Located on North Michigan Avenue, the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile provides the ideal spot to call home while you’re a business traveler or tourist. It offers an easy walk to key Chicago landmarks such as Water Tower Place, the John Hancock Building and Millennium Park. And it has easy access to the Chicago loop’s financial district during the day as well as the trendy bars, restaurants and shops of Rush Street and River North where you’re likely enjoy at night.

Experience the Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile:

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With 46 floors and constructed in 1978, the Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile is a skyscraper hotel that blends in perfectly with Chicago’s architecture and skyline. When you enter, you encounter a vivid lobby that exhibits a mix of bright colors. Here’s what you can expect if you’re staying for business or planning an event.

Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile Guest Rooms

This is definitely a business traveler’s hotel. It has 1,173 guest rooms and 25 suites. Guest room views include city views, premium city views on high floors, Michigan avenue views, and skyline views (travel tip: while the city view is certainly impressive, ask for a Michigan Avenue view and a higher floor to get your view of the Magnificent Mile and lake). All rooms contain Revive® bedding and the right amenities such as high-speed internet, flat screen TVs, cable channels such as HBO and spacious desks for the business traveler

Elite Marriott members are given a complimentary upgrade to the Executive Rooms (subject to availability). Executive Rooms are all located on the northeast corner of each floor. They offer extra space and even include a small living area with a sofa and premium views. In addition to its Presidential and Governors Suites (which are the hotel’s largest VIP rooms), there are two levels of Hospitality Suites: one and two bedroom options.

I stayed in rooms 4332 and 4334, a one bedroom Hospitality Suite. It has a large living room with a connecting bar and bathroom area, and the separate bedroom included two full size beds and a bathroom. Its northeast facing views are spectacular – including Michigan Avenue, Lake Michigan and Tribune Tower. The Hospitality Suite is perfect for any executive who is hosting a meeting and event because it has plenty of space for a small group to gather or just allow someone to relax comfortably after a busy day of meetings and events.

Meetings and Events at the Marriott Magnificent Mile

Meeting professionals are very familiar with the Marriott brand, and the Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile has 68,0000 square feet of meeting space – including two grand ballrooms – on seven floors. This is a great option to host groups up to 1,000 attendees, but the hotel can hold as many as 1,800 when using all space options. It offers:

  • State-of-the-art audiovisual technology
  • A dedicated meeting planners’ app to communicate onsite at anytime

In 2013, the Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile hosted over 1,200 meetings and events, and almost half of the hotel visitor population is in groups. View the floor plan and capacity chart located on the hotel website for details. I was very impressed with the versatility and flexibility of the meeting space and the ability of the event planners to quickly adjust floor plans.

Harvest Restaurant at Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile

Harvest is the hotel’s main restaurant. It offers contemporary cuisine that puts its own modern touch on traditional hearty Midwestern dishes which are freshly made in house using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients from the tri-state area.  The restaurant prides itself on being 95% prep, signifying that ninety five percent of all dishes are assembled from scratch throughout the restaurant facilities.

Dining is casual and the restaurant is opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Chef Craig Moisand and restaurant manager Caroline Marry explained the intricacies and details around the local ingredients. Although the restaurant caters to the large meetings and events occurring to the hotel, it has a significant local visitor base. I even noticed that there were several tables of guests who were talking to staff as if the restaurant was their second home.

Harvest makes its own sausages, condiments and pastries using ingredients from its own garden. Even honey is made from beehives stored in an onsite area.

I had breakfast there during my stay (the menu contains an al a carte option as well as a full breakfast buffet option):

  • Housemade corned beef hash: Home-made corned beef that included delicious protein mixed in with potatoes and topped with a poached egg. The corned beef was juicy and tender, and it meshed well with the tasty roasted potatoes and yummy egg.
  • The farmer’s omelet with bacon, mushrooms, aged cheddar and breakfast potatoes: I found this dish to be excellent with fresh mushrooms and greens. The omelet was cooked perfectly; it was flavorful and had a great texture.
  • Sausage and bacon sampler: Home-made sausage and bacon produced on site, which tasted unique and mouth-watering.
  • Toast and jam: And just when I thought it could not get more local, Chef Craig brought out the accompanying toast with the omelet with different flavored jams that were also made onsite!

Harvest has an onsite gift shop that contains its own produced and hand crafted beer, cider, wine and cola. The restaurant offers a private dining area that is ideal for a business meetings and events dinner that can offer a more intimate group setting for up to 25 guests.

Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile Hotel Amenities

Hotel amenities include a club lounge that was one of the most spacious I have ever seen (open Sunday evening through Friday). It offers breakfast in the morning and appetizers in the evening to those guests in premium rooms or with Elite Marriott Status (Gold or Platinum).  Guests can even drop in during the hours of operations just to grab a drink or hangout with colleagues after a busy day on the job. Meeting planners can also use the lounge to host a private event in conjunction with the onsite Harvest restaurant for larger meetings and events.

Wireless internet is free in the lobby and in the club lounge, but there is a fee to access the internet from your guest room.

Fitness on the road is important, and Marriott Magnificent Mile has two separate fitness rooms: one for cardiovascular equipment and treadmills, and the other is a weight room with circuit training machines and free weights (Life Fitness equipment and very updated).

There is also an indoor pool that compliments the health club. The pool area is bright — covered by a transparent roof that allows swimmers and loungers to take in the breathtaking and scenic views of Chicago around the pool area.

The Rush Bar & Lounge is the perfect place to hang-out and grab a drink with coworkers after a day of business traveler or meetings and events. The bar offers a variety of beer on tap as well as a large area for after-hours after a day of meetings and events.

For international travelers, the hotel also speaks a variety of languages onsite, including English, Arabic, Assyrian, Bosnian, Chinese, Creole, French, German, Greek, Indian, Italian, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, and Tagalong.

Other amenities include an onsite FedEx office, a Starbucks and valet parking.

The Verdict?

As a Marriott Rewards Platinum member who has been to many full service Marriott Hotels, I was very impressed with the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. This particular property offers a one of a kind combination of location, guest rooms, amenities and meetings and events space. Business travelers will really appreciate this hotel’s enviable address that offers quick and easy access to the heart of Chicago’s attractions. The guest rooms are a standard size you would expect at a business hotel, but it’s the breathtaking views of Chicago’s famous skyline, modern lobby and amenities that will help make you feel at home. The Marriott Magnificent Mile has one of the largest and most comfortable Concierge/Club Lounges I’ve seen. And the Midwestern, contemporary restaurant has a local flare. I would highly recommend this hotel for any business traveler looking to take in the best Chicago has to offer.