want to base yourself for Chicago sightseeing, as it’s too far from city center. But for airport lodgings, it will be my go-to for future stays if I need a room near O’Hare.
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