Hotel Chicago Downtown, Autograph Collection

We stayed at the hotel for a concert at the House of Blues Chicago, and it was the perfect location! The hotel staff were friendly and professional, the rooms were comfortable, and the beds were great. The lobby was a nice spot to relax before the concert. We ordered food and drinks from the bar, and everyone loved the wings. The next morning, we had breakfast at Yolk, which is connected to the hotel. Everything worked out so well for us – we couldn’t be happier with the experience!

Most staff were excellent and eager to help. I took down one point because of one staff who ignored my request. Also we liked that we could spend the destination fee ($25) on a lot of things. We got salad from the hotel's bar. We also liked that Yolk, an excellent restaurant, could be accessed from the hotel.

Very clean and modern rooms with comfortable beds! Staff very helpful! Location great for the Merchandise Mart!

Everything about our stay was great… except for the parking. The location is ideal for many of the more popular venues downtown, which was a major factor in our hotel selection since it meant that all the places we’d planned to go were practically around the corner. I expected to pay liberally for my vehicle to “stay the night” tucked safely away under the hotel - but it was a little shocking when I realized that, had each of us driven separately, the parking would’ve cost more than the actual room! Having previously lived in Lincoln Park, therefore understanding the value of every 8’ x 16’ piece of land in the city, the hefty cost wasn’t really an issue - it was the actual parking of the car that nearly landed us all in therapy for years to come. By the time we were able to figure out where the hotel garage was and hand the keys off to the valet, the poor person who’d been driving (for many hours, on many interstates) was in tears. Luckily, the bar is conveniently located - perhaps for this very reason? The whole 45-minute parking debacle was traumatizing (Saturday night with many events taking place nearby) and actually left us in a funk for the first few hours of our visit, but once everyone’s blood pressure returned to normal, we had a fantastic time. The hotel was sublime; it had a gorgeous ambience, cool artwork everywhere, and a friendly, helpful, and blessedly patient staff. Of particular interest to me were the custom works painted directly on the walls outside the lobby. I’m ashamed to admit that I actually took more photos of the hotel than of the people in our group or the activities we did. Our room was impeccably clean and quiet (though again, quite pricey; it, along with 4 Bulls/Pacers tickets, set me back over $1,000. Not the hotel’s fault, I know, but shockingly expensive nonetheless). With the luxury of hindsight, I’d say the parking situation can be summed up with one word… quagmire; but our hotel/room selection was perfect.

location, overall feel of the hotel, friendly and helpful staff