What It's Like Riding Around in The W Hotel's Free Car Service

When you stay at one of the W Hotels, take advantage of its Acura Experience, a complimentary car service. Of course, there are limitations; the car will only bring you within a five-mile radius of the hotel. That may not seem like a lot, but if you are directionally challenged, it's helpful to have someone drive you to a destination. And if you're arranging for a rehearsal dinner, you can save money on renting a trolley and instead transport your wedding party in the free seven-seat vehicles instead.

We tried out the car service for ourselves at the W Chicago - City Center at an opportune time, when it was raining. Our ride was silver with a black interior and it wasn't too flashy with its Acura-W signage, which was nice, since you don't necessarily want to announce to the city that you're a tourist. The car had some techie details like a built-in GPS with on-demand Zagat reviews. As far as amenities, our driver offered us free water and towels. Although the car can hold seven, it would be a tight squeeze. But if you're traveling less than five miles, the ride should be bearable.

The car company made this partnership with the W to expose the masses to its vehicles and increase the likelihood of you buying an Acura, so you have to put up with some peddling. When we buckled our seat belts, a small TV screen popped up and we saw an extended commercial for the new Acura MDX 2010, the car in which we were riding. All of the literature in the car is about how wonderful Acura (with a W book thrown in) is and at the end of the trip the driver asks you to fill out a survey about the car.

To book a ride, you must make an appointment with an on-site Acura concierge, who advises that you reserve it in advance, since each hotel's fleet contains only two cars. Our driver said that the most popular places that people request to be driven to are restaurants and museums. We rode to Wrigley Field, about 4.8 miles away from the hotel. The ride was pleasant and smooth. We could have done without the easy-listening music, but that's a minor quibble. All guests get to use the car service for free, but we found out that when it's slow, the drivers will shuttle restaurant and bar guests around town as well.

Each W has its own hours of operation for the car service; the W City Center offers rides seven days a week with the first ride starting at 1 p.m. and the last at 8:30 p.m. Note the early end time. Unfortunately, it's not a pick-up-drunks-from-the-bar kind of service.

[Photos: Jennifer Kester]

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