I booked a room at the ruby room for a long weekend for my boyfriend's birthday. After looking at the pictures on their website (and this one), it looked like all the rooms had a nice bed, a sitting area, and a nice modern bathroom. I certainly was prepared to forego the television and phone for some nice reading moments in the pictured lounge chair. What I did not realize, is that the regular room, priced at about $170/night before taxes, does not have the sitting area, and is a small, stark bedroom with merely a bed (a comfortable one), a bedside table, and a lamp. It was small by any city's standards. Needless to say, I thought it was way overpriced for what we received.

The housekeeper was very nice, as were the people at the front who checked us in, but you check in at the "spa," and have to lug your luggage into a boutique while you are waiting to be escorted to the rear of the building. It felt uncomfortable having all that luggage among people who were leisurely browsing the rows of beauty products.

The best thing I have to say is that the neighborhood is great. There were plenty of restaurants, bars and places to shop, and the L is a short walk away. I would stay here again, but only if the price were dropped significantly.

I have to admit - I kept wishing I had a pair of Ruby slippers to take me to a different hotel if I clicked them twice. I actually shouldn't call this a hotel -- and nor do they - as it is more a part of the Ruby Room Spa that is down the stairs a building over.

For the price we paid - around $200 on Expedia - the room was very disappointing. The only positive was the bathroom and that it was clean. The SPA checked us in and they weren't the friendliest of bunch - as I actually thought our arriving was more of a disturbance than a pleasure to meet/greet us. I did not like the fact that I had to climb 4 floors - which was actually many more flights of winding stairs with my luggage - not convenient and very scary actually coming down with the luggage as you land right in the street/pavement (the door seemed to be open a lot) if you were ever to take an unfortuante spill.

The room - has a bed, a mirror, a nightstand with an alarm clock, another nightstand with a lamp and that is it. We didn't have the extra sitting space etc. -although according to our reservation on Expedia we were supposed to have more deluxe accomodations, although after seeing the room - I couldn't imagine how so. The bathroom was the only unexpected delight. The shower is VERY nice and everything is is completely up-to-date. The AVEDA products are a nice touch.

PLEASE NOTE - if you are looking for a TV - there is NONE - at least there wasn't in May 2007.

Overall - I would stay somwhere else if you are looking for service. If you are looking for a place to crash and don't care about a TV, warm service from the staff, an elevator, room service - this could be OK if your destination is Bucktown/Wicker Park area - if not, it's about a $15 cab ride into Rush/Division area of Chicago - more $$ if you go further in.

Also, if you do end up staying here - check out Milk & Honey - it's a great cafe open for breakfast and lunch just down the street - also the bar on the corner Mac's is also a great haunt.

Overall - proceed with caution here.

I booked a room for the night of Memorial Day for one of the garden suites. The room was switched at the last minute for maintenence reasons, but did not find out until after I arrived and climbed four flights of stairs with luggage in a tight stairway. The hotel was officially closed for the holiday, but was told I was "lucky" to find someone at the spa to help. The room was switched to an extremely loud room on the main street where you could hear ambulances screaming by to the hospital emergency room a several blocks away. No apologies, just a snotty, unfriendly attitude was given for this inconvenience. The room was bland and not cozy at all. Fortunately, we did not accept the last minute switch and rebooked at the W. Much friendlier, cozier accomodations for $25 dollars more than the Ruby Room. So worth it in my opinion.