The Sheraton Grand Chicago is a sizable, well-known hotel situated in a terrific location on the north bank of the Chicago River. During your entire stay here you’ll be right at the doorstep of many of the prime sites and attractions this special city has to offer visitors, as Chicago landmarks Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue are only minutes away, with countless other local favorite not much further afield. The hotel has just undergone an extensive renovation, meaning that its comfy rooms—many of which boast terrific views of the Chicago River and Skyline—all include contemporary stylings and up-to-date features. Hotel-wide amenities here include an indoor pool, sundeck, fitness center, complimentary common-area Wi-Fi, multiple on-site restaurants, extensive meeting space, and more.
Sheraton Grand Chicago Ambiance
The Sheraton Grand Chicago is immense: it is some 34 floors in size, contains nearly 1200 guestrooms and 5-dozen suites, and is such a large facility that it even has multiple lobby areas. Once you stop marveling at the sheer scale of the place, though, you’ll notice how interesting much of its layout is—in particular, it is striking how so many of the hotel’s common areas were carefully designed to let in a lot of natural light. Massive windows and high ceilings let expansive views of the city into the hotel; escalators rise and fall at various angles all around you; and there are cozy little seating nooks to be found everywhere. Whether you are coming or going, you’ll find plenty of places here and there throughout the hotel where you can sit down, alone or with a friend/family, and catch your breath in a comfy chair.
Sheraton Grand Chicago Rooms
Guestrooms at Sheraton Grand Chicago come in nearly a dozen different formats. Standard guestrooms typically have either two double beds or a single king bed; you may also request either of these options with or without a view of the Chicago River. If you are in the market for an even slightly flashier version of these accommodations, you can select the “Club Level” option. This type of reservation will see you in a similar room as described above, but you’ll also have a city view, be guaranteed a room on a higher floor, and have special pool access.
There are also several suites available at Sheraton Grand Chicago. One bedroom junior and/or executive suites are found on mid-floors of the hotel, and are laid out like a small apartment. A variety of other suite options range from 660 to 1,000 square feet in size. Regardless of the room, though, in-room décor tends to be simple and understated—think lots of variations on brown, tan, and white, with geometric pattern carpet and wall-art.
There is some variance from room-to-room, but most guestrooms come standard with a nice selection of in-room amenities. Each room features a comfortable pillowtop mattress and stylish duvet, as well as complimentary bottled water, iron and ironing board, and optional mini-bar. A small desk and chair are suitable for any number of writing and/or business tasks, and a coffeemaker (with tea-making capabilities) is found nearby, too.
Guestroom bathrooms at Sheraton Grand Chicago are clean and functional. Marble-inspired countertops hold complimentary bath-supply products, while the walls and tiles tend to be a sleek off-white. Many of the facilities recently renovated bathrooms also feature contemporary shower fixtures and furnishings. There are usually a lot of towels on location with any sort of special request needing to be made.
Sheraton Grand Chicago Amenities
Befitting a hotel of its size and scale, Sheraton Grand Chicago features an extensive array of hotel-wide amenities. The hotel contains a full-service business center—there’s even a notary public to be found on-site—as well as valet dry-cleaning, on-site parking (including valet service), and complimentary Wi-Fi in all public areas.
Sheraton Grand Chicago also has a heated, indoor swimming pool. This fun facility is open 7-days a week between the hours of 5:30am and 10:00pm; lined by numerous chairs, tables, and floor-to-ceiling windows that let in glamorous glimpses of the surrounding city, this is a great spot to hang out and unwind after a long day of shopping and/or sightseeing. If you really want to get in that workout, though, there is also an on-site fitness center available for all guests, Open 24-hours a day, the fitness center houses a mixture of free weights and exercise machines.
Here you will also find some 125,00 square feet of meeting space spread out across several dozen different meeting rooms. Whether you are looking to host a small convention, throw a medium-sized wedding, or conduct a large corporate retreat, you will find suitable arrangements at Sheraton Grand Chicago. The meeting spaces here are flexible-use, with the largest available area able to accommodate nearly 5,000 people at one time.
Quite notably, Sheraton Grand Chicago is home to not one but some half-dozen different restaurants and/or dining options. In-room dining is available for breakfast and dinner, while a classic continental breakfast is served each morning for around $20, and a buffet-style breakfast for nearly $30. The Link@Sheraton coffee shop serves Starbuck-brand coffee products alongside pastries, snacks, sandwiches and soup, and CHI Bar is a neat space for cocktails and small plates each evening. If you are in the mood for a bigger meal and/or something with a little more of the conventional sit-down-restaurant feel to it, you’ll want to try either Chicago Burger Company, LB Bistro and Patisserie, and/or Shula’s Steak House. Chicago Burger Company is known for its shakes, cocktails, and of course, burgers; LB Bistro and Patisserie is open for breakfast and lunch, specializing in tasty brunch-type food and scrumptious pastries; Shula’s Steak House is your go-to destination for a sophisticated steak dinner.
Sheraton Grand Chicago Neighborhood
Found at the corner of Columbus Drive and the Chicago River, Sheraton Grand Chicago is right next door to the lovely esplanade that comprises the popular Chicago Riverwalk, and just a couple blocks from Michigan Avenue (perhaps better known as The Magnificent Mile!) to the west, and Navy Pier, Lake Michigan, and the scenic Lakefront Trail to the east. Shopping and dining are plentiful in the area around the hotel, and some of Chicago’s most popular and beloved attractions are also found nearby. Local favorites include Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Millennium Park, Grant Park, and much, much more. Additional accommodations in the general vicinity include Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago, Swissôtel Chicago, Sofitel Chicago Magnificent Mile, Park Hyatt Chicago, Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, JW Marriott Chicago, Virgin Hotels Chicago, Kimpton Hotel Palomar Chicago, Loews Chicago Hotel, among many others.
How is it Ecofriendly?
Sheraton Grand Chicago is a Marriott International hotel—a designation which places it right in the middle of the hotel industry’s fight to minimize its environmental impact. Over the past decade, Sheraton Grand Chicago—together with other hotels in the Marriott family of properties—has worked diligently to reduce its water usage/waste. During this time period, they have reduced overall water consumption by some 10%—a feat that has been achieved through an assortment of measures such as buying more water-efficient (and energy-efficient) laundry machines for the hotel, installing low-flow toilets, faucets, and shower fixtures in all guestrooms and suites, and encouraging all guests staying multiple nights at the Sheraton Grand Chicago to opt-out of daily housekeeping services, thus reducing the amount of laundry that must be done on a regular basis.
Along those same lines, in the course of the past decade Sheraton Grand Chicago and Marriott properties have reduced their overall energy usage by just over 13%, with the goal of reaching a 20%-reduction by the year 2020. They’ve accomplished this feat largely by “shutting down” unoccupied guest rooms and installing only energy-efficient appliances throughout the hotel. Buoyed by these successes, but eager to become even better practitioners of sustainability moving forward, Marriott International has launched the 2025 Sustainability & Social Impact Goals program. This effort would see, by 2025, every one of Marriott International’s hotels (like Sheraton Grand Chicago) become certifiably sustainable, while reducing hotel waste by 45% and general carbon footprints by 30%.