We chose this hotel because it was close to the office and reasonably priced. MISTAKE. The front desk seemed uninterested that we had arrived and in a hurry to get back to their chit chatting.

The room was like a jail cell. It was small, cramped and dirty. The couch in the room was COVERED in stains of god knows what and I refused to go near it. It was the kind of room where yo9u use a tissue to change the channel on the TV.

The bed was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever slept on. We kept looking under the covers at the bed itself because we were certain we were just going to see planks of wood. My boyfriend and I would have been on the couch in a second if it wasn't so filthy.

My friend whom we were visiting in Chicago booked us in this hotel last April 12-13. I won't complain about the dirty carpets and leftover tissues but about the security in this hotel. This hotel has NONE!! When we came back to the hotel the evening of April 12 from a day of touring the city, we saw that there was no complimentary water so we went down to 711 to buy some. Since it was already 10pm, we thought it would be safe to leave my envelope containing my credit cards, passport, some money and plane ticket in the night stand's drawer than carry it with us outside and we would be gone for only a little while. We were out for about 45 minutes. When we went out of the room, I noticed there were young people outside our room in the corridor hanging out. I thought they were tourists like us. Now I am beginning to think otherwise.

The next day, we checked out at 11 am. Before we left I checked the drawer but only the bible was there so I thought my companion already retrieved the envelope because she was the one packing our things. I was busy working on my laptop. When we reached Cleveland, we found out that the envolope was missing and my friend said she did not take it out of the drawer and she thought I took because I was working on the table. We called the hotel immediately but the front desk said we had to wait until 8 am to be able to speak to the housekeeping or to check the room because only himself and the doorman are in the hotel. There were no emergency number to reach anyone who could answer our questions. When asked if somebody checked-in after we checked-out, he said yes. The next morning when we called again, the day staff said nobody used the room after we checked out and they will check out the room and call us back. They called us back once to say they did not find anything but I said it should be there as we are very sure and where else would it go and there's money and credit cards in it. Hearing there were money there, he said they will investigate and call us back. They never called us back again and we made several calls, got connected to the manager's office and was answered by machines. So we drove back to Chicago early the next day from Cleveland for 6 hours. We looked for the manager and he met us in the lobby and he was very rude and unaccommodating. He would not even listen and entertain the possibility that my valuables have been stolen from the room. The first thing he said when he met us is that we are free to file a police report about the loss. He ordered my brother in law to leave when he suggested the valuables might have been stolen. He only wanted to believe that we misplaced it somewhere. But we are very sure that we did not. I thought my brother in law and the manager would end up in a fight because the manager was short of pushing my brother in law out because he suggested that my valuables could have been stolen. My sister and I had to stand between the two of them while my brother in law was telling the manager, " Don't you lay your hands on me!" Seeing the hostilty, we left. We did not come for a confrontation but with a hope of finding even just my passport so I can fly back to the philippines the next day. We spent the rest of the day at the Consulate to secure Travel documents to facilitate my travel without a passport.

So fellow travelers, if you don't want any trouble, STAY AWAY from this hotel!!! There are other hotels with relatively the same price but much cleaner and safer than Travelodge. The hotel has no security at all! They have no security cameras in corridor nor staff in the lobby at night other than the doorman and 1 receptionist. if your room is flooding at night, you'll have to wait until the next morning before somebody fix it, if they will.

We learned a painful lesson. Never take your valuables off your body and NEVER EXPECT A HOTEL TRAVELODGE IN CHICAGO TO CARE about what happen to them.

The Chicago Downtown Travelodge is in an older building, but it has been completely renovated and is very clean. The front desk was friendly and helpful. There is a cafe at one side of the lobby, at which I ate breakfast, and an inexpensive, good Thai restaurant at the other side of the lobby. There are plenty of other eating places within a couple of blocks. Some rooms have microwaves and fridges. The room prices are extremely reasonable for Chicago. There is a parking garage across the street from the hotel, but travelers arriving by bus, train, or plane have handy access to the CTA and Metra trains and buses. The hotel is also within easy walking distance of the Art Institute, State Street shopping, and Michigan Avenue. The only thing I did not like was the hotel's nonrefundable cancellation policy, which appears to apply to some reservations, so be sure to ask about this.

I was aprehensive at first because of a review that I had read. I must say though that I was pleasantly surprised. The hotel is dated and looks like a budget hotel. But it is comfortable, clean and the staff is friendly. I live in New York City and know that there are issues w/ pests in this day and age of green chemicals. And not a week goes by that I don't hear about some hotel in NY having some kind of issue. I did not find any reason to fear here. The beds are comfy, the location is great, and as I mentioned the staff is nice. This is all that I look for in a hotel. So I'm sure there are times that others will have issues, but who knows how their days went anyway.