My family will be staying at the Hotel Inter-Continental this summer and I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has stayed here. We have a room in the SOUTH tower, so I would appreciate hearing reviews about this section of the hotel (I've heard mixed reviews about the north tower). Any advice on what rooms in the south tower are better? Should we request a Lake or City view? Other hotels are not an option. On a sidenote for ALL the Chicago hotels, just what is a *lap pool* in hotelese anyway?
Thanks in advance!
Rags

i stayed at this hotel last fall...it was fine, the daily brunch/breakfast was great......carried us through most of the day ( galleries, shopping )....couldn't beat the location.

We stayed at the Hotel Inter-Continental during Winter-Fest (Feb. 2001). The hotel has a small front lobby, but I liked the decor throughout the hotel. The north tower was under construction at the time, so we stayed at the south tower. The views were not terrific. The hotel is pricey, so make sure you get the room/type you want. The pool area is unbelievable. Just beautiful. The pool is not fully open but segmented in lines the way you would see olympic swimmers competing with each other. The staff was very friendly. Just outside on the side side of the building (Grand Ave.) go down the steps to the lower street (Illinois) and pick up the free trolley to Navy Pier to see shops, boat tours, restaurants and more. The Tribune Tower is nearby (south) with stones from all over the world on the outside of the building and where they are from. The inside is not worth entering. Across the street is Nordstrom and Starbuck's. North is all of Michigan Ave. with its shops. Believe it or not, we thought Mike Ditka's offered the best breakfast/brunch for the price and was more interested than a hotel restaurant (although the hotel rest. is very nice for Sunday brunch)

We stayed at the Hotel-Intercontinental in Feb. 2001 and loved it. We stayed in the South tower because the North was under construction. The decor is very nice. I don't know how much of the lake you can see at night other than maybe ferris wheel at Navy Pier. I prefer the city view. Go to Mike Ditka's for a great brunch and a few dollars less than the hotel breakfast. Sunday brunch at the hotel is very nice. The pool at the hotl is beautiful. It is segmented in lines the way the olympic pools are from one end to the other.

If you go out the doors to Michigan Ave. and south to the corner, you can take the steps down from the hotel down to Grand Ave. You can pick up a free trolley to Navy Pier and back. There are restaurants, shops, boat tours and more.

I stayed there last summer. We booked a room with 2 double beds. When we got there, we found out they were European doubles, meaning they were about six inches narrower than a normal double bed, kind of a tight fit for two. It would have been nice if they mentioned this when we booked - you might want to ask about it.
Also, the weekend we were there one elevator was broken for most of Saturday, resulting in lines to get up to the rooms.

A "lap" pool is one that has lanes long enough to swim laps. Most that are just big enough to accomodate children or are built in shapes for leisure swimming.