My wife and I stayed here for a "working vacation" from July 19th through July 27th. We had a considerable amount of luggage since we were staying for nine days. The bellmen were courteous and efficient and helped us with our luggage both when we arrived and when we left. They were able to check us in immediately even though we arrived at 1:00 pm, two hours early. We had a corner room with floor to ceiling windows on the 27th floor (paid an extra $10 for that). Nice views to the west. The room wasn't large and it had an unusual configuration, kind of "U" shaped wrapping the kitchen, dining, and sleeping area around a central bathroom to allow views on both outside walls. This made it seem smaller than it was, but it was fine. It's close to a fire station. With two glass walls, even on the 27th floor we could hear sirens several times each day, but it wasn't a problem. Full kitchen. Nicer counter top than I have in my own home. The refrigerator is great for leftover deep dish pizza and snacks. Close to many good restaurants and trains. It's a new hotel so everything was immactulate. And the breakfast buffet was better than most I have had. But the dining area gets crowded and isn't quite large enough. I will be staying here again the next time I visit.

First the positives: the furnishings were nice and comfortable, the fitness room was nice, and the breakfast was fine.

That said, when we arrived there was no one to help us with our bags and we had to lug all of our luggage and car seats up to the second level to check in and then up to our room. More importantly, our room (a studio suite) was tiny. With the pullout couch pulled out, there barely was any room to walk. As a further example of how small and poorly designed the room was, the bathroom door did not have enough swing area and would get stuck on the toilet when we tried to close it. This room would be fine for a person traveling solo, but for a family of four forget it . . . and even the solo travel would likely get claustrophobic.

Bottom line -- overrated.

I booked the hotel through Priceline and got an exceptional deal! The complimentary breakfast is great! They also have social hours in the evening on weekdays and one of the days we were there, they had a band and an open bar!!!
The location is excellent, walking distance to the shopping area. The tourist attractions are nearby too, and you can get a taxi to most of them for under $10.
2 issues: They have only 2 elevators for the 19 story hotel and we had to wait for it most of the times. Parking is $45 a day, but that is expected in a metro city.

Overall, I would highly recomment the hotel to anyone.

After reviewing tripadvisor.com I decided to stay at the Residence Inn/River North. This was a 'girls weekend" trip. We were greeted by bellmen who took our car to vallet parking and helped us with our bags. The staff was very helpful with getting us our room. We had paid for a corner city view room. They asked us if we wanted a higher floor so we could see more. (There are 27 floors) My mom was not thrilled with that idea so we were on the 12th floor. We still had a decent view but could see mostly construction. Upon entering our room we found a small kitchen completely equipped with stove, microwave, full-size ref and a small dishwasher. There was a small dinette set by the window. The room was shaped in the shape of a staple. The bathroom was nice sized with a sink and dressing area separate from the shower and toliet. The bedroom was a kingsize bed. They do not have doubles and a sofa sleeper. It was all very tastefully decorated and you could tell it had just recently been redone. It was quite and the bed was very quite. There were two thermostats in which you could control the temps in the two rooms. The breakfast was a nice offering of sausage, eggs, waffles, french toast, potatoes, oatmeal, cereals, fruit, yogurt, breads, muffins, and MORE! It was raining hard when we left. When our car was brought back the bellmen walked us to our car with umbrellas over our heads and they put our luggage in the car. It is in the heart of it all. Just acrossed the street was "Holly Cow" a Harry Carry steak house. We were two streets over from the Michigan Ave. If you want down about 4 blocks you were right at the Rainforest, Hardrock and Ginos pizza. Also, the double decker bus tour stopped right there. We took this tour and highly recommend it. It was a very nice stay and I would tell you to choose the Residence Inn/River North for your next stay.