As a result of our flight cancellation, we were provided a place to rest for the night courtesy of United Airlines. We were comfortably put up in the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare airport; a four star hotel aiming to be the luxury choice when staying close to the airport. With vouchers in hand, we found our own way from the airport to the hotel.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, a Safari in the Maasai Mara in Kenya and Mauritius. This trip was redeemed through Air Canada’s Aeroplan and through Starwood Preferred Guest (Marriott Bonvoy) and Hyatt Gold Passport. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: InterContinental Chicago O’Hare Airport, Rosemont, Illinois, United States of America.

“Probably the most impressive airport hotel I’ve been put up in, as a result of a flight cancellation”

Getting to the InterContinental:

After our flight cancellation, from the steps of the public shuttle rank, we found the Intercontinental Hotel shuttle at about 3 AM and made it to the room for 3:40 AM. Some of our fellow travellers got booked with Embassy Suites and Best Western, it seems, dependent on tier status and fare class. As we left Chicago O’Hare, all were outside looking for the shuttle busses, which weren’t running at top frequency in the early morning hours. Many of the Brazillians on the flight were a bit lost and didn’t speak English. My Portuguese isn’t what it could be. 

The InterContinental is very closely located to the Chicago O’Hare airfield. It’s less than 4 miles our 8 minutes drive from the airport. The hotel is nicely situated on the Catherine Chevalier Woods greenbelt, which allows for better views considering airport hotels usually look into office parks, hangars or other industrial facilities.

The InterContinental is a five hundred and seventy room luxury four star hotel aiming for the luxury business segment of the market. On arrival to the hotel, they didn’t have any kings or queens left so we went senior citizen style with two doubles. The check in was relatively smooth with the United Airlines voucher accepted with out issue. We were politely reminded of an 11 AM check out, which only meant a very short seven hour turn around. An inquiry of internet availability today? “That will be $16.” I guess that’s how you treat business travellers. No thanks for us…

The Room: Two Doubles

We made it up to our room which was attractively and freshly designed with fashionable, but neutral colours.

There was a lovely rain shower in the bathroom. This was the last decent shower we had on the trip until we returned to Europe.

A Room With a View:

We awoke the next morning to a view over the Catherine Chevalier Woods green space. I’ll take waking up to a view like this any day over an office complex or other low rise building.

My thoughts on our Seven Hour stay at the Intercontinental Chicago O’Hare:

Overall, the Intercontinental Chicago O’Hare was a much nicer airport hotel than I would have expected. I left this place thinking that I would have liked to have spent more time here. Although we only had a seven hour stay on the property, it was more than comfortable for the brief stop. It was, by far, the nicest hotel an airline has put me up in over many flight cancellations.

As a result of my great but brief experience here, I’d easily stay here again in the future.

Editors Note:

At the time of publication, the hotel has been reflagged and is operating as the Loews Chicago O’Hare Airport hotel

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