Pros: Excellent location near north Michigan Ave, Aveda products, comfy bed, friendly bellman

Cons: tiny elevators, metallic orange wallpaper in the bathroom, $48 parking, $9.50/day internet

Tips: We parked for $25/day about three blocks away at a public parking lot located on the corner of State Street and Illinois St, diagonally across from the Courtyard Marriott. It was a warm & balmy day in Chicago so we didn't mind the walk.

Also, Walgreens 24hrs was around the corner--you can pick up snacks and water for a fraction of Affinia's prices.

We spent one night at this hotel on our way home after a train vacation. The service was exceptional. The room was amazing. I had a good rate and thought I must have been upgraded to a suite only to find out that it was a "standard room!" I never had a standard room with a living room, bedroom, separate office area, sitting room outside bathroom. The customer service was superb from check in to check out. I have never sampled this brand before, but will make it my first choice after this experience.

We stayed for 4 nights at this hotel--staff very polite and helpful! Concierge very helpful in arranging side trips and restaurant recommendations. We loved the hotel and our room that was immaculate and extremely comfortable. Best Location close to a lot of great restaurants and easy to get around town.. Overall, we would like to come back to this Hotel

I was pleased to find out that the Affinia is located next door to Gino's East Pizzaria. I've been coming to Chicago for years and had never tried Gino's, so this was the perfect opportunity.

The hotel is located just a block off Michigan Ave. The lobby is modern with a great painting of the Chicago skyline behind the front desk. We arrived in Chicago late morning and were fortunate to get into our room early. I always check TripAdvisor before booking a room and enjoy photos of the rooms and hotel. I was pleasantlly surprised when we entered our room (#704) to find it much larger than what appeared on TripAdvisor. The hotel told me the tower rooms aren't as big (the tower is also where the slow elevator is located per earlier TripAdvisor reviews). I booked a two-bedroom suite. The beds were very comfortable, complete with a throw and a bolster pillow. The bathroom was gorgeous, with a large walk-in shower and Aveda amenities.

A tip before booking a room at the Affinia. Register for your free concierge and prior to your arrival, you can choose which type of pillow you'd like, along with your choice of experience kit (we chose the yoga kit -- free to use during your stay).

The hotel has a beautiful rooftop bar, which gets very crowded on the weekends. We ate breakfast in the restaurant one morning and ordered room service the next. Both meals were very good and the room service presentation was quite nice.

The evening concierge was very friendly and helpful as were the bell staff and cleaning staff, but I didn't feel the front desk staff were as friendly or helpful. Any requests, however, were met in a timely manner. Also, I requested a late check-out since our flight left early afternoon and they allowed up to 1 p.m. at no charge which I thought was generous.

Back to Gino's - we ate lunch there on Friday and didn't have to wait more than 15 min. for a table, but the rest of the weekend, lines were down the block to get in. If you go, try the barbeque chicken thin crust - it's delicious.

I would recommend the Affinia. I like to stay in a different hotel each time I visit Chicago, but it will be hard to pass this one up next time.