Matt L.
Yelp
We had a fantastic stay near the end of September. We honestly looked far and wide to find a decent place for a decent price in Chicago, still having some sort of access to downtown. This was our place!
5-star service, very clean, and extremely accommodating. I was told that typically you need an extended stay, but with the busy summer season ending, they made a single night work for us, and I'm so glad they did because I already have two people from home (Utah) staying with them on their next stay. I'm sorry I can't remember where I saw this, but they were extremely accommodating for us to drive into town and drop our things off at 11am, before normal check-in times, and to our surprise, everything was ready for us.
Breakfast was so much better than any alternative hotel (I'm sure there are many high-priced hotels that contradict me). We were across the street, so we loaded our things into the car and walked across the street to where they serve breakfast. There was freshly brewed coffee, coffee cake, small ham and cheese croissant sandwiches, fresh fruit, OJ, and an assortment of other things in the fridge we didn't take (yogurt, things like that).
They gave fantastic recommendations and even offered to help us reserve our architecture boat tour (they only book with The Architecture Foundation) (non-busy season, rainy weather, so we waited until the day of to purchase) - which is worth the time and money!
The room we stayed in was the Garden room, bottom floor. We had the average amount of noise of people walking above us, with a few passer-bys on the sidewalk while our window was open. There was no train noise, safety concerns (big deal with a new baby). Go in knowing these are much older buildings, which makes them much more fun to stay in. They have obviously been renovated and well-cared for. The kitchenette was such a nice thing to have, and as a result, we saved money by not having to eat out every meal (as much as I wanted to).
We really wish we could've spent more time in Wicker Park, because the area and stores are quaint and hip. Perfect mix of small town in a big city. Saw a bit more of a hipster crowd than I expected in the evenings. Seems to be filled with a lot of young professionals.
Definitely worth your time dropping by.
Downsides: A little bit of a walk (which is the case pretty much anywhere in the city), but not bad, to the El. Make sure to use directions to get there, we had to circle around because we missed our turn and because of the one-way streets. So not much downside at all!
I always think it's worth putting the price I paid, cause it helps people ball-park the figures. We paid about $140 for the night (remember, slower time of year).