From Standard to Standout: Unlocking Hidden Potential at Hyatt Centric O’Hare
At The Gettys Group, we’ve long believed that the most successful hospitality projects are born at the intersection of insight and imagination—a process where strategy guides design, and design amplifies strategy. But it’s not enough to design a beautiful space. In today’s hospitality landscape, owners and operators need environments that actively create revenue, build loyalty, and generate community magnetism.
Our recent repositioning of Hyatt Centric Chicago O’Hare, just outside Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, illustrates this philosophy in action—and offers important lessons for the industry.
The Bigger Question: Can Airport Hotels Compete as Lifestyle Destinations?
The Rosemont market is dominated by convention traffic, airport adjacency, and transient stays. Traditionally, hotels here function as convenience-first properties. The challenge we set for ourselves—and our client—was:
What does it take to transform a standard, functional airport hotel into a destination that attracts locals, suburban diners, and younger travelers looking for more than proximity to a terminal?
Chris McDonough, Senior Principal at The Gettys Group, noted:
“Hyatt Centric’s brand ethos is younger and urban, with an emphasis on lifestyle. Our task was to bring that sensibility to a market where most hotels were built for utility. We wanted guests to feel like they’d arrived at a place with energy and locals to see it as somewhere worth gathering.”
Industry-wide, this reflects a broader trend: the rise of “micro-destinations” near airports, where properties are expected to compete with downtown hotels in creating lifestyle-driven experiences. F&B, in particular, has become the differentiator—and the profit center.
Unlocking Potential: Turning Square Footage into Strategy
From our first walkthrough, one insight changed the project’s trajectory: a significant block of back-of-house real estate—prime front-facing space—was underutilized.
By reclaiming and reprogramming this space into front-of-house, we didn’t just add square footage—we shifted the hotel’s value proposition:
- A seamless, open-concept ground floor where the lobby, market, bar, and restaurant flow into one another.
- A sinuous guest journey connecting front and back entrances, encouraging intuitive flow and new energy.
- Immediate visibility into offerings—coffee, cocktails, and dining—transforming arrival into engagement.
McDonough recalled:
“We realized the best square footage was hidden in back-of-house. The instinct was to open it up, curve the plan, and let the space pull guests naturally from lobby to bar to restaurant. That single move completely changed the energy of the property.”
At The Gettys Group, we see unlocking hidden potential in existing assets as one of the most underleveraged strategies in hotel repositioning—and one of our core differentiators.
Beyond Amenities: Designing F&B to Compete in the Market
CIMA, the hotel’s new restaurant, was never conceived as “just a hotel amenity.” It was designed to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with independent restaurants in the market, with its own street presence, signage, and personality.
McDonough explained:
“The strategy was to make CIMA feel like a standalone restaurant. We wanted someone in Rosemont—or even coming from the suburbs—to choose it, regardless of whether they were staying at the hotel.”
From naming and identity through to spatial design, we positioned CIMA as a destination restaurant:
- A corner entrance with bold signage created a sense of independence.
- A bar designed as the social heart fostered energy and accessibility.
- A private dining room tucked behind the bar provided flexibility for events and intimate gatherings—a “hidden gem” that serves both business and social needs.
This multi-layered strategy ensured every square foot worked harder, both aesthetically and financially.
Design as a Guide: When Visual Cues Become Strategy
Every aesthetic decision was rooted in strategy. From graffiti-inspired wall coverings to sinuous seating lines, visual language guided guest behavior.
McDonough emphasized:
“We wanted design to be more than decoration. Lighting, textures, even wall graphics—all of it was directional. These cues didn’t just please the eye, they clarified the journey and made the space work harder.”
This is the next wave of hospitality design: where design elements are leveraged as tools of navigation, identity, and revenue creation.
What the Industry Can Take Away
The Hyatt Centric Rosemont repositioning underscores larger truths about where hospitality is headed:
- Repositioning is as critical as new build. With development costs rising, repositioning underperforming assets will be the growth engine of the next decade.
- F&B is now the differentiator. Restaurants can no longer serve just hotel guests—they must compete in the local market.
- Flow equals revenue. The way guests move through space translates directly into how they spend.
At Gettys, we view repositioning as an act of business reinvention. As McDonough puts it:
“Our job isn’t to stamp a look on a space—it’s to listen, interpret, and create something specific to that market and that building. That’s what makes it strategic, and that’s what makes it successful.”
Conclusion: Strategy + Trust = Transformation
The most satisfying moment of this project wasn’t simply the new finishes or furniture. It was seeing how a single idea—a curved line connecting two entries—manifested into a complete transformation of experience.
For us, it’s proof that when owners trust designers who think like strategists and owners, underutilized assets can be reborn as market leaders.
