Broken Down Twee Manor in Chicago
Written: Apr 18 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Fairly comfortable, great location
Cons: Too much Irish cuteness, and has been worn down over the last couple years
The Bottom Line: While still a comfortable hotel in a great location, Chicago's Fitzpatrick Hotel is too cute with the Irish identity and is getting a bit careworn around the edges.
|
|
|
| jcgrow's Full Review: Fitzpatrick Chicago |
I first stayed the night in the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Chicago just a few weeks after it opened. It was a sweet, soft experience. Everything was new and fresh, especially the bed, which had a soft feather bed kind of comfort, elevated about six inches higher off the floor than a typical hotel bed. The dual-level design of the rooms, with a higher entry-level platform, added a touch of dignity and drama to the stay.
The location of the Fitzpatrick is also fantastic. Just 30 seconds' walk from the part of Michigan Avenue that they call the Magnificent Mile, there's lots of shopping and a variety of eating within easy distance.
There has always been an annoying self-conscious Irishness of the Fitzpatrick, though. Some might call it twee. There's an Irish pub with Irish music down in the basement, and there's an Aer Lingus button on the phone, so there's the pretense that, if you happen to want to fly from Chicago to Ireland on the spur of the moment, you can just call down to the front desk. Well, at least there aren't any Riverdance cloggers hopping down the hall.
Back when the Fitzpatrick started, there were even cute young Irish girls staffing the front desk - with that nifty accent and the whole package. They're gone now, and a lot of the soft, comfy sheen of the first days of the Chicago Fitzpatrick are gone as well.
The matresses are a little bit more old, and while they're still soft, it's not exactly the same beautiful comforting softness that was once there. The rooms show a lot of other wear that's just not being repaired. There are little gashes in the wallpaper, and pieces of wood decoration missing off the furniture here and there. The remote controls to the television sets aren't working well anymore, and the cordless telephone in my room just won't turn on. Even the irons are cheap, now, looking like they were designed in 1983.
Many little things like this add up, and while the Fitzpatrick is still an okay hotel to stay in, the atmosphere that once led me to give a deep sigh of relief has been replaced by the feeling that the hotel has sunken into being merely okay, eliciting a mere "hm".
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jcgrow
|
|
Location: Trumansburg, New York, United States
Reviews written: 238
Trusted by: 50 members
About Me:
Editor of IrregularTimes.com, looking at the world at through an irregular lens.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.