5 Things You Should Know About the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport

The Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport is the only on-property airport hotel at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD), making it one of the most popular hotels in the area. The hotel is walkable from most terminals and is convenient for making early morning flights without the need to take a shuttle bus.

I had a chance to stay at the hotel on a recent overnight layover. Arriving around 10 p.m. local time, and departing around 10 a.m. the next day, I didn’t want to have to bother with a shuttle and wanted something quick and easy where I could head to bed quickly. The Hilton met my needs, had a reasonable rate, and provided the convenience I was looking for.

Let’s take a look at what you need to know about this hotel.

1. It’s Walkable

Probably the greatest feature of the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport is its walkability to several terminals. The hotel is within walking distance of terminals 1, 2, and 3, which serve the largest carriers at O’Hare.

Inside Terminal 1 of O’Hare, you’ll find ANA, Lufthansa, and United. Terminal 2 hosts Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue. Terminal 3 houses Aer Lingus, American, British Airways, Contour Airlines, Denver Air, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Southern Airways Express, and Spirit.

When you leave the departures level of terminals 1, 2, or 3, head down to the arrivals and baggage claim level. Follow signs for the airport hotel (there’s only 1 on-site airport hotel, so all signs lead you to the Hilton), and take an underground walkway, which will lead you to the hotel. Don’t follow any signs for ground transportation or off-property hotels, as those take you to the shuttle bus departure zones where buses take you off the site. The Hilton is on the airport grounds, so the only way to access it from terminals 1, 2, or 3 is by walking.

If you’re arriving from Terminal 5 (the terminal for most international airline flights and all international arrivals, as well as Delta), you need to take the free interterminal train that takes you to terminals 1, 2, and 3. Get off at any of those terminals, follow the signs for baggage claim, and then walk the underground walkway to the hotel. The Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport does not offer a shuttle service, and though there’s some walking involved, it’s still one of the most convenient places to stay the night in the area.

The hotel is particularly great for early-morning departures. With no security lines, you can easily leave the hotel within half an hour of boarding and make your flight, especially for the walkable terminals. This allows you to sleep in just a little longer and not have to account for any airport shuttles, which sometimes run only occasionally.

2. Rates Can Climb

Thanks to its convenient location, the Hilton tends to cost around $200 to $350 most nights and is higher-priced than most airport hotels in the area.

This hotel can fill up particularly fast, especially if there’s winter weather and Chicago’s airport operations get snarled. If you’re at the airport and experiencing a flight cancellation and want to stay overnight at the Hilton, you need to book fast before rooms get taken up and the price jumps significantly. To maximize your earnings, use the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, which earns 14x Hilton Honors points at Hilton hotels.

*All information for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points..

If you’re looking to use Hilton Honors points, you’ll spend about 60,000 points a night. While I’ve never redeemed points here, you may find that to be a decent redemption value when the rates at this hotel jump with high demand.

3. It Has a Convenient Market and Restaurants

If you’re a Hilton Honors Diamond member, like I am (earned from the Hilton Aspire card), you receive an $18-a-day food and beverage credit per person. This credit is higher than the normal $15 per person since the hotel is in Chicago, one of the cities that receive an increased amount of credit for its higher prices.

The hotel has 3 main food establishments: Andiamo (the hotel’s main restaurant), the Gaslight Club (the hotel’s fine dining restaurant and bar), and Cafe Mercato (the grab-and-go market in the lobby). On a recent visit to the hotel, I used my food and beverage credit at this market and was able to pick up a salad and yogurt for less than the credit amount, which was nice. Keep in mind that things in this market are highly overpriced, so you may not want to rely on it if you’re paying out of pocket, though it’s certainly convenient since there are not a ton of other food places nearby.

4. You Can Grab a Runway View Room

Because of the hotel’s location, there are a number of rooms that face the airport terminals and runways, an aviation geek’s dream. These rooms tend to be the default upgrade if you’re a Hilton elite member, and it’s nice to be able to look out the window and see all the planes landing. For the most part, you look down at either the United or American check-in levels, and then beyond that, you can see all the planes parked.

Some patrons use the hotel for plane-spotting. It’s not uncommon to see aviation enthusiasts out with their cameras looking down at all the movement on the tarmac.

If you don’t have Hilton elite status, you can often upgrade to an airport-view room for about $20 more a night.

5. It’s Dated

Having a hotel in such a perfect location surely means something has got to be wrong with it, and indeed, that is the fact: The hotel is quite dated.

When you walk into your room, you generally feel like it just hasn’t been updated in ages, and fixtures, appliances, and more just feel like they could use a major refresh. I’m someone who is willing to look past this to get extra sleep in the morning, so I mention this for those who may steer clear of this hotel because of that.

I certainly didn’t find my room dirty (more so than any other hotel, really), but the hotel really does need a facelift. It truly could be one of Hilton’s flagship airport properties in the U.S.

Final Thoughts

The Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport is all about convenience and has become my go-to hotel at Chicago O’Hare, even as a Hyatt loyalist. Since it’s walkable to terminals 2 and 3 and only a short train ride from Terminal 5, it’s the perfect place to spend the night if you get in late or have an early morning flight. Though I wish the hotel were a bit more updated, to me, the location of this hotel beats any downside!