Outmoded and worn furnishings combine with some poor original design choices to produce a drab place to stay. This hotel's five-star rating needs a downgrade!

When I visited this hotel 14 years ago, The Fairmont was among the classiest brands. No more. My 29th floor room was expansive, but dark -- only one small window and one light was not working. The upholstery was frayed, the bathtub faucet produced only a trickle of water, and the room's door didn't close unless you pulled on it in a certain way. Worse, the management has filled the room with price lists and displays of things to sell you, with one set of snacks even in a large tacky plastic case on the dresser. It was like sleeping in an old vending machine, but when I looked for a pen to take a phone message, there was none to be found.

Other reviewers remarked that this hotel "needs updating," but I think some of the original design choices are also to blame. For instance, someone decided to place a series of heavy doors in strange configurations. I couldn't sit on the toilet without leaving the door to the toilet cubby open -- the space wouldn't accommodate my legs. (I am not unusually tall.)

There are so many great hotels in Chicago that deserve five stars, that the Fairmont shouldn't be able to compete. See my profile for better ideas.

Niftyc

We stayed at the Fairmont for a romantic getaway. The view from the 33rd level was spectacular. We liked the breakfast buffet a lot (ca $30). Parking in the nearby Millenium Garage was not problem - its less than 3 minutes walk and quite cheap. We stayed during the christmas time and enjoyed the long night in the zoo - we really recommend doing this. Overall, the hotel was in good shape and we got a high value for a low price, at about $150 per night. This was ways cheaper than any other hotel in this category in a comparable location.

We got a great deal on this hotel, just $91 found through travelzoo. We only stayed one night, but were very impressed.
The sevice was fantastic from the moment we stepped up to the property. The hotel smelled wonderful and was immaculate.
Our room, while not enormous was perfect. We had a great view of the city and lake. The bed was extremely comfortable. We never heard any noise outside of our room.
The bathroom was nice sized considering we must have had one of the smaller rooms in the hotel, two could get ready very comfortably.
Location was perfect, just off Michigan Ave and steps away from Millenium Park.
We would definetly stay here again, especially if we could get this great deal!

My husband and I stayed at the Fairmont on Thanksgiving night for a short little get away. We had a great time!

First of all, because of it being Thanksgiving, we got a fantastic deal using the Fairmont's website ($129/night excluding taxes). Check-in could not have been more quick or efficient. I even commented to my husband in the elevator up to our room that I have never checked-in to a hotel so quickly! When making the reservation on-line I wrote in the "special request" box that we would love a fantastic view for our quick romantic get away, not knowing if anybody ever reads them or if it makes any difference. Well, they read them, and the woman who checked us in read it back to me (which sort of embarrassed me) and then gave us a free up-grade to the 30th floor with a wonderful view of Lake Michigan.

The room was beautiful, as you can see from our pictures. It looked brand new and was spotless. The room was spacious, had a large flat screen TV, and was just overall lovely. The bed and pillows were comfortable as was the temperature in the room. Our bathrobes were cozy, the water pressure great. Anything you can think of was just what you would expect from a five star. The only thing that was not perfect was the coffee maker. It was some sort of fancy espresso deal and we think it was broken. We had very bad cups of coffee. But that wasn't enough to ruin our good time.

Location is perfect! It is just north of Millenium Park. That means that you can park in the Millenium Park Parking Garage for $20.00 a day (instead of the outlandish prices charged at hotels) and walk just under two blocks to the hotel. The hotel is just a few blocks from Macy's (formerly Marshall Fields) and is a short walk to the river. We went out Thanksgiving evening and had a fabulous walk north of the river to see the Christmas lights and then found a little pub to enjoy a few drinks in. Wonderful time. The next day we walked to the Christkindlmarkt (which is lots of fun...you should go if you're in town around Christmas) and saw the Macy's window displays. Chicago is just so great anyway, but we had a fantastic getaway! And the Fairmont was icing on the cake and was a nice home base for our activities.

Check out was smooth...but we were charged $20 for items that we never took out of the mini-bar. I found this when we returned home. No big deal. A quick phone call and the charges were promptly removed.

We were really lucky to get such a bargain for our room. It made it that much grander. But, I would definitely recommend this hotel to any vacationers or weekenders.