We spent three nights here in June, and were in general pleased, although not overwhelmed. Unfortunately, the owners were not there, and the atmosphere was therefore not so personal as you expect from a guesthouse.
A few mistakes were also made, especially a rather brutal check-out, which turned down the overall impression. The housekeeper had other guests arriving 11 AM, so she rushed us to get out of our room already at breakfast, complaining about her workload... It might seem like a minor detail, but it is exactly those details that make you feel welcome or not. In this case the feeling was: “they want us to pay and then get rid of us” - which is not a feeling I expect from a guesthouse!
However, a lot of other things were good. The room was charming, the neighborhood absolutely great, and the breakfast buffet OK. We do not drive, so we relied completely on Chicago's public transportation, which turned out to be great! Among the good things were also the very good descriptions we got from the guesthouse, which made it easy to go by train and bus from the airport. That is something all hotels/guesthouses/hostels and other should have!
The location was also fabulous, in a charming, residential neighborhood, extremely convenient for exploring Chicago! We loved the closeness to the park and the nice little restaurant North Pond, built in Frank Lloyd Wright-style. But there were also lots of other great restaurants right around the corner, as well as several food-markets, bookstore, theatres, and other things you need to feel at home.
Being Europeans, we walked downtown every day (although they told us at the guesthouse that it was not possible, it only took an hour or so and it was a nice walk). However, for those who don't like walking as much as we do, there are both buses and the lovely metro, the Loop, more or less around the corner. The neighborhood therefore receives a 5.0, and perhaps we would give the guesthouse another try, if we knew the owners were there.
