Six Months On, How Is Public Chicago?
It’s now six months since Public Chicago opened (and three since we named it Best Hotel Opening of 2011!). It wowed us on first impressions, so we were interested, during a visit to Chicago a couple of weeks ago, how it had progressed. Even better than before? Let itself go? We were hoping for the former, rather than the latter.
First impressions were excellent, with charming check in staff and being escorted to our room by a bell man who was the spitting image of Ryan Gosling. Our room - we snagged a corner - was lovely, still white, still bright. Even the fluffy white sheepskin desk chair was spotless. Top marks to the bedroom.
The bathroom, however, wasn’t quite so impressive. Finding an ominous dark mark in the toilet pan when we arrived was hurlworthy enough; watching it sit there for two days was too much. The shower surprised us too – one of those raspy ones which makes up for its lack of water by punching way too much air through with it, so it’s painful on the skin. Unpleasant, unadjustable as far as we could see, and very surprising. Also, stingy toiletry collection of just soap, shampoo and conditioner. We had to request lotion from reception, and mourned the lack of body wash.
Still, would that stop us going back? Hell no. The room was a delight, staff were charming, breakfast in the Pump Room was delicious and reasonably priced and the building itself was stunning. The only drawbacks – that shower that felt like the whip of a rope, the fact that the Pump Room was so busy on weekend nights that we gave up on cocktails when we found ourselves four-deep at the bar, and the location, which saw us getting more taxis than we should have. But we’d still go back in a heartbeat – especially if it keeps those rates reasonably low.
Disclosure – juliab stayed at Public as a guest of the hotel, on assignment for another publication. But all opinions are, of course, her own.
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