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The Ritz Carlton Chicago is in a great location sitting atop the shopping arcade within Water Tower right on Michigain Avenue. The hotel holds fond memories in my heart since this was one of the first truly fantastic hotels I can remember staying in. As a child, we came to Chicago quite often, and upon one visit, my parents decided to splurge and treat us to a stay at the Ritz, which was then owned by Four Seasons and unredeemable for points. It’s since been adopted back into the Marriott family, and is bookable with points. We found rates around 50k, and I pulled the trigger on using a Marriott 50k Award Certificate.
You enter the hotel on the ground floor off Pearson. There is a small waiting area here, but the lobby is located on the 12th floor and makes the hotel feel far more like a boutique property than a large Ritz Carlton.
Details
- When: March 2025
- Where: Chicago
- Status: Gold
- Rate: 48k Marriott Bonvoy – Redeemed Free Night
- Upgrade: None
Check in
Check in was easy, I received no upgrade, and we had a partial lake/city view room.
Rooms
Rooms are large, feel fresh, and feature showers without a tub
Bathroom
Nice dual vanity
Plenty of free water and a Nespresso
Gym
The gym is very nice with views of Lake Michigan at an angle, there is also a full service spa with an indoor pool.
water station
Pool
Close to the Spa
Dining
Regardless of your Marriott status, you aren’t going to get a free breakfast here, so we ventured to a nearby cafe, Beatrix, which was delicious and highly recommended. The hotel does have a very cool looking bar and fine dining restaurant alongside an atrium styled cafe where afternoon tea is served. Hottip – don’t get your Starbucks coffee here as it is insanely expensive and there is a slew of buckies on the streets below.
This is where you’d have Afternoon Tea and by day it’s a little cafe.
Overall
I would stay here over and over again if it remains in this price points range. Cash? It gets very steep, very fast.
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
Welcome Offer
Earn 75,000 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
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 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)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Points Boost
- each account anniversary you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous 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
- $95 Annual Fee
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® is exceptional 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: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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