I stayed at this hotel for business at the end of September, into October, 2008. I thought the room was below average compared to the typical Marriott. The wallpaper was starting to peel in certain locations, the rug was a little worn, and the mattress was really hard. Also, I'm not sure if I was being more microscopic than usual, but I seemed to find lots of little hairs all over, including on the bedspread, pillows, and sheets.
Perhaps the worst part of my experience was the noise. My room was facing the main road and Rush University is building a new hospital across the street from the hotel. On my first night, they were doing construction through the night and I had a tough time falling asleep. They did not work any of the other nights, but they did get started pretty early in the morning. Furthermore, there are a lot of other hospitals in the area (it's called Medical District for a good reason!) and I heard lots of ambulances throughout the night. Of course, I traveled with another person from my office and he did not complain of any noise, as his room was on a different side of the hotel and he could not hear the construction or ambulances.
This hotel had a few positives, though. First and foremost, although you are not staying in the main Chicago downtown, there is a city bus line that is right outside the hotel and will take you downtown in less than 15 minutes for just two dollars each way. Also, you are in easy walking distance (about 3-4 blocks) of Little Italy where there are plenty of interesting local restaurants to dine at, and you can also walk to the Jewel-Osco supermarket. The hotel staff was very helpful, too. A worker at the front desk very happily printed out my airplane boarding pass for me (the free computer in the lobby - only for printing out boarding passes and not for free internet surfing - was not working) and she also reserved a shuttle for my trip back to O'Hare.
If you plan on visiting Chicago for pure leisure, I wouldn't recommend this hotel. You'd be much better off staying in "The Loop" (the main downtown area), but if you have business to attend to on the South Side, I'd check this hotel out.
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