I have heard great things about this hotel, so I was a little disappointed with conditions on my stay.

We were in Room 1523, an executive suite.

Here are the pros:

Location is excellent--you can't beat it. Right off of Mag Mile.

Service is excellent. Friendly staff, we got an upgrade when we checked in. Courteous prompt attention the whole time. When we checked in, we had a little fruit/nut plate waiting for us, and they brought us welcome green tea within 1/2 hour of check-in. That was a nice touch.

Suite size was great. Laid out well, lots of room, and it had my favorite thing--a bathtub with a giant window above it.

They gave us a late check out of 3pm, which was awesome.

Here are the cons:

The decor is a little dated and worn. The carpet in our room had what at first looked like a huge water stain running down the hall, upon closer inspection was a tread path from overuse.

The very complicated lighting system did not work. There are panels all over the room to control lights and other systems, and they malfunctioned the whole time. Which meant that when we tried to go to sleep that night, we could NOT TURN THE LIGHTS OFF. We had to call maintenance. To their credit, they sent someone up right away to reset. However, the problem continued throughout the night with the lights going on and off as we were sleeping. Yeah, REALLY annoying. Luckily I had a couple cocktails (hey, it was Bluesfest), so I was able to go back to sleep each time.

We told the staff when we were checking out about the problem. They were nice enough, and told us that they were in the middle of a "green update" (right, right) that was causing the problems. I just feel like for $700 a night, the lights should work in the room, no?

The Peninsula is everything a 5 star hotel should be. The staff is professional, poised and very helpful. The rooms are well appointed, the counsel next to the bed is unique and fabulous. We finally found a hotel bed that's MORE comfortable than ours at home (not an easy task).

The spa is beautiful. Although we didn't have treatments, we enjoyed the facilies (workout room, steam room, pool, hot tub, outdoor patio). The spa had very thoughtful touches throughout - e.g. swim diapers for kids, various flavored water and tea, plush towels - all terrific.

Avenues (one of the three restaurants). Oh my. Fantastic food, unbelievably creative, delicious. The service was terrific. HOWEVER, the portions are pathetic. For $375 (for two), we should not leave hungry. The waitress explains that each course is 2-3 bites. So, the four course is 12 bites for $75. And, she was right. The 8 course is $115. One should not have to select the 15 course to fill their stomach. I understand that the new chef cut the portions which is a terrible mistake. I would go back in a heartbeat if the portions doubled. We have been to several other top Chicago restaurants (Tru, Trotters, Les Nomades, Everest, Moto), and we have never experienced anything like these miniscule portions.

Overall, our experience at the Peninsula was wonderful and I would highly recommend this hotel.

We booked a room, and were upgraded to a suite (rm 1816). However, the suite was located on the 18th floor, right below the pool and locker rooms. During the night, my wife (who suffers from allergies and asthma), woke up with terrible pain in her sinuses. We struggled to sleep for the rest of the night. In the morning, she had a nosebleed.

In the morning, we noticed paint "bubbles" on the wall near the ceiling in the living room. When I reached up and touched the bubbles, they were wet and slimy. Upon further inspection, it was clear that there had been a number of "repairs" in the past, but the problem had never been solved.

When we complained about this to the management, he acted very honorably. He explained that room was right below the locker rooms in the pool / spa area and there must have been a leak. He comped the room for the night and offered to move us to another room in the hotel.

However, the lost night of sleep really wrecked our vacation. We decided that if one room has mold, we couldn't trust any other room and found accommodations elsewhere.

Everything aspect of our stay from start to finish was excellent. The hotel is immaculate, rooms are a nice size, well appointed and quiet. Staff are really helpful and the concierges I worked with were *real* concierges: they were happy to answer questions, make bookings and their advice on Chicago was very good. Front desk staff was helpful, honest and friendly. Gym is beautifully equipped with plenty of machines and an excellent class/stretching room, all with big windows. Pool is a full 25 meters with windows right down to the floor, a great place for a swim! Apples and coffee to go at the gym and pool were a very nice touch in the morning.

I travel over 50% of the time and a hotel like this stands out for the comprehensive high quality of all services and facilities offered. I'll certainly stay here again when I'm in Chicago.