I stayed one night at the Travelodge Chicago Downtown this past weekend with two girlfriends. We wanted a cheap hotel in a decent location. This hotel has both! We never expected this hotel to be 5 Stars, and it wasn't, but we were pleasantly surprised! The main thing we were hoping was that the hotel would be CLEAN and we would feel safe. The outside, lobby, elevators, and hallways were all clean. Everyone who worked there and who were staying there were very friendly. Most other patrons of the hotel are young budget travelers like us. We were on the 6th floor, room 605 I think. Our room was HUGE. We had two double beds, which were across from each other in the long room. Two windows, a TV, an upholstered chair and desk, even a kitchenette! We never used it but it appeared very clean. Our bathroom was spotless! We had plenty of clean towels and soaps etc. The bathroom actually seemed like it may have been updated recently. The hotel smelled like a hotel but it wasn't a noticeable stench or anything. The carpets didn't appear stained or dirty (though I did wear my shoes in the room as a precaution), nor did the blankets or the walls. The room had two large closets, one with a safe, which I would recommend using if you were planning on leaving anything important in the room. Overall we felt the experience was just fine! I've stayed the night in friends apartments that were WAY nastier than this place. I will say that I probably wouldn't have stayed in this hotel alone as a young woman, but our group of three women felt perfectly fine together in this hotel as a group. One bit of advice: If you are a light sleeper, take a sleeping pill or ear plugs because the elevated train is catty corner from the hotel, and there were a few car alarms going off in the night. If you want a pretty decent location to stay in Chicago for a night or two, the Travelodge is a perfectly fine choice.

My room was dirty, run down, noisy (window wouldn't close all the way and lots of street noise), the bathroom smelled strongly of mildew, the carpet was dirty, the bed sheets stained, small rough towels, cheap toilet paper, the bedspread tattered, the furniture beat up, no desk, etc.

The location is close to Grant Park and not far from Millennium Park. There's a decent collection of shopping, restaurants, etc. within a few blocks. It's a bit more of a walk from the Orange and Blue lines of the el trains. A Metra stop is close by as well. The two restaurants attached to the lobby are both awful.

Besides the location, the only positives were the free WiFi and nice front desk staff. The staff almost seemed apologetic about the condition of the hotel.

In summary, it seems they haven't spent a dime on much of anything at this hotel in a very long time. It badly needs a remodel, new carpets, linens, furniture, etc. I suspect you can find a better deal in the area. I certainly won't stay at the Chicago TravelLodge again.

I agree with other reviews that says it is loud. The train literally runs about 100 feet from the building. But I think that is mostly because the windows are REALLY old and you hear all the noise coming in from them. By "newly remodeled" they mean Paint Coat number 862 on the walls, poorly applied I might add. Talking to them on the phone is just about pointless. I called twice and both times seemed like I was just bothering them. In person they were much friendlier. The bellman was quite nice actually. Of course housekeeping was knocking on my door starting at 8am to clean the room, which was kind of annoying every half hour... I would not recommend this hotel if you have any allergies, especially to dust. My room really could have used a thorough cleaning, but it was livable for one night. I did not have any bed bug issues, so that was good. The bathroom smelled of stagnent water, which I believe was the shower curtain. The tub was REALLY deep. Had the tub been clean, I definately would have relaxed in a hot bath, but there was slight coat of scum on it, so I decided to NOT be a human scouring pad. But, I guess in comparison to other rates in the area, it was cheap. If you are looking for a hotel experience, this is definately not your place. If all you need is a bed to sleep in for a few hours and a hot shower, you should be fine. Just bring a pair of earlplugs unless you are a really sound sleeper.

We stayed here mid April 2009 and got a very good rate through a 3rd party website. The Hotel looked to me like it was the first Travelodge ever made! The place is in desperate need of a refurbishment. The Room was fairly small but dirty and dark. The carpets were once red but now almost black with worn patches and stains. The bed had obviously had its fair share of sleepers and was in need of changing. The noise from the streets was so loud I was continuously waking up throughout the night. I do believe though that with a complete refit this hotel would be a nice place to stay. It’s within walking distance of Grant Park, The Navy Pier and the Sears Towers. In the lobby there is a great value breakfast bar / cafe which I believe is independently owned, which we went to every morning for breakfast sandwiches. I would only stay here if you are on a budget and need a hotel in which you just lay your head down for the night.