The Buckingham Hotel

I am a super light sleeper so I found this by searching for quiet hotels. It was a delightful experience all round. The soundproofing between rooms seems to be excellent. The doors are recessed and the room had a foyer, so never even heard any noise from the hallway, despite sleeping in past when housekeeping would have been active. ||The view of neighboring buildings was spectacular, and I could see a little bit of the lake in the distance. Some of the furniture was more contemporary and utilitarian, but the dressing area, wet bar, and bathroom had GORGEOUS red marble. The room and bathroom were both very big, which I enjoyed even though it was just me. Bed was so comfortable. All very posh for the weeknight rate I lucked into. ||The desk staff was very nice, and the lady in the building lobby who showed me up the first time was a sheer delight. You have to be escorted up in the elevator and change to a fancier elevator for the top floor to get your card key when you arrive. I rode up with another guest later and we were joking about how we felt like spies, because the place is so hidden from the street. ||Hope to stay here again on my next visit to Chicago!

Nice hotel with amazing views, especially from the higher floors – definitely a highlight of the stay. However, I give it 4/5 mainly because it’s unnecessarily complicated to find your way the first time. You need to go through a series of elevators (three in total!) to finally get to the hotel floor. It’s a bit confusing and not ideal after a long drive or with luggage. A small sign or clearer directions would go a long way. Once you’re in, everything is much easier. The room was clean and comfortable, and the lake view was absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, breakfast was disappointing – limited options and not on the same level as the rest of the experience. Still, a good place to stay for the views and location.

Pros - Rooms are fine. A little older and shows some wear and tear, but fine. Room to move around. Expansive view of the city from the windows. Central location in a business district. Cons - Very difficult to find. No signs anywhere on the building for the hotel, the address, or the name of the business center. Even knowing I needed to enter through a business center lobby it was still impossible to find without calling the hotel to ask. Staff was rude and disdainful. Treat you like you’re paying by the hour and plan to steal their towels. I’m guessing it’s a bad neighborhood because the desk downstairs gave me a fairly thorough interrogation about my intentions before deciding I really was a hotel guest and finally letting me into the elevators. It’s also incredibly loud - even on the 40th floor it was nearly constant police sirens and trains going by. I live in a city, so I’m used to noise, but this was significant. Bring ear plugs.

We loved our stay here. Our room was upgraded to a king suite with lake view. The view was amazing. The hotel was extremely clean. Staff really friendly. Close to everything we wanted to do. Would definitely stay here again. Parking was easy and safe.

This is one of the most unusual hotels we've ever visited. For starters, there is no indication there's a hotel in this building, save for a small placard on the parking garage sign. It's on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange building, so with that comes extra security. The parking garage is on a small street and it appears to be closed; there are three doors but rest assured the one on the right is the entry. You arrive, find a spot, then make your way up to the first floor of the garage, where you are met by a security guard who shows you how to get into the main part of the garage. From there, another guard meets you who takes you to another elevator that takes you to the main lobby. Again, this is not the lobby to the hotel; it's the lobby of the building. When yo exit this elevator you have access to set of buildings inside a security barrier. On one bank of elevators you will see a sign for the hotel. You take those elevators to the 39th floor, where you then switch to ANOTHER elevator that take you to the 40th floor. You've finally arrived; you see a modest front desk where the person will check you in. The views from the guest lounge and your room can be spectacular...we were lucky enough to get a lakeside view of Grant Park. This building is due west of Grant Park, about 7 blocks. It's an easy walk. When you're coming into the city, assuming no redirects because of closures or construction, taking 90N to Ida B. Welles Dr practically takes you right to the building. Very easy coming and going. We found our room extremely comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful. They serve a modest continental breakfast, but there is a restaurant just outside of the building's lobby if you'd rather eat there. All in all we really liked the privacy and seclusion of this place and will absolutely stay here again the next time we come to the city. I've included a few pictures that should help you finding the place.

Great view. Hotel has only 20 rooms on the 40th floor. Staff were ok, there was a lounge with coffee and tea. Breakfast was minimal. The gym was closed on the weekend and hours left a lot to be desired. Location is good. Parking was overly expensive. Better off parking in the city lot next door.

Great views! My daughter and I were in the city for the weekend. This was a last minute idea and our usual Hilton was booked. So, we found the buckingham on Google. We had a city view but were upgraded and it was much appreciated! The room was lovely. I loved the Beekman 1802 products for toiletries. Breakfast was nice as well. Most hotels do not provide that service in the city. We certainly would stay here again!

The view is spectacular, and it is wonderfully quiet in the Hotel. I have found any of the staff that I've interacted with to be pleasant and accommodating. The location is great, for both walking or grabbing the "L" to get around the city. I was very comfortable in my rooms, the bedding is very nice and cozy. I love the robes provided in the room. The Buckingham is in a VERY secure building, I often travel solo, so this is important to my sense of safety. Oh and the guest lounge is quite nice, as is the continental breakfast every morning. I have stayed here several times, and I will be back!!

Amazing views and friendly staff! The gym was very nice if you can make it there. Also, it felt very safe with great security.

Weird hotel. Beautiful room and views just not very convenient to get in or out. It is very secure and feels safe. Front desk is helpful once You finally find your way up.

Spectacular views from the 40th floor. All rooms with floor to ceiling perfectly clear window view of The Sears Tower, er, whatever it's named now! Anyhow, the room is super comfortable and very clean. If I had just two revisions, I'd clarify the TV resolution (setting) and I'd install thermostatic valves for the hot water (investment). The shower oscillates between hot and scalding hot, kind of like a therapy of comfort/discomfort. Otherwise, highly recommended! A bit of a learning curve accessing the 40th floor but once done, easily replicated and very secure. Cheers!

We booked on Hotels.com and was a bit nervous about this "hotel" after reading some reviews. Like many mentioned, this isn't your typical hotel. It is an athletic club with some rooms on the 40th floor of the building. There's construction around the area, so it can be difficult to find. The building is tucked between S. LaSalle and Financial Place, with Congress at the intersection. I had multiple Uber and Lyft drivers get lost getting here. The LaSalle Street is one-way and sketchy-looking. The Financial Place street side has a horse statue. Once we found the place, we walked in and saw a reception desk. One person was the building personnel and the other was hotel receptionist. We got there around 1:30pm, so he said we couldn't check-in until 2pm. After checking in, we were given 1 building badge to get through the security arms and 2 room cards. The building is a business building in the financial district, so there's a flux of people arriving/leaving their offices during the normal work week. If you can get beyond that, it's a great stay for low-maintenance visitors. The rooms are on 40th floor and our King Suite is beautiful! It contains a separate sitting area exactly as pictured. The views are spectacular- from living area, I got view of city and the lake. From the bedroom, view was of downtown. The bathroom has large tub with slanted backrest for soaking, with separate toilet room. There was a vanity area, which was very useful! Down the hall, there's a lounge room equipped with Keurig machine, coffee/tea pods, fruits, small ice fridge, and water pitchers. As hotel guest, we also have access to the swimming pool, sauna, steam room, gym, and other recreational activities on the 3rd floor. I was in town for work conference, so didn't use the amenities as much as I would've liked. We did play ping pong and used the pool once. Some complaints- the bathroom toiletries are extremely difficult to open. All caps/lids were sharp and tightly closed. My son actually cut his fingers opening it and I continued to struggle with it every time. There seems to have been a small fridge in the room but it was locked. The coffee pods in the room and lounge room were all decaf. The snacks provided were crazy expensive and we didn't touch them. Otherwise, we had a wonderful stay and would recommend it for couples or business trips. Again, it is not a traditional hotel, so don't come expecting breakfast buffet, in-room fridge/microwave, free parking, or lots of interaction with front desk.

Best view ever. Logistics could be an issue for some. This wonderful hotel is situated on the fourth floor of a financial building. You need to have entry pass and key card and take two elevators to get to the Destiination. There is a parking structure below the building and a parking structure next to the building that accommodated my SUV with a roof rack. It was very clean, spacious and the view of the Sears Tower was second to none. I almost didn't want to post a review and keep it a secret for myself but I'm hardly ever in Chicago so please enjoy. It is kind of a boutique hotel they only have 20 some odd rooms. Our room had one bedroom a living room that had a dining table. no kitchen but the windows were so grand. Definitely would stay again.

Enjoyed our stay we arrived early and they accommodated us. Great coffee and nice views.

My stay here was quite nice, the bed was the most comfortable bed ever, and super huge. The shower was a little hard to get inside. There was a few bugs in the room the view was extremely beautiful ,. Overall I had a great night here, The iPad didn't work it just stood on. The check out was at 11am and I checked out about 7 mins bfor that and they still charged me $25 late fee. And I'm not sure why? So that's the only thing I did not really like or enjoy so that was a rip-off

This is a great hotel besides all the run ins my boyfriend and I encountered. 1)The location is great but hard to locate if you're not from the area. The hotel doesn't have its name on the building. And there is no drive way in front of the hotel. We called numerous time to have someone tell us how to get there and inform us of where the entrance was, to find out the manger had rerouted all the front desk calls to her office phone AFTER she had left for the day. 2) There is no valet or concierge. If you drive you have to park your car in the garage almost on the 2nd floor because all the other parking spots are "reserved." So you have to either a)have the extra person you came with stand with your bags while you park OR b) both of you lug your bags ALL THE WAY FROM THE GARAGE thru a door to the elevators. (If you park in reserve you will get towed) Once we got to the lobby we explained our problems & frustrations. We received an upgrade, so that was a plus. The receptionist Angela was really nice while I was venting all our troubles. The hotel rooms use to be only used for members of the gym before they went public so there are only 20 rooms on the 40th floor. 3)We weren't properly informed of everything upon arrival OR after checking in. You can only use one set of elevators to go to the 39th floor and have to use another set to go to the 40th. The room key is used for the hotel elevators after a certain time AND after a certain time you have to use the second key to get on the elevators from the garage. My first night was a guessing game. Im not aware of the time because of course I wasn't informed. 4)As soon as we get to the room the key doesn't work. My boyfriend had to go all the way back down to find out the key wasn't even activated. 5) garage parking is charged hourly and $38 a day. But once you leave the garage the parking is restarted. And after a certain time to can't just enter. You have to buzz for security to let you in THEN have to get a ticket (so it can time you so you can pay on your way out), park on the 2nd floor then walk thru another door to get buzzed in to the hotel area (me and my boyfriend just walked thru the vehicle opening (lol)) AND THEN walk to the hotel elevators. All of that is so unnecessary. The hotel needs parking near the hotel door. Besides all the run ins and hassle I would actually stay here again. Now that I know all the ends and out and what is expected. If we were properly informed ahead of time and at check in of all what is needed and have to be done, I could give the hotel a better rating. But I wasn't so 3 stars is all it will get. Information is the key to this place...But...if your not properly informed.....you're in for an adventure.

We actual were there for a ladies event on the 15th floor. The space is huge it includes the athletic club with magnificent front row View of the pool. The event space hold many twist and and sights to behold. The floor length picture windows and the Terrace make this place and exciting night to Remember

We loved this hotel! We get tired of staying in the business suite hotels. There's too many of those, you know the ones that look like your room is attached to a boardroom, like you're staying in someone's office building. This was a surprise because this hotel sits above the Chicago Stock Exchange and shares space with dozens of offices. This hotel is elegant and classy. We didn't have a problem with the elevators, people pay a ton of money to get the rooms on the top floor of a high rise. Pros: View was amazing! Location Price Room size Keurig Coffee Secure entry Health club Mini bar Bed Bathroom Aveda toiletries Tub Tub Tub Cons: Location...only because this area caters to the Mon-Fri businesses so a lot of stuff is closed on Weekends. Breakfast... They're against breakfast here. They offer muffins, bagels, juice, cereal, yogurt, and fruit. Their room service does not offer a REAL breakfast so if you want a warm breakfast you have to go out. Which we found a great place. Breakfast: If you want a warm sit down breakfast, then go to Meli Cafe. Distance, we left at at 9:55 am arrived at 9:59 am. Ordered and had our food by 10:15 am. They have fresh juice bar, smoothies, omelettes. There's a dunkin donuts in front of the lobby entrance. The tub: The highlight of this hotel is their bathtubs. I have fibromyalgia, and this tub was the best one I ever laid in. It was like a mini hot tub, just because it was so deep. It's amazing and when I build a house, I will look for this tub. I spent the weekend meeting celebrities and this tub was the highlight of my trip.

My only complaint with our stay at the Buckingham Hotel was the difficulty in finding the hotel and the correct parking structure. There are no signs on or around the 440 buliding showing that the hotel is located inside and the address given to us for the parking structure wasn't much help. Once we found where we were going, however, we enjoyed our stay. The hotel is one floor in a primarily corporate office building. The rooms are all on the 40th floor with a beautiful view. Its within a short walking distance of many restaurants, stores, and the L.

Would stay here again. Before you stay here, you need to understand this is not a "standard" hotel. Also, I should note I got a crazy deal on Hotwire. The Hotel (and athletic club) was originally established as a private club catering to the Chicago Business Elite. When the markets turned, they started to sell their "hotel rooms" on travel websites. So, yes....the "hotel" is one floor of an otherwise office building, and you have to take 2 elevators to get to the hotel floor. There is no "hotel lobby check-in experience". Once you get beyond/over this, it is a sweet though atypical experience. The rooms are large and nicely appointed. Some of the furniture has seen better days (chips/scratches) but they seem to be slowly upgrading the place (new carpet, hallways, etc). Rooms had a bar + fridge (separate from mini bar) fabulous views and large marble bathroom with separate water closet and huge, deep soaking tub. The hotel is located deep in the financial district which may not be the most convenient location on weekends - for touristy activities; but the subway is 1/2 block away and Michigan Ave N is just a few blocks and Uber is plentiful and cheap in Chi-town. There is coffee breakfast and other services nearby - just ask in the lobby. The Athletic Club may tip the scales here...it is a top-notch spa-like facility with every gym service/amenity plus pool, steam/sauna and the best whirlpool I have ever used. Club has complete service including coffee juices coffee tea and fresh fruit gratis - also massage if you schedule in advance. NOTE the club is only open 10-3 weekends but opens 5am weekdays. There is also a restaurant and bar as part of the the Athletic Club. Since I love spas .... this was a HUGE benefit for me.

After hanging up, I redialed and got someone directly, Extremely friendly and full of info, so I have upgraded my star count and will provide a further update after my stay. I do feel much better about them already! Below is my original 1 star review: This is the first time I have done a review before actually staying at the hotel. So here's the issue. I booked on hotels.com and my confirmation email indicated I was to call the hotel ahead as the check in location might be different that the address. So I called the hotel, I have now been on been on hold for close to 40 minutes and will hang up if I don't get a person before I finish this review.. To further aggravate the situation, they keep claiming the call is important yet they are helping other guest and then they pretend to ring through about every 1-2 minutes. This makes me listen, yet always turns out to me a recording. They have no apparent other way to contact them. Were it not non-refundable, I probably would change hotels. Perhaps they will do something to rectify this horrendous customer service, in which case, I shall update the review. But if they don't, I recommend staying FAR FAR FAR away. For this BS, one star is WAY too much!

We stayed at the Buckingham 10/10 thru 10/13/2019 The views from the suite were amazing. Wet bar and separate coffee bar, comfortable beds and great housekeeping staff. The staff was awesome, Seth personally took us to our room and David greeted us by name after returning Saturday evening, plus all the staff at the front desk, went over and above to make us feel welcome. We also had our parents staying in their own suite, and they were thrilled with the views and how nice everyone was. Security helped my mother in law get to her room, (you have to take 2 elevators and she was unsure of herself) Free grab and go breakfast was a lot more then I expected. Great central location to everything Chicago. We would definitely stay here again.

This place was near impossible to find but we were very pleased once we did. It's near all L line stops and very securely watched. The hotel room was nicely laid out, although definitely needs a few upgrades. The view was gorgeous and the bed comfortable. The mini bar had reasonable prices too. The lounge with free breakfast and papers in the morning was lovely. We enjoyed staying here!

We had app's and drinks at the Arciel, a meeting place and/or dining area at The Buckingham Athletic Club Hotel that's all of a sleek combo with a bit of cool, fairly artistic, comfy, great views. A terrific stop on date night or with a friend or group of friends. The pool definitely let off way more than an ample order of chlorine, but not in an offensive manner. The hotel is tough to find, especially in the dark, but the venue is more than welcoming once you arrive at The Buckingham.

THE BUCKINGHAM CLUB AND HOTEL, OUR NEW "SECRET WEAPON" I have contemplated pulling the trigger on a stay at this property for our last six or seven trips downtown. I just never could bring myself to do it. It just seemed too "upscale" to be available for the prices that were being offered on the travel sites. There simply HAD to be something wrong, some dark secret. I finally did it during this trip. I booked a room with BC&H for our second night downtown...mostly because I did not initially know that there would be a second night until after I had already booked the first night elsewhere and then could not figure out how to easily add a second night at the same rate...after I had decided there would be a second night. Confused? Good! I am not sure that I should be writing this review anyway. If you take me at word, I'll likely be competing with you for future bookings because, spoiler alert, I DO plan future bookings! Before I see if I have enough words left to editorialize on a topic that is "germane but tangential", let me first get to the actual review. There are six primary reasons that we will stay again at BC&H, assuming that the rate continues to be inexplicably low. The first five are: view, View, VIew, VIEw, VIEW, VIEW!!! Come on! We ALL love to look at Chicago from the upper floor of a "skyscraper". Why else would we pay the ridiculous prices and stand in the long lines to pack the Lounge on the 96th floor of the JHC! Chicago is a pretty city. Imagine if you could have that sort of view from your own, private room?! If we did not have reservations at some great restaurants and the need to eat, we would have never left the room! We didn't even have a "good" view! We were facing south. Great view of the LaSalle Station Metra tracks directly below us! Though Shedd and Adler were visible to the left. Nonetheless, still breathtaking, especially at night! The sixth reason is the aforementioned Metra LaSalle Station. That is where we enter town when we are being responsible and using PT. How convenient is it to be able to take your bags about 500 feet from your train to your hotel? No humping them to hale a cab. No trying to force them into the El! Clearly, if you are not riding the Rock Island, this is not quite as germane to you. There are other reasons to stay. The room was spacious. The bathroom was almost palatial in hotel room terms. The bed was reasonably comfortable, though that is obviously subjective. Oh, yeah, and the view was great! So, what might be viewed as "less than ideal" at BC&H? It is staffed in a bizarre though perfectly understandable way. Most of the day there is nobody at the desk. However, there is (probably) always a person at the adjoining building security desk and he/she can and will page a person to come to the hotel desk. In our experience, it was a pretty quick turnaround. However, if you are going to have need for a concierge (not sure that they even have one) or even just friendly advice, this is probably going to be annoying. I cannot comment about room or other services requiring a staff but I am guessing from what I saw (and from reading some other reviews) that BC&H will not be your ideal definition of a "full service hotel"...but did I mention the view? Since we live "in" Chicago and we come downtown largely to eat, we really don't require any of these services. We did experience one "unacceptable" outage at BC&H. It involved bag check. Our bags were left sitting in plane view in the lobby of the building all day after our checkout. Granted, they were left against a wall that was "behind" the desk area. Though, it is relatively easy to walk behind the desk area since it sits pretty far from the wall. (Though,) maybe the building security person would not allow this since (, "granted",) the desk area (at least for the building itself) is, theoretically, staffed all day long...bathroom breaks? Excuses aside, checked bags should be...well...checked! Conversely, this service seemed to operate more conventionally at our check in. We transferred from our first night property to BC&H before check in time. The desk person would not check to see if a room was open despite our early arrival (maybe 1:15-1:30pm with a 2pm check in being stated). This is something that most places WILL do in our experience but maybe she knew that it was not an option. Nonetheless, we were able to check our bags and they were duly squirreled away, presumably somewhere behind lock and key. They were at least not visible and had to be retrieved from somewhere unseen before we went to our room. In short, we really enjoyed our stay at BC&H and we will definitely use it again. In fact, my constant companion has already proposed that it become sort of our "standard" place and has looked to see what the rate would be when we come down to C2E2 in April, a Christmas present from her to me! Yeah. We're also dorks. So what of it! :) So, sorry, no space to cover "germane but tangential"!

My husband & I LOVE this place! Angela checked us in with the best customer service. Yes, you have to take two separate elevators but they make it very convenient for you...to where you only have to walk a few extra feet more. Before booking, I read some reviews complaining about it. Seriously people?! Talk about first-world problems! Our room # was 4010 and it was SPACIOUS, beautiful...and that view on the 40th floor is absolutely amazing! We could see Lake Michigan, the Buckingham Fountain, Lake Shore Dr. where the Shedd Aquarium, planetarium, Field Museum are located. We rented Divvy bikes or walked everywhere (and felt safe doing so at night) going to Lou Malnati's, Portillos, Giordano's, and all of dowtown Chicago. I went through Hotwire & paid only $101 (taxes included) for a night's stay. We could not believe this hotel is rated at only 3 stars. Erroneous! If I would have known what I do now, we would have stayed at this hotel for the entirety of our trip. *Side note: by booking through Hotwire & doing it the way I did, you don't necessary pick your exact hotel. You only choose the star rating/location. Not until after booking is when the hotel's name is revealed. So it's a gamble and we lucked out. Moving forward though, I'll be specifically booking this hotel for when we come back to Chicago for another visit.

Upon entry David R. Had remarked that he wanted to make it clear that this "wasn't a party hotel" which it wasn't clear why that remark was made as we all had suits and black dresses as if we were headed black tie on 40 but we went any way to the room on the 40th penthouse floor we were prepping for a celebration of a friend's masters completion and the same guy, David r asked ya to leave cuz he received complaints but when we questioned other ppl In the area they said they were not aware. In the midst to get refund for the evening that David was adamant about he made a remark about us staying in the motel 6 which I believe had a racial element to it. I won't go back it just was a terrible portion of a Friends event and there is far to many other locations to deal with the likes of the employees there

Outstanding best hotel great view great swimming pool gym etc if there were more stars ill give it

Omg! Love this hotel! There is no problem getting to room. The complaints about this are silly. The view is phenomenal! Get the lake view rooms. The rooms are so cool and comfy. The bathroom marble is slippery when wet. They have Aveda products which are great. They do skimp on the towels and coffee selections in the room. and such. There is a Kuerig in each room. Great TV service and wifi. Price is phenom! Breakfast was just down the hall in the lounge. My husband tells me that on the weekend it's on the hotel floor but during the week it's on the 3rd floor. I think this hotel is very romantic and quiet. We walked everywhere! Shopping, dining, etc. what fun!

I *REALLY* liked this place. Booked it for $119 for one night (weekend) and $129 for 3 subsequent weekdays, via expedia (which adds $17/day for taxes/fees). Compared to other hotels in the vicinity ($250 and up!) this was a steal. The blue line train from the airport (40 mins, $2.25) stops right next to the hotel (La Salle station). Super-convenient! I read some tripadvisor reviews and was prepared for some weirdness, but.... it turned out to be great. The hotel is not confusing at all to reach, as some others have claimed. Yes, you do have to transfer elevators (once!) but it ain't a big deal. Rooms are wonderful: huge, spacious, with really nice views of Chicago skyline and the bathrooms are equally roomy and well-stocked with amenities. Also, the tub is over-sized which makes taking a bath a pleasure (unlike most hotels where tubs are an afterthought). What I liked: - quiet: it's on 40th floor and isolated enough - spaciousness: as mentioned above - good room service - newspaper every morning - TV with a gazzillion premium/movie channels - *VERY* nice gym on the 3rd floor: all the modern equipment one would want and uncrowded as well. Also has: pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam-room. Plus: free juices and fruit. And, very clean... - Free and well-functioning WiFi What I didn't like: - breakfast: it basically sucked. Bagels/muffins/pastries were tasteless and icky. Fruit (diced in salad-like form) was soggy and unattractive. Only juices and coffee were decent. On the other hand, breakfast was free, so.... In summary: would definitely stay here again.

First of all, I did not come to Buckingham Athletic Club for a work-out or to stay for the night. I came here for a networking event for my university that was hosted here. So, I can't speak for either of those aspects of the place. All attendees of this networking event had to pay $15-$25, which was probably for the beer/champagne open bar, the hors d'oeuvres, and the venue itself. The hors d'oeuvres were really delicious (especially these little flaky pouches with cheese inside) and the waitstaff were attentive. In addition to the finger food in the corner, which included a stellar veggie platter, the waitstaff walked around with other finger food for everyone. The lights were dimmed, and there were a lot of different small tables to accommodate for clusters of people having conversations. It was a little bit confusing to find the bathroom, which is part of the locker room. But, the thing that was the most confusing of all, was actually FINDING this place! Even though I had the Google maps print out with the address on it and I was standing right in front of this building, it was really confusing. Once I walked in there, a guy looked up my name on a list and then led me to the elevator. So, one less star for the confusing location. This seems like a solid place.

This place is (at least on my confirmation) called "The Buckingham Athletic Club & Hotel", and having stayed there I'm not so sure it's a hotel at all. I wish I'd read the reviews here, but I booked my visit in a real rush and was taken in by a number of things: - Low price (online special), even though my one night came in at over $200 it was still cheaper than others in the surroundings - High floor (I love rooms with views) - Self-park (zipcars don't like valet parking) I arrived late LATE at night, and had the horrible experience trying to get through the parking area. If not for the fact that I'd prepaid the room I was really at the point of just saying "screw it all" after the seventeenth locked security door and gone to sleep in my car instead. The room, on first glance, looked luxurious but there wasn't a single place to hang a coat in mine. The bathtub didn't drain, there was only one towel (no towel to put on the floor), one tiny bar of soap, and the TP was scratchier than what you find in a trucker's rest stop. The key was, amazingly, an actual key. You know, like keys used to be - a lump of metal with cut out wiggly bits on the end. More fodder for my "it's not really a hotel" treatise that'll follow shortly. Oh, but the bed was fantastic. Breakfast in the morning was, equally, a calamity. I don't mind the three different elevators, but when I'm walking through the athletic club, with racketball courts all around me, and I see some dude MAKING AN OMELETTE in the middle of the hallway, and yet - somehow, and though I inquired, it wasn't explained - this DUDE MAKING AN OMELETTE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALLWAY was not the breakfast facility. That was down the end of another hallway where, once I got to the end, I was steadfastly ignored. I turned around, salvaged my car from the bowels of the earth, and drove myself to a local diner instead. Would I go back? Quite possibly. The location is great. The prices were right. If you pay the extra and get the lake view I'm sure the view is even more stunning - as it was I could see the sunrise over the lake through the edge of my window. And, frankly, the way I travel involves waking early, returning late, and making use of the hotel as little as humanly possible until it's time to fly home. So, in light of that, it fit the bill just perfectly. Did I mention the bed was fantastic? Yeah, I'll probably stay here again. I'm due back in town next month.

good luck finding this place. no really, i circled the building twice looking for any indication of the hotel. in fact, there is no semblance of a hotel, let alone a sign, so head to One Financial Place and you'll just happen upon it inside the Chicago Stock Exchange. the front desk feels more like building secutiy...again, without any signage. check-in was without incident, however, be prepared for the room key. while rather quaint in that you get a real key (you know, the kind cut from actual metal), it's attached to this brick of a keychain that could do some serious damage should you need to defend yourself. so all 20 rooms of this hotel are on the 40th floor. elevator one dumps you off on floor 39. oh look! Morgan Stanley's boardroom, "oh, hi important people, don't mind me as i just try to find the hotel." there's a cross over to the hotel elevator for one more floor. while i cannot complain about the view towering 40 floors over Chicago, the room was missing basic comodities, ya know, such as an in-room safe. "yes sir, we realize that the rooms do not come equiped with those but we offer safe deposit boxes." right, so when i attempted to use one i traveled back to the first floor, "oh, hi Morgan Stanley once again" only to be sent back up to 40 where they are maintained. you'll probably want to make sure that you're stuff is actually locked as when i returned the box i thought was secure was hanging wide open. granted nothing was taken, but the hotel offered no comfort as to what could have happened. the hotel feels less like a hotel and more like "so we have this extra floor here, let's just go ahead and modify the blueprints." i wanted to really like this place, but no, the view alone will not save a return.

Stayed at the BAC with a group of friends for a mini reunion. The rooms are very large and clean. Modestly decorated, with new comfy beds! We had a suite that had a couch and dining table. The couch fit 10 of us! No kidding! The best amenity was the view! Our suite looked out towards the East and directly in front of us was the Buckingham Fountain, off to the South the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. Pretty awesome, especially once it got dark!

parking - hmmmmm got lost down there. finally found our way to the small desk at the horse entrance. she checked us in but forgot to give us our key. so after we navigate the correct elevator, make several connections.... to the 40th floor, we discovered that we cannot get in our room. so funny. the rooms are 5 star quality. large, roomy, the beds are amazng. in fact i think we are going to purchase the mattress. showers are large and roomy (oversize tub) and separate toilet. our room had a nice sitting couch as well. Three connections to free breakfast. I joke but it was pretty funny to take three elevators to find this place. bagels, yogurt, fruit kind of thing. it was ok. next time we are going to take advantage of the fitness facility, and next time we will know what to expect! YES there will be next time!

Came here for a girls weekend away and loved it! Spa/hot tub was fantastic, accommodations were fantastic, and the views breathtaking. Would highly recommend!

To start, the front desk was completely useless when trying to explain where the best location was for us to park. Then, as my fiancé was parking the car, I ran into the hotel to use the restroom. I told then front desk I was checking in but would really like to use a restroom first. I was told there was nothing I could use until I checked in, and then given the cold shoulder. Finally the security guard to the building told me where the closest bathroom was. When we finally were able to check in, after signing superfluous paperwork (it is 2016, right?) we finally got our massive set of old school keys. Then 2 elevator rides later we finally got to the room. The space itself was mediocre at best, I've stayed in better Holiday Inns in the middle of Indiana, the only saving grace was the view. The lake looked stunning, and so did the federal prison, from our room we had a perfect view of the inmates volleyball court and into their cells (and presumably visa versa) Overall, the Buckingham Athletic Club was a poor attempt at a great idea. Unless your only other option is a dirty hostel, and you don't mind some of the worse customer service in the mid-west, then I wouldn't recommend the BAC to anyone, and will certainly never return

Date of stay 11-3-12 to 11-4-12 What happened to this hotel??? I have been a guest at this hotel 3 times in the past and have been very satisfied with the accomodations and service but this last stay will be my last. Check in is now on the first floor (it used to be on the same floor as the rooms). That went fine. I went out for while.Coming back, I asked the woman at the desk for an extra shampoo. She said she will be checking another couple in and would come up to the 40th floor to get the shampoo and it would be about 5 minutes. Fine. I asked her where she had to go get it and she said she had to go to the lounge. I said fineI will meet her there in 5 minutes. I asked her where the ice was and she said in the lounge where it was labelled ICE. I went to the lounge to get the ice. NO ICE. So 5 minutes and I will get the shampoo and ice. 5 minutes was not 5 minutes but 35 (thiry five) minutes later. She appeared and got the shampoo. I asked her for some ice and she said "Oh, I told you the wrong place, it is in this big brown bin" (that looked more like a 15 gallon plastic trash bin". Thirty five minutes wasted- obviously she was the only person working for the whole hotel. I asked her for a 5:30 wake up call. I am set for a good night sleep. The bed was comfortable. Well, instead of the 5:30 am wake up call, I received a call at 4:30 AM (They forgot about the time change at 2AM)!!! Lastly, to top it off, I went to the breakfast-now breakfast is just cereal, toast, donuts and a bowl of apples and banana with coffee, tea. I was waiting in line and as I got to the food an employee butted in front of me, with no excuse me or anything to get a used cup to throw out. No thank you or anything. My own children have better manners than that. Think twice before booking this hote, you would get better service elsewhere