Summary: Huge lobby with an open atrium (similar to Embassy Suites). Rooms are good sized and nicely furnished but does not have the luxurious feel of a Westin. Decent but not great value given its remote suburb location.
Pros: Lobby is huge with an open atrium and features restaurants and bars. Rooms are large and nicely furnished with flat screen LCD TV. There is even a separately table across the closet for luggage. Westin and Sheraton always have nice beds. You can also break Starbucks coffee in your own room. The pool is good size though not large. The workout room has lots of equipment in an area the size of a basketball court (but not on the 12th floor as noted in a previous review and has no view). There is also an actual basketball court. The hotel seems is basically very large and should be good for business conferences.
Cons: While the furnishings are nice, they are not luxurious. The colors are very standard grey, black and white monotone. The Itasca location is around 20-30 minutes from the O'Hare airport. If you take a taxi, it is considered a suburb of Chicago so your fare will be 1.5 times the actual metered rate. Going into Chicago by car is not recommended due to traffic. Even though it's very close to a highway intersection, there is nothing around the hotel in terms of dining and shopping within the immediate area. Service attitude was a bit cool, and there is no bell service, at least for us. We moved all of our luggage, including boxes, by ourselves.
Conclusion: I suppose I expect a bit more from the Westin in terms of quality. The facilities are great, particularly for business conferences. I see no reason to stay there if you are a tourist since it's too far away to be convenient.
Price paid: $169 + tax for weekday
