Helpful staff.
Handy for all transport.
Within walking distance of main locations.
Overhead trains on the loop can be a bit noisy at night.

Small point: Do they need to charge $1-50 to mind your bags for a few hours after check-out, whiler you kill time, before going to the airport !

My family of 6 stayed at the Essex Inn last summer. Overall, it was a very nice hotel. The location on Michigan Avenue was great. Right across from Grant Park, and in walking distance from The Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and other museums. The hotel has a shuttle that took us to Navy Pier and the Magnificent Mile. The employees there are generally friendly, and were very helpful in suggesting family-friendly restaurants, all which were in walking distance.

We stayed in a room that had a queen bed in one room, and then 2 double beds in another room. The room was very cramped for 6 people, but we managed. Each part of the room had a big tv, but the only kids channel we could find was Disney. The bathroom was extremely small, and was very cramped. The shower was nice though. The biggest complaint I have about the room is the air-conditioning. It was extremely hard to control the air-conditioning, and it got many of us sick.

The pool was good sized, and nice. However, the water was FREEZING, and it made swimming much less enjoyable. The sauna was nice though. We would spend a little bit of time in the freezing pool, and then would go heat up, and repeat the process. I really wish the pool had been warmer, but after you got used to the water, it was fun.

Overall, you get a good deal. The price was great.

Our visit to Chicago was at the end of Feb/beginning Mar and unfortunately we hit a cold spell. This was too bad because the Essex is in a fantastic location walking around downtown Chicago and the lake parks and museums and Navy pier etc etc.
The front rooms at The Essex have an amazing view of the lake and brandt and millenium parks across the street. Our room was on the corner with complete glass front and south walls!! We had an excellent king bed with down type comforter, lots of pillows, very nice color scheme, flat screen TV and wireless internet. The bathroom is very small but also very elegant. We had a great winter getaway deal so the value for this room was unbelieveable. It is much more expensive in the high seasons. The rooms in the other parts of the hotel would not have the views of the front corners but they would still be nice. The hotel has a big pool and exercise room and shuttle service to local attractions for free - nice touch. The restarount has good food for reasonable prices. There is an irish pub across the street with good food but expensive drinks. Buddy Guys Blues club is 1/2 block with good Cajun food. There are lots of small cafes in the area and hotels with fancy eats too. i would love to stay here again and hope I can find a good deal.
We walked as much as we could considering the cold weather (and we are from Saskatchewan!!) but i need to return because Chicago is an excellent destination city with lots to do. Fortunately it is easy and relatively cheap to grab a taxi to get you places in the cold and the 'L' the elevated train system, is very easy to navigate, safe and clean in the downtown area and only $2.25 a ride - a transit card would be even cheaper. The Magnificent Mile shopping area is within short walking distance as are most attractions. We went to second city comedy on the 'L' quick and easy and took a bus to watch the Blackhawks play. Also easy. the new football stadium is right across the park. Something unique - check out the stained glass museum at the Navy Pier - even the teens we saw there were impressed.
It costs about $35 - $40 to take a cab 15min from the airport (with tip). At the time of evening we arrived the shuttle service was going to charge us $60 and it was going to take almost 60mins!! Don't buy a round trip on a shuttle from the airport cause it is easy and cheap to get to the airport on the 'L' from local stops or the 'metra' train from union station. If you are good with the metro then it is easy to get most places on the metro and subway.

We spent 5 nights in August and the hotel was very nice, it was in a great location near public transportation which we used every day also the pool was very nice, I thought the hotel restaurant was a little over priced and it would have been nice if they had complementary coffee and donuts in the lobby for hotel guests, but over all we enjoyed our stay.