This is a good choice for those who don't like standard hotel decor and don't mind not having much room. The recently renovated rooms are furnished with modern, comfortable furniture & fixtures. However, the left little spare room. My king bed took up most of the sleeping area -- the desk was against the wall at the foot of the bed, and there was just enough room to get the chair out to sit down. On the closet side, there was just enough room to open the door, which was about 2/3 the size of a normal closet (it was narrower than my full-sized garment bag). The only drawers in the room were a small set of 3 in the closet, about the size of a set that fits under a desk, leving little room for long hanging objects.

The elevator was fast for me, but you needed to use your door key card. it sometimes didn't read on the first try, but one it did, the trip was fast. Elevator music included Bjork and the Smiths, to give you an idea of the type of customers they're targeting, or at least the tastes of the staff.

A few minor nits: the breakfast was the standard HIE, but the first morning there was no yogurt and the two days they had omelets, many were overdone almost to the point of being burnt. My TV (HC LCD) had trouble with a few channels, one of them ESPN. And the square, flat sink basin ran a little slow (not sure if it was partially clogged or because of the design.)

However, if you're only going to be sleeping in your room, it's a pretty good deal. A very convenient location with a variety of stores & restaurants nearby, and a subway stop a few blocks away. If you're staying for a while, there's a Trader Joe's across the street and a Whole Foods a few blocks away. There's just not much room to keep stuff in the room and no fridge.

This hotel was cute and nicely renovated.

Pros:
Comfortable bed and linens
Modern clean innovative décor
Staff was friendly and helpful – especially the door men (they seemed to know more about local restaurants etc than the front desk!)
Great breakfast
Fantastic location
Good price
Nice bathroom (albeit smallish)
Accommodated a way early check in without blinking an eye

Cons:
Elevator was antiquated and took way too long most of the time
The room was just too small (we had room 1107). I pride myself as a New Yorker in putting up with small rooms, but this room takes the cake – and it was a Priority Club Platinum room upgrade too! There was literally only enough room to walk in the door, open the closet door, pull the 1 small chair from under the desk, and walk around both sides of the queen bed. No dresser to speak of either – just 3 filing cabinet drawers in the closet.
Only 1 small of center window in the room. I knew the hotel was sold out so I didn’t ask to see any other rooms so I can only speak for the 1 room.

To sum up – This is a really cute little hotel with great service and some nice amenities, but due to the size of the rooms I don’t think I would stay there again – which is strange, because small rooms don’t generally bother me too much, but it was just THAT small. If you find a great rate on this hotel and really aren’t going to be in the room or if you are by yourself it could be a nice deal.

Stayed overnight on a concert going trip. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the renovation. Nice room that wasn't a standard cookie cutter square box.

Holiday Inn express, also know as Hotel Cass, underwent a 15 billion dollar refurb thank goodness.

I book for 4 nights, got a ridiculously low rate of $40 a night all inclusive as i booked a hotel/flight package with lastminute.com. I was sceptical thinking i would be put in a room reserved for priceline/orbitz bookers but i had a normal hotel room.i even got some extras as im a priority reward club holder.

Hotel staff were all nice except one who needed cheering up, doormen helpful ordering cabs and giving out umbrellers when it rained. breakfast was good choice, not many hotels in chaicago offer complimentary brekkie. Location was great, a mile from the lake shore and navy pier but its a nice safe walk. Loads of bars around, hard rock is a 5 minute walk, excalibur nightclub even closer. John hancock tower is a 15 min walk, the mag mile is 2-3 mins away allthough i was dissapointed with the mag mile. Its nothing on 5th avenue in NYC

Rooms are small but modern, LCD tv on the wall with 5-6 HD channels and a good range of other channels. Bathroom is modern, no probs whatsoever, choice of soft-hard pillows is a nice touch. Free wifi was useful

I would recommend this hotel for the price its great, i cant see a reason to go sheraton or hilton next time im in town. All it lacks is a bar but there are plenty close by.

If im really critical id say the cleanleness isnt too great when you walk around the hotel lobby and hallways, in my room where the skirting boards meet the carpet it was full of dust and the coloured carpet really showed it up.