We loved the MDA CITY APARTMENTS, on the corner of Lake and Wabash, where the El train rounds a corner at the northwest side of the building. This means that if you’re in 905 or other rooms ending in a 5 facing west, you’ll probably hear the squealing of brakes consistently until about 1am. Yes, even five floors above the level of the train, you can hear the noise because the surrounding buildings amplify the sound. My husband, who is normally a deep sleeper, kept being awakened by the noise, even with four margaritas in his system. Since the building to the west is only about 10 stories tall, however, the noise may not be as noticeable on the upper floors. The location of the building, however, is excellent - about two blocks north of Millennium Park, at a fraction of the price of the hotels in this area. If you don’t plan to use the kitchen, you’ve got many restaurants and fast-food joints within a couple of blocks. And of course, the El train is easily accessible nearby, as are cabs and buses on Michigan Ave. on the east side of the block. There is no driveway or porter, however. You have hope for some curbside space along Lake to unload your luggage, and the limited parking is only available for an extra fee with advance notice. There is a public parking garage right across the street, but I don’t know anything about their rates.

As for the rooms themselves, this is one instance where they actually look better in person than in the photos. (The websites only show photos of the public areas, which are very chic, but I asked for photos of the rooms to be sent to me as well from the actual booking company, which is Leading Apartments. LeadingApartments.com or [--]. ) Apartment 905 is a (665 sq foot) floor plan, which seems about as much overall square footage as a king sized suite in hotels, but with a smaller bedroom to accommodate a kitchen and living room as well as an entry and bathroom. The decor is hip and modern but warm (without the W Hotel’s gloominess), with gorgeous zebrawood-looking floors, a vessel sink and subway tiles in the bathroom with an oval soaking tub (no jets), modern but comfy (two words not usually used together) leather furniture, suede bedcovers and pillow shams, flat-panel televisions televisions (a 30” for the living room and one smaller one for the bedroom), and dark wood used throughout.

You get most of the expected hotel amenities, such as an iron and ironing board, Neutrogena shampoo & conditioner and french milled soap, a coffee maker and a travel pack of coffee, 300-thread count sheets, high-speed internet access (though it’s not wireless; you have to use a provided ethernet cable and call a number with a code to register your computer for access), but missing are little things like tissue paper and in some rooms, a hairdryer. The phone hookup is not near the desk provided, but the phone itself if wireless, so it can be used throughout the apartment. The desk is sleek and modern (no drawers), and the chair is a real home-office type chair with a high back and wheels.

The apartment has a real kitchen with a dishwasher, full-sized fridge / freezer w/icemaker, electric range with stove and oven, and a full-sized microwave and sink, toaster, paper towels, a standard set of nonstick cookware with lids, a full set of real knives, silverware and dinnerware for four, a baking pyrex dish as well as a pyrex lidded casserole, plus cooking utensils, kitchen towels and potholders, but no dishwashing soap or sponges, cooking oil, or salt & pepper. A White Hen convenience store is located 3 blocks west on Lake where you can buy groceries. The granite-topped kitchen island doubles as the dining table, which saves on space. The living room has more than a usual hotel suite’s seating area with a full-size leather sofa, two comfy leather lounge chairs and a real coffee table and side table with table and floor lamps, and a modern rug. You could entertain here if you wanted to. The washer and dryer are stacked and hold smaller loads of laundry, but there is no detergent provided. The bedroom is small, but has a large closet and a full-sized dresser. The sliding loft-like door doesn’t fully shut out the noise from the living room / kitchen since it doesn’t lie flush against the wall when closed, but it does block out some light and sound.

We booked through Leading Apartments, which books MDA City Apts. at a lower rate than the online travel sites. For example, all rooms go for for $220 at Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, and Travelocity, but the smallest room can be booked for $165 through Leading Apartments, which is whom the online agencies have to book through anyway. Besides, if you book through Leading Apartments, you can choose your apartment floor plan amongst the available ones, and you can pay a little more for a bigger floor plan if you want one, while the online travel sites will simply charge you for the biggest floor plan, book you for the smallest (“studio”), and then you get whatever is actually available when you check in. The online travel sites also do not mention parking, which is only available by reservation for an additional fee. You will have to fax an actual lease and credit card authorization to the reservations office, but it was worth this extra step for us. The best thing is that, unlike the most other short-term apartment rentals available online (like through VRBO), the MDA City apartments don’t require a security deposit before you check in. The concession you make is to remove all trash from your apartment when you checkout and leave the apartment in “good and clean” condition. You also get concierge service, a luggage hold, and a stylin’ lobby to boot. The rooftop clubhouse / terrace was not yet open when we visited. For floor plans, go to the brochure at MDACityApartments.com.