Has the person that designed this room ever stayed at a hotel (incident #523)?

Has the person that designed this room ever stayed at a hotel (incident #523)?

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I’m in Chicago this weekend (or more accurately near O’Hare), and am staying at both the Holiday Inn Elk Grove and Westin Chicago Northwest. I’m “staying” at the latter since I need a couple more nights to pass 50 nights with Starwood this year, which gets me 10 suite night awards.

Anyway, sometimes I can’t help but wonder whether the person that designed a hotel room has actually ever stayed in a hotel. In this case I got upgraded to a “junior suite”. I was rather excited when I got to my room and saw it had double doors — I mean, that’s always an indicator that you have an awesome room, right?

And based on the foyer I was even more convinced of that, since it was just about the size of many standard rooms I’ve stayed in elsewhere.

Westin_Chicago1

And then there was yet another hallway…

Westin_Chicago2

Only to find that the “junior suite” was the size of a standard room, and probably no bigger than the foyer/hallway leading to it.

Westin_Chicago3

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really nice corner room, but not sure that 300 square feet worth of foyers and hallways should change the classification of a room. 😉

The most amazing part has to be that there’s literally not a power outlet anywhere near the desk. The closest is at the far end of the room under the curtains, so you have to lift a few pounds of curtains to plug in any electronics. And don’t even dream of charging your iPhone — you’ll need at least a six or seven foot cord if you want to charge anything near the desk.

Westin_Chicago4

Don’t get me wrong, I actually really like the hotel and at $70 per night it’s unbeatable, but I really can’t help but wonder what a design team meeting for hotel floor plans is like — “hey guys, I have a great idea for our junior suites — why don’t we use half of the square footage of the rooms for an entryway?”

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  1. Fonzi Guest

    stfu--bejeezuss--will the whingin ever stop

  2. gomike Guest

    You got a corner room, not a suite, what a shame considering this property has about 24 real suites. Here is a picture. http://www.westinchicagonorthwest.com/assets/u/1760-14.jpg

  3. lucky OMAAT

    @ VG -- It was indeed a corner room.

  4. lucky OMAAT

    @ Jeff -- Well because my computer cord could reach the outlet, but even if I moved my desk my iPhone charger couldn't have. That's because you literally had to lift the heavy curtains a couple feet to access the outlets.

  5. VG Guest

    Was this near the corner of the building or the elevators? These are places where architects often show a relative lack of competence.

  6. Jeff Guest

    The desk doesn't look very heavy. Why didn't you move it?

    (Of course that begs the question - why isn't it nearer to the outlets in the first place? But sometimes a little self-help goes a long way. And maybe if they find the desk over by the outlets a few times, they'll get the idea.)

  7. Tomas Guest

    eventually the room was meant for disabled people ( wheelchairs ),
    and the table was not present at the place ?

  8. Eric Member

    Is it a handicapped accessible room?

  9. Peter Guest

    At least they could have made the bed before your arrival. ;-)

  10. PittDoc Guest

    @Imre, Washington DC

  11. Imre Guest

    @PittDoc, that PH wouldn't happen to be Chicago, would it? ;)

  12. PittDoc Guest

    I've noticed a pattern in both your suite upgrades and in my own...they are often into "problem suites" that might otherwise be unacceptable if paying full price. A recent Park Hyatt upgrade got me a wonderful room with large windows looking into a brick building just a few feet away. Four Seasons offered a huge room in the back over a parking lot (declined) instead of my existing "view" room in the front over looking the English countryside and waterways.

  13. Levy Flightj Guest

    I am always amazed in some hotels when there does not seem to be a power outet available in an obvious location for work or just to charge a phone.

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Delta Points Hotel Review: The SPG Westin Chicago Northwest (near O’Hare ORD airport) - Delta Points Guest

[…] you see double doors leading into your room you should be most pleased but, like my fellow blogger Ben from OneMileataTime, it was not ALL that I expected (notice the cheap stick-on door […]

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Fonzi Guest

stfu--bejeezuss--will the whingin ever stop

0
gomike Guest

You got a corner room, not a suite, what a shame considering this property has about 24 real suites. Here is a picture. http://www.westinchicagonorthwest.com/assets/u/1760-14.jpg

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