The O’Hare (ORD) Hilton isn’t perfect, but the views of the airport are fantastic!

My assumption is that you’re reading this review because you’re trying to figure out if the cost of a room at the ORD Hilton is worth it. I get it. It’s an expensive property.

My advice? Spend the money. It’s worth it for the convenience of being connected directly to the airport.

Not only that, the views from the airport-facing rooms are good enough to make you forget about the fact that you might have blown through your travel budget for the quarter.

A full review of my 1 night stay at the Hilton ORD (O’Hare) Airport Hotel

Disclaimer: I’ve stayed at this hotel 4 times prior to writing this review. It’s not the best airport hotel in North America, but I keep coming back for both the convenience and the views.

Getting to the Hilton from the O’Hare Airport

Finding the Hilton from the arrivals level of terminals 1-4 at ORD is easy (you’ll have to take the train from Terminal 5). There are signs that say “Hilton” at all exits, so just keep following them until you reach the front door. The Hilton is accessible via two routes from terminals 1-4:

Via an underground walkway
From outside (by simply walking across the roadway to the hotel entrance)

Either way is simple, but I do appreciate the fact that there is an indoor/underground option to avoid inclement weather outside. But if the weather is nice, it’s a very nice and easy walk across the roadway.

Signage to the Hilton hotel inside the O'Hare airport — It’s easy to miss, but there are signs pointing you the way to the Hilton from inside the airport (arrivals level / baggage claim area). RIP to anyone who left their glasses behind on the airplane.

Underground walkway to the Hilton Hotel Chicago O'Hare airport — Even if you don’t forget your glasses, the long underground walkway leading to the Hilton isn’t survivable without comfortable walking shoes. In this case, RIP to the Diva in your group who just *had* to wear heels.

Scott in the underground walkway Chicago O'Hare airport — That moment of concern when you feel like you’re on a moving walkway to Iowa (and not the Hilton).

Entrance to the ORD hilton — Welcome to ~~Iowa~~ the ORD Hilton!

Chicago O'Hare Hilton hotel exterior — If you prefer to walk to this hotel from the outside, you’re in luck – it’s a short and easy trek from terminals 1–4. The only downside is that you won’t be nearly as impressed as you were when walking up to the Austin Airport Hilton for the first time.

The lobby (and checking in)

The check in desk can get quite busy in the early evenings, so be prepared to wait for a bit between the hours of 6 and 9 PM. I’ve never had to wait more than 15 minutes (even though it felt like 45). That said, checking in online via the Hilton mobile app (and being issued an electronic room key) eliminates the need to check in at the desk. I highly recommend it!

Hilton ORD reception desk — The reception desk. Clean, fairly well organized, and every bit a Hilton.

Hilton hotel ORD lobby — Screw paying for a room. I’d have no problems camping out here in the lobby if they’d let me! I’d bet money that it’s been attempted at least once.

Getting to my room

Walking through the guest room hallways will be a very obvious reminder but this is not a luxury property. The hallway decor screams “airport hotel” – which may be a bit surprising depending on how much you paid for your room. I paid $240/night for the room you’re about to see. That’s not cheap.

Hilton ORD 10th floor guest room hallway — The infinite 10th floor hallway. If the long walk through the underground walkway didn’t kill you, this just might do it.

Scott walking through the hallways of the Chicago airport Hilton hotel — *“57…58…59…”*

Three hours and 27 minutes later…

Room 10110 Chicago O'Hare Airport Hilton — “*…10110!”* I don’t believe that I’ve ever counted this high in my entire life. Welcome to my room for the evening.

Room overview

Room decor is nice. Not ‘wow nice’ – but ‘mostly nice’ (typical of a Hilton I suppose). Of all the airport Hiltons I’ve stayed at, I’d give the style and design nod to my room at the Munich Airport Hilton (which was spectacular). This one here at ORD seemed a touch dated, but it was comfortable nonetheless.

Entering my room at the Hilton ORD — Woha. I ain’t seen in this much orange since my IAH Marriott review!

Hilton ORD king bed — I have a fairly strong suspicion that they’d prefer me to use the term ‘rustic’ instead of orange. Fine. Let’s go with that. This King bed looks fantastic by the way.

Hilton ORD room overview — As long as you can ignore the fact that absolutely *nothing* has changed since my first stay here back in 2016, it seems to be a pretty nice room, doesn’t it?

Hilton ORD room chair — I enjoyed the hell out of this exact same chair back in 2016. And you know what?

Scott Leazenby sitting in the ORD Hilton — I enjoyed the ever-living s**t out of it this time. This kicks the snot out of “the chair” that was in my room at the H Hotel LAX!

Detailed pictures of a Hilton ORD hotel room — Who knew that hotel rooms can age like fine wine? I’m actually having a hard time finding anything critical to say about this.

Pillows on the bed at the Hilton O'Hare airport — Yup. The pillow game is fairly strong on this bed. It doesn’t quite match the insanity of what you saw in my Presidente intercontinental (Mexico City) review, but I have no complaints.

Hilton ORD in room desk — I doubt you’ll be able to start a multibillion dollar company from this desk, but it looks to be a fine enough place to email your weekly status report back to the home office.

Hilton ORD wide angle room overview — Wait! Before you send that email, you might want to include a few words explaining why you deserve a larger hotel room next time.

Hilton ORD in room refrigerator — You might also be a good idea to ask for a higher daily ‘entertainment’ allowance. There’s gotta be enough room in this in-room refrigerator for a six pack of Bud *and* Zima.

Hilton ORD bedside nightstand with telephone — Everything. Is. The. Same. Why did I even take pictures this time? I could’ve use the same ones from 2016, and no one would have ever known.

Hilton ORD in room alarm clock and thermostat — Aha! The alarm clocks have indeed been updated since my last visit. The thermostat though? I’ll refrain from calling it archaic, since I have reason to believe that it’s probably a few years newer than I am.

Hilton ORD in room closet — The closet. Nothing exciting ever happens in here.

Scott Leazenby looking into the closet at the Chicago airport Hilton hotel — At least I hope nothing exciting ever happens in here.

The view from an airport-facing room

Basically, the view you’ll get from any airport-facing room (floor 3 and above) is going to be amazing! Well, maybe not quite as amazing as what you would get from the Howard Hughes Suite at the TWA Hotel. But still better than average I guess.

View of O'Hare Airport terminal from 10th floor room at Hilton hotel — Trust me – you haven’t lived until you’ve stood nearly naked above O’Hare Airport, watching all that mesmerizing action below from your upper floor room at the Hilton while scarfing down a $15 room-service danish that couldn’t have cost more than $0.30 to make.

The floor to ceiling windows make it worth the price of admission IMHO – just as long as watching airplanes all night (in your underwear) is your idea of fun.

Night view of airport terminal ORD Hilton — Night view of terminals 1 and 2 at ORD as seen from my 10th floor room here at the Hilton O’Hare. This is easily one of the best views I’ve ever had from a Hilton (well, other than the Waikiki Beach Hilton, of course).

View of American Airlines terminal from the Hilton at the Chicago O'Hare airport — Even with the control tower in the way, this kicks the absolute snot out of the view I had at the Hilton at the Knoxville Airport.

The view of the airport is it’s one of the reasons why I like this hotel so much. If you want the same thing, make sure to request a room on a higher floor (7 or above) to be able to see over the terminal building.

Need more space? Try the Family Suite!

Not long after this visit, I had the opportunity to stay at this property again. I chose the Family Suite this time. The good news is that it’s huge (485 sq ft). The bad news is that it’s not any fancier than the standard room. Here are some pics – and a video – of my experience:

ORD Hilton family suite — As you can see, the Family Suite is exactly what you need if what you need is space for your kids (or giant ego) to roam free.

The bathroom

Say what you will about the pics below, but you do need to know that they’ve done a pretty good job of keeping these bathrooms updated over the years. This is just as nice as what I experienced during my first stay here back in 2016. Everything was clean, nothing was leaking, and I didn’t see any mold. Consider that a ‘win’ I guess.

Hilton O'Hare airport bathroom — Welcome to the bathroom (said no one ever).

Hilton O'Hare airport bathroom vanity — *“Ta-daaaaa!”* You guys have no idea how badly the off-center sink is messing with my OCD.

Hilton ORD toilet and bathroom door — Ain’t nothing more satisfying than a bathroom door that clears the toilet by less than a quarter inch. This was *impressive*.

Hilton ORD shower and tub — The fact that this shower and tub looks brand new (and exactly the same as it did nearly seven years ago) leads me to believe that they’re constantly ripping it out and rebuilding it. Why they haven’t bothered to modernize the finishes is beyond me.

Hilton ORD bathroom amenities — Basically, if you’re not able to wash away all your sins with all the soaps and lotions they include in this bathroom, you are one bad mofo.

Room service

In-room dining options have always been pretty good here at the ORD Hilton. The menu is extensive (and obnoxiously expensive), but the quality of the food is decent. I mean, you’ve probably spent a lot of money on the room already, so how much more damage could a $40 bowl of oatmeal really do?

Hilton ORD room service breakfast oatmeal and banana — What possessed me to spend nearly $40 on a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of orange juice the next morning is beyond me. Perhaps I was still giddy from the toilet / bathroom door thing. I don’t know.

Pros and cons of a standard room at the ORD Hilton

Yes, there are a plethora of other good hotels surrounding the O’Hare Airport that are far cheaper than the Hilton. None are as conveniently located as this one of course, but it’s possible to save a lot of money by choosing something just a bit farther away.

I’m not likely to ever do that though. The pros of an airport-facing room at the Hilton far outweigh the cons in my opinion:

Pros

This is by far the most convenient hotel at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Getting to it without even having to go outside it’s freaking awesome.
The views of the airport are excellent. You do have to request an airport-facing room however (and they almost always cost extra).
I’m always amazed at how quiet it is. I’ve never had an issue with noise (either airplanes or people).

Cons

Holy crap it’s expensive!
Even though it’s connected directly to the airport, it requires a not-so-insignificant amount of walking to reach.
Yes, you can hear airplanes late at night and early in the morning.

The O’Hare (ORD) Hilton isn’t perfect, but the views of the airport are fantastic!

A full review of my 1 night stay at the Hilton ORD (O’Hare) Airport Hotel