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I’ve been to Chicago countless times, and the city holds a truly special place in my heart. I love the city, the people, the vibe, the food, the bars, and any chance I get to visit, I make an excuse. The best time? The summer. When the bear has come out of hibernation, the caterpillar turned into a butterfly, lets just say this city changes from Andy Dwyer to Star Lord. While that is my favorite time, my second favorite time is around Christmas when the city is dressed to impress…and very, very cold.
I’ve stayed at the Intercontinental several times in the past, and I really hemmed and hawed on this trip between it and the Park Hyatt, but I was able to stack an Ambassador BOGO rate with an Amex Offer that put me in a suite for under $500 for two nights – including parking – which is $85 a night! You can easily find cheaper parking via SpotHero.
The hotel was pricing around 40k points per night for a standard room vs $250 a night for a suite. It was a better deal, for us, to just get the suite since we were seeing some friends and wanted the space to potentially hang out.
Ah…Summertime Chi.
One great perk of the Ambassador BOGO is that it often applies to rooms above entry level. This was the case at the Intercontinental Chicago. We were able to use a certificate on a One Bedroom Suite.
Intercontinental Chicago stay details
- When: December 2024
- Where: Chicago
- Loyalty: IHG Diamond + Intercontinental Ambassador
- Perks:
- Diamond:
- Free breakfast certificates
- Ambassador:
- 4pm late check out
- Free Water
- $20 F/B credit per stay
- Diamond:
- Room: Executive Tower Suite
Location:
The hotel is well located just north of the River on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Illinois. You’re within walking distance of Navy Pier (20 mins ), River cruises (5 mins ), shopping on Mag Mile, Water Tower/Hancock (10-15), and the Willis Tower ( 15mins). If you’re considering driving into the city I’d HIGHLY recommend using SpotHero to find cheap parking. The hotel rates are NOSEBLEED, but we were arriving after dark, and just being honest, I didn’t want to deal with the prospect of getting robbed either in a parking garage or walking to the hotel. That may be sensational, but we chose to valet at the hotel. It’s $85 a night
Check-In
The Intercontinental Chicago has a grand 2 story lobby featuring a gorgeous Christmas tree and decorations. Continue on and you’ll find guest check-in.
Rooms:
There are two towers in the hotel. The last time I stayed in the hotel I was in the north side of the building, the historic side, or what they call the Grand Tower. Not my favorite. Perhaps post reno these have been updated, but having stayed in the Executive Tower, on the south side, it’s incomparable.
The south tower has very few rooms on each floor making it a far more intimate stay. You’d never guess the hotel has hundreds of rooms. The south tower even has its own entrance which will lead you past Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse before getting to your elevator bank.
The Suite we booked was a standard one bedroom executive tower suite. It’s advertised as roughly 500-600 sq feet. I’d have guess it was on the larger side of this range with all corner vantage points. For the roughly $250 a night ( including $85 a night for parking )we were paying ( and the 2nd was free ) it was a great deal.
For reference, this is a King room..
The views are amazing.
Pool and Gym Facilities
The most special aspect of the hotel is its incredible junior Olympic size pool. There’s even tiered seating, and the entire design speaks to some of the Moorish elements you’ll see throughout the hotel. It’s quite the sight to behold and one of the coolest city hotel perks I’ve ever seen.
There is workout facility too
Dining:
The best part of this hotel is the fact that Starbuck’s is a part of the building. Look, I’m addicted and biased, but being able to go directly through the lobby into my favorite coffee shop and get some of that good, good is amazing. There is also Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, Casa Chi, and Center Court.
Dining credit from Ambassador
$20 didn’t even get me a drink lol
Breakfast
Located upstairs is Center Court – this is where you can use your breakfast certificates as IHG Diamond Members
There is a small buffet you can choose or to order off the menu
Overall:
I’ve stayed at my fair share of Chicago properties and I believe the renovations make this a competitive hotel in the price range, and the location is great. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the property; however, I think the pricing usually lends itself to paying outright rather than using points.
At the time of publishing the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile costs 40k IHG points per night. Using 1/2 cent per point valuation, I’d say its worth using points when paid rates are above $250 a night. If you hit this property at the right time, like dead middle of winter, you’ll get rooms circling $125 to $150 which is where they were when we last stayed. That is a downright steal especially if you can compound with whatever IHG is calling their latest promos these days.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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