Chicago, IL

Twitter: @HyattMcCormick

Personally, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to stay in Chicago hotels as the average tourist. Mainly because I consider Chicago my home (though I’m roughly an hour outside of the city) and I enjoy sleeping in my own bed.

That being said, when it comes to C2E2 and hosting friends from out of town, it is so much easier to stay close to the convention center than to have to haul ourselves and all our goodies from the day back and forth for three days. That and gas here in Illinois is outrageous at the moment.

You can’t get much closer to McCormick Place (where C2E2 is held) than the Hyatt Regency McCormick. I mean, it’s literally attached to the convention center. The only time we went outside all weekend was to get our luggage from my mom who dropped it off.

I truly believe that the Hyatt went above and beyond any of my expectations. It started long before we even checked in on that Friday.

The Hyatt McCormick has an amazing social media presence and was upgrading individuals left and right on Twitter all week up to C2E2. They answered questions, bantered with attendees, and generally made the stress of traveling a lot easier with assuring early check-in and late check-out – all with the easy of the internet. They offered replacement toiletries to those mentioning to have forgotten something and sent out tweets reminding incoming guests of deals and steals available through the hotel.

The hotel itself has two towers, North and South along with a large lobby and concierge area, a small convenience store area (The Daily Grind), restaurant and then a bar. The bar was overtaken and had drink specials every day/night. I never made it down to the actual bar but from what I heard it sounded like a blast.

We did eat at Shor, the in-house restaurant one night with friends. I’m not sure if they have this all the time, but they had a dinner buffet which had not only a salad bar, but steak and seafood, rice pilaf, roasted veggies, chicken penne and a desert bar featuring desert nachos, all for $22 a person. This included a drink as well (non-alcoholic). The food itself was amazing.

Even though we never used the car we arrived in, we did have in and out privileges and a daily rate of $25 (it may be higher normally) in the attached parking garage.

They say location is everything and seriously, you can’t get closer to the convention then the Hyatt McCormick. From our room (on the 30^th floor) to the show floor, was maybe a ten minute walk – and most of that was waiting for an elevator. Popping over to drop some stuff off, or take a small break before heading back was no big deal. And price wise, with four people in the room for two nights, it was maybe $100 a person — can’t beat that!

As for our room, it was comfortable for four/five people and we had an amazing view of Lake Michigan. The beds were comfy (though the full size is a bit snug for two occupants) with clean, fresh linens. We did request extra pillows and blankets, and they were promptly brought up to our room. The room also had a desk area, small bench, TV and mini-fridge (which came in handy for our “refreshments”).

The only downside is that McCormick Place, and by extension the Hyatt McCormick, is pretty much on the far south side of the Chicago Loop/Downtown area. The area itself is still in a rebuilding stage and there are not a lot of places to eat or shop nearby. This is also a downside for activities outside of C2E2, be they related to the convention or not. Although Chicago is working on making things more accessible in the area, it may be years until plans and construction are finalized

Even with this setback, I’d still highly recommend the Hyatt Regency McCormick to anyone attending a convention at McCormick Place. They were fun, comfortable and very accommodating. We’ve already booked our rooms for next year.

Be sure to check out our special social media link to score deals on rooms!