Most major cities in the world have a St Regis and a Ritz Carlton, so it was curious that there wasn’t a St Regis in Chicago. To remedy this, the Magellan Development Group built a slightly weird but pretty cool looking structure called the St Regis Chicago, which opened in May 2023. One of my friends stayed there for a bit, and so I decided to tag along. Note: The hotel, when it opened, had some let’s say learnings on how to treat loyal Marriott guests (including not giving free breakfast). Thankfully, this has changed.

Location

Chicago downtown is spread out, and so there are several clusters where one wants to stay. Located on Wacker Drive, steps away from the waterfront and the Chicago river, St Regis Chicago boasts no only spectacular views, but also easy access to a lot of Chicago’s major tourist destinations like Navy Pier, Millennium Park (and the Bean), Magnificent Mile, and one of the best law schools in the world Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The minor drawback is that you might have to walk a few minutes for some food, but St Regis people don’t need to worry about that.

Because Chicago lack’s an underground “Pathway”, bear in mind that walking outside during the wintertime can be a bit treacherous; this hotel also isn’t really designed to be that walked to, though again I can imagine 99% of the guest’s don’t care.

Check In

My friend checked in, and it now appears the hotel’s previous stinginess with elite treatment swung the other direction. He had booked a superior room (base level), but had been upgraded to a St Regis suite (standard suite). Upon checking in, he then was informed he was double upgraded to a Caroline Astor Suite, which was the hotel’s 3rd best room.

The lobby itself very much exhibited the glamor yet modern luxury that the brand positions itself as.

That being said, I could never figure out the thinking behind exposing the below; is it to remind people that they can die of an electric fire?

The elevator bank was one of the most stylish ones I have ever seen (Ritz Carlton Hong Kong watch out), and was fully keycard automated. Floors 3-9 were for the hotel, while the upper floors were for condominiums.

The hallways were quintessential “expensive hotel” like, and to be honest were quite bland. This resulted in us actually getting lost on the way to our room, as everything looked so similar!

Room

For all my complaints about Chicago, one of the best things about it is that there is a lot of physical room. This room, at 921sqft/83sqm-1181sqft/106sqm, certainly reflects that. Just the room entrance itself is massive.

There’s also a half bathroom here, which I presume is for your guests who you’re entertaining.

There was also another random desk, which I presume was an attempt at filling out the living room.

There was also a coffee machine and minibar in the room, though remember these are St Regis prices. At least the water is free.

And fill out the living room the hotel needed to. My friend and I thought that this setup was impractical: where does everyone you’re entertaining sit?

That being said, being the St Regis, everything was highly quality; for example, the TV was probably one of the best I’ve ever seen in a hotel.

The living room is separated from the bedroom by one of those classic, bougie hallways only found in luxury hotels that look fantastic on Instagram.

The proportions of this room again was quite interesting, as the bathroom was almost too big, but the bedroom felt a bit cramped.

The bathroom was anchored by a large double sink.

Behind that was a separate shower and toilet.

But the best part of this room, outside of the view, was the massive tub. I do find it funny that while the hotel advertises it in it’s online pictures, it doesn’t specifically call it out.

Moving to the other side, there was a… closet / storage space? To be honest I couldn’t figure out what it was for. Maybe rich people have a lot more stuff to pack.

Finally to the bedroom, which had a fantastic king bed.

The bed also had a nightstand, chair and mini table. As a new hotel, I wish they took a page from Aria Las Vegas’s book, and make a “smart”, controllable room.

Directly opposing it was a TV, which this time was within viewing distance, with a table underneath.

Overall, the room was certainly spacious, but a tad weirdly organized: I would have liked them to have made the bedroom bigger, while decreasing the size of the living room. That being said, this is very pedantic, and this room was certainly one of the more luxurious ones I have been in.

Amenities

Despite being a city hotel, the St Regis has great amenities, centralized on the 10th floor.

Beyond being well stocked, the fitness center also has floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Chicago River.

The actual gym itself was well stocked, with plentiful machines and several private yoga studios. However, it lacked free weights above 50lb! For shame.

One additonal thing to point out is that the St Regis Chicago tries to minimize it’s use of plastics, both by giving metal water bottles and metal cans. Not sure how that works in reducing waste, but I appreciate the effort.

The St Regis also has an amazing spa, which is at St Regis prices…meaning that don’t list the prices until you actually book LOL. That being said there is a $180 body scrub that is interesting.

I saw a lot of spa goers travel to the best amenity of this hotel, the pool. Note I didn’t see a hot tub, which was a moderate disappointment.

There was also plentiful and clean day loungers around, and the pool was a deliciously warm contrast to Chicago’s brutal winters.

Another thing, not pictures, was how luxurious the St Regis robes looked and felt - alas, too poor to take them home with me.

And finally, the restaurant. The Miru is a fine Japanese restaurant that also happens to provide Western fare. Elite guests received $60 for the restaurant, which is a lot of food for one person, and stretching it a bit for two. In addition, the credit can be used for room service, and there is no timing for when the room service had to be delivered #teamlaterisers.

The Service

The St Regis brand is known for it’s St Regis Butlers, which are dedicated, well trained customer service professionals. I had interacted with Butlers before at the St Regis Toronto, and felt that they were professional, helpful, but nothing spectacular. The service here was definitely good as well, but having come back from Asia I think the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong’s was better. There was a funny incident where we asked for some body lotion to go, and the hotel staff, in good faith, just put another body lotion cannister next to the original one in the bathroom.

The Point

The St Regis brand makes an impression wherever it goes, and it certain has done so in Chicago. The hotel, which only opened for less than a year, seems to have worked out the vast majority of it’s kinks. The service and elite treatment went above and beyond the typical Marriott standard, while it’s amenities could keep a guest occupied for days. I was a tad confused by the room layouts, as the room provided plenty of space, just not distributed properly to the point of not being practical (E.g. no proper desk). That being said, I can see why it commands it’s price point, and it certainly deserves consideration.