Love this hotel! Very neat and clean. Comfortable bed. Beautifully decorated. Great location. Friendly staff. The price was unbeatable! But don't use the vallet parking if you have a vehicle because it costs just as much as a one night stay!

My husband and I recently vacationed in Chicago for four nights at the Hotel Blake. Our room was nice for how little we were there, and seemed reasonable for a Standard King for $117 a night (AAA member). We were upgraded to a King room with a desk and other furniture, but the Internet was not working at the hotel, so the desk seemed worthless. Bathroom was huge. When I noticed our room did not have a coffee maker as the website indicates, I mentioned it to the desk woman who kindly wrote it down, then I never heard. When I went back the next night to ask in person, I was told the hotel was full and there were no coffee makers available. This did not seem acceptable to me, but I did not make an issue. Had I made an issue of it, perhaps I would've gotten a coffee pot, but that's not a fun vacation to me. There is a continental breakfast offered at 7a.m. where I came down and got coffee in my p.j's. One of the nights, my husband and I did get wafts of sewage smell. That was one night, on the fifth floor. I read a review from Oct. 2008 where someone also smelled sewage on the 5th floor. In warmer weather, I might be concerned about it being worse? Don't know what the deal is there.

The door men are the nicest and most helpful people there. Desk reception is cordial, responding to you as though you've pushed a button for a pre-programmed response. I suppose it's not the funnest job in the world, but the door men seem to be making the most of it. I wouldn't expect reception to solve a problem for me, and unless you had a problem, there's be no reason to find reception unacceptable. Just hope for no problems. We'll look into other places in the future, but the price certainly was right.

Located in the Printer's Row district (Loop-South Loop border) the Hotel Blake, while not at the center of the action, is conveniently located. You can easily walk, or ride either the bus or the El Train to most of the interesting venues. There are a good lot of restaurants (Potbelly's, Amarit (thai), etc) and coffee shops (Starbucks, Panera Bread) in the neighborhood if you don't want to eat at Custom House , on the main floor of the hotel. Again, you can walk to the Loop to enjoy the best.

Regarding the rooms, they are well furnished and seemed quite newly renovated. Light sleepers: ask a room away from the street as the windows are thin and let street noise go through more than usually. The downside: you loose the view. While they call it a boutique hotel, I would say it's fairly close to the edge of being a "mainstream" hotel.

Aside from that, the staff at the desk were friendly, yet not joyful, completely opposite to the doorman, who was always willing to help us on our journey!

At the time cheaper than most of comparable hotels, the Blake is definitely a good bet!

We stay in Chicago every year at the Hilton for the St Paddys Day Parade. This year we went on a limb to stay at the Blake because it was half the price. We were thrilled with this boutique hotel. The location was great (1.5 blks from the CTA blue line, which if you are coming from O'Hare is ideal). 3 blks from Michigan Ave and had several stores, restaurants, and coffeeshops in the area for quick pick-ups. The staff were very friendly and the room was spacious, nicely decorated, and clean. You could tell the hotel tried to provide special extras to make your stay more memorable. They also provided a basic continental breakfast, which was great. We did not go into the bar or restaurant but they looked lovely. This hotel also had free access to the work out area and free WiFi, all of which the Hilton do not provide. This is now our new favorite hotel, for our get-aways from the kids!!!