Nobu Hotel Chicago

Update: The hotel went above and beyond to fix things. They moved me to a nicer room and gave me a fruit basket as an apology. I'm very thankful! The staff are kind and the location is great, but I've never experienced soundproofing this bad in a hotel. There's a locked door between my room and the room next door, and I can hear those guests talking loudly, even at night. They've accidentally tried to open the dividing door twice. I can also hear the train quite loudly every time it passes. For a hotel of this caliber, this shouldn't be happening.

The train is audible at night, though it seems hard to avoid if you're staying in this area. It was also awkward to eat room service with more than one person: the room has just one chair and a long table attached to the wall. We liked the room and bathroom. The shower pressure was great, and I was glad to have a regular shower head instead of a rain shower. The Dyson hair dryer and steamer were appreciated, the beds were very comfortable, and the blackout curtains helped. The hotel's overall mood is relaxed and a little moody, and it feels really nice once you're inside.

The pool was extremely cold, even though it's indoors, and there's no jacuzzi. That might have been fine if the two steam rooms had been working, but neither was. The hotel seemed lightly booked, yet getting ice for ourselves meant asking multiple times, and each request took more than 30 minutes. Our key cards also didn't show the late checkout the front desk agent had offered at check-in. At night, it was surprisingly loud even on the seventh floor, with a lot of weekend street noise from Randolph Street. Nothing terrible happened, and Nobu Hotel Chicago isn't bad, but our stay didn't live up to all the glowing reviews. Having stayed at other five-star properties, we expected better service and amenities for the price. To me, this felt like a four-star hotel, not a five-star one.

The hotel's location and atmosphere are great, and even the receptionists were courteous. But when they gave me the wrong room, they didn't take responsibility for the mistake. I won't stay here again. If you're booking by phone, double check the details. Customer care confirmed that I would get what I'd requested and reassured me about it. On the day of my stay, they politely told me that my preferred room had never been booked. Then they tried to offer me a $2000/ night room for $1600. Surprise!!!