My husband and I live in the Chicago burbs and wanted to book a weekend to get away downtown. We've stayed in several Chicago hotels over the years, the Westin River North is at the top of the list. Next time we stay downtown, this will be the first hotel we will try to book.

We used our Starwood points, so our 2-night stay was free. So I can't really comment on the price. However, here's a good tip: Don't valet. It's $41 a night (plus tip). There are parking garages all over the place in that area. We kept our car at a garage a half block away - it was $35 for 2 nights.

Other comments on the hotel:

- The location was stellar. There are so many restaurants/attractions you can walk to that I can't begin to list them. Anytime we wanted to get a cab, the bell staff just waved and it was there waiting for us.

- The lobby is beautiful and very inviting for drinks. There is an onsite sushi bar in the bar - you can just order up some sushi with your drinks - very nice.

- The room service was very speedy (dinner [sushi] took 25 mins, breakfast 20 mins) and delicious. There is 24 hour room service.

- Check-in was fast and the staff was very friendly. We used the concierge as well as the bell staff and everyone seemed happy and was very helpful.

- As other Westin hotels, the "heavenly bed" was a real treat - as was the deluxe shower.

- We didn't pay for or ask for a River view, but got a partial River view that was delightful.

The only negative thing I could think of was our TV was a bit on the fritz. We ordered a movie one night and the movie kept turning off and returning us to regular television. This was really aggravating, but we were credited for the movie.

This hotel is highly recommended, you will not be disappointed!

I'm just back from a four night stay at the Westin, as part of a conference, and have mixed feelings about the hotel. The room itself was nice; usual size, comfortable bed, flat screen tv. As others have mentioned, they charge to use the fitness center, which seems over the top for their usual rates. The room service dinner I had one night was fine (but it was just a chicken caesar salad) and it arrived very quickly. I had breakfast in their restaurant one morning and it was ok .... and around $20.
This is definitely not the place to stay if you're in Chicago on vacation. It's a bit of a walk to Michigan Avenue and while there are some restaurants in the area, nothing is very close. It was fine for the conference since the shuttle bus picked us up every morning and brought us to the convention center.
The staff was inconsistent. Sometimes there were too many bellman in the front, and other times none (yesterday when we left, nobody was there for about 10 minutes and we got our own cab to the airport). The maid service was very inconsistent.
I guess I'd recommend it if you had business in the area or are in town for a conference.

The hotel is located in a prime location, but the hotel does not add up to the quality of the location, the room was just O.K. the restaurant was not good at all for the money, the food was sub par, the flavors on the dishes did not work well and not taste good, the waitstaff is horrible, did not see any management to discuss it with, this is probably a hotel that I see is poorly managed, to give this kind of food.This happens a lot in hotels, that is why hotel restaurants have a bad name, I also attende a banquet here and the food tasted badly, it was like they do not care.

My girlfriend and I were very impressed with the room, staff, and lobby at the Westin River North. Our room was very spacious, had a great view with a chase lounger to enjoy it, had a very nice bathroom (the dual shower heads in the bath were a definitely plus), and the flat-panel TV was great too. Also, our check-in experience was quick and the woman was friendly and professional. Finally, the location was perfect for us as tourists! Very nice walks along the river, and we ambled over to a great place for dinner, Shaw's Crab House.

Our great experience at the Westin was in stark contrast to the terrible experience at the Palmer House Hilton the night before (we switched hotels b/c of bad planning, but now we're glad we did make the move to the Westin!).