We live in the suburbs of Chicago and decided to take a "family vacation weekend" in the city. As with most weekends anywhere, especially in Chicago, it can be hit or miss on finding a nice, last minute hotel room to accommodate a family. Fortunately, Hampton Suites had a suite available.

We were pleasantly surprised with the suite and amenities - full kitchen, spacious enough to accomodate a family of 4, indoor pool, free continental breakfast and extremely clean. The staff were top-notch and professional. If you are looking for a hotel centralized in the Near North area of the city, the location is as good as any.

Unfortunately, the BIG drawback that everyone needs to take into consideration is the hotel's proximity to the fire station. The station is literally 50 steps from the lobby of the hotel. Our kids are two of the soundest sleepers this side of the moon. They were both awakened at various times throughout the night. It should be noted that this fire station is one of the most active in the entire city of Chicago, which doesn't lend itself to quiet, uninterrupted sleep. Our best recommendation is to ask for a hotel room on the southeast portion of the hotel as the fire station sits across the street from the northwest corner of the hotel.

We just returned from a 5 night stay at the Hampton Inn. The suite was very large and roomy. Location handy to everything. Staff were courteous and helpful. Continental breakfast the usual. The only con was that we were located across from a firehall. This was very annoying and I'm a sound sleeper! I asked to be moved to a room further away from the firehall but nothing was available. My experience leads me to not recommend this hotel unless you bring ear plugs!

We just returned from ten days traveling around the midwest and especially enjoyed our stay at the Hampton Inn and Suites - Downtown, Chicago. Compared to surrounding hotels, this hotel offered great value for the price. Some of the amenities included an indoor pool for the kids and indoor hot tub for adults with an adjoining outdoor deck on the hotel's second floor. There was a fitness room and business center, which we didn't use, but we did enjoy the free hot breakfast every day. The offerings changed from day to day, but included things like ham, sausage, eggs with cheese and ham, along with the usual cereal, hot cereal, bagels, toast, and warm biscuits (which my daughter loved!) Especially nice was the proximity to so much of downtown Chicago. We never took our car out of valet parking. (Incidentally, valet parking with in and out privileges at this hotel runs $38 a day; it's $25 without the in and out privileges. We opted for the higher price valet service, not realizing that we wouldn't need it.) We walked to Navy Pier (just a few blocks), Macy's (the old Marshall Fields), and even to Shedd Aquarium, although that was 2 - 3 miles away and we ended up riding the free trolleys back. We also walked to Gino's Pizza East (I highly recommend it if you have kids, but take a few extra dollars as it's pricey) and in heading this direction, discovered our hotel was also within just 3 or 4 blocks of the EL. Finally, we walked to Millenium Park (also a great place to take kids.) Wednesday evening, we discovered the hotel offered a free manager's reception with wine and hors d'oeuvres. Overall this was a great experience and we'd definitely return!

Our family just returned from a holiday weekend in downtown Chicago. We've been to Chicago at least five times and really enjoy visiting this wonderful city.

We booked our stay at the Hampton after reading the reviews, We got a great rate including parking for the holiday weekend. Upon our arrival I asked for a suite upgrade and it was handled wonderfully by the staff.

Overall we were happy with the room even though it could have used some upgrades. We found the staff very helpful during our stay and the breakfast offered each morning was decent. The proximity of the hotel to Michigan Ave. was pretty good, about 3 blocks away. For the price we found the hotel to be in a good loaction with good access to all of the attractions via walking, bus, taxi or the subway.

Ok here is our BIG GRIPE about this hotel which will prevent us from staying here again. Directly across the street from the hotel is a working FIRE STATION. If you've ever been to Chicago you know how frequent these vehicles operate. Anyway, throughout the night (and average of 3 times per night) the trucks would roll-out of the station blasting their sirens and horn. I can't begin to explain how loud this was during the middle of the night. There is no way one could not be awaken by this noise. I don't at all blame the firemen as they are doing their jobs, but again it's not the best combination tom have a hotel next door to a firestation.

Just be aware if you do stay here you're going to have to deal with the extreme noise from the fire trucks across the street!