We (my college-age daughter and I) just returned from a 4 night stay at the Hilton Chicago. We found the experience very satisfactory. We were given a corner room which was quite spacious and very quiet. The beds were comfortable although the pillows were rather soft for our taste. The hotel is very attractive and clean. It's an old building, and halls and meeting rooms are found in unexpected places, which is a nice change from the cookie-cutter buildings we have now. Everyone on staff was very friendly and helpful-the bell captain even took care of our recycling! We liked the airline check-in kiosk in the lobby too-this was the first time I've seen this.
The bathroom in our room was fine but not generous. The big problem was with the floor of the bathtub, which was extremely slippery. It had those built-in strips that are supposed to provide traction but they were almost worn away, and no mat was provided. Adding to this, the drain was slow, so it was a dangerous situation.
We had two meals in the hotel, one of which was the breakfast buffet. As usual in a hotel of this nature, it was expensive but in this case, the price was very much worth it. There was a huge variety of food, everything from cereal to lox. We also had lunch at Kitty O'Shea's, which was fine but nothing special. Prices were a bit high but not painful. There's also a Starbucks in the lobby during breakfast hours, with a comfortable sitting area adjacent.
The hotel's location is a mixed blessing. It's across from Grant Park, with some shopping and lots of restaurants nearby. You can get to fast-food or a reasonably priced sit down meal within a block in any direction. There's not much in the way of shopping,though-the big stores are about a half hour walk or a ten minute cab ride. It's on the loud side though-Michigan Avenue is the front of the hotel and Wabash is in the back, with the El running all night. I like the train sounds but some might not.
The elevators were slow most of the time. There are 3 banks of them which all operate from separate controls, so people press buttons on all 3 banks, which means that extra elevators are always on call. There must be a more efficient way of dealing with this by now, right?
The most annoying thing about our stay was the outrageous price of internet access. It was something like $12 per day and $40 per week. There is a Caribou Coiffee katty-corner to the hotel and a Panera within 4 blocks, but still. It's about time hotels stopped this infuriating, extortionate practice. I'm happy to have them charge everyone a dollar a day for access. Surely that would be enough to cover the annual costs. Enough already! Can Trip Advisor help with this? Let's start a movement!











