River Hotel

plan for extra 30+ min every time you depart/retur

Prós: Location is perfect. Rooms are tiny, with no wasted space and good views. Lobby non-existent, but 2nd floor desk/relax space makes up for that.

Contras: They have no lot, no arrangement with a local lot, and only one valet on staff as best I could tell. This guy would disappear for up to 20-30 min, or flat out say it will be 20+ min before I can get your car. All that, for $55 per trip. Don't drive, or plan to find a distant garage if you want to pay less than $50-70 per night parking. Atop the valet-delay, they only had one elevator servicing floors 11-30s, and every trip up or down took at least 10 min of waiting (don't leave anything behind!) and every trip in the elevator was packed body to body.

Prós: The River Hotel is very conveniently located and has a nice restaurant downstairs that has a nice beverage selection and even deep dish Chicago pizza (along with a diverse selection of salads, pasta, and meat dishes). The A/C was great and the mattress was comfortable. We were able to check in an hour and a half early, which was very nice.

Contras: The room was tiny - literally the same size as many of the hotel rooms we stayed in in Japan. The toiletries and furnishings were the bare minimum - don't forget to bring the bar of soap to the shower if you want to use it there instead of at the sink! Finally, the elevator situation is terrible. Multiple times, we had to wait well over 10 minutes for an elevator to get to our room. Be sure to budget in extra time if you're on a schedule!

Not a good deal

Prós: Location

Contras: Smallest room I've ever seen. Valet parking outrageously expensive.

1st time in Chicago

Prós: Chicago is a beautiful city. The River Hotel couldn't have been located any better. Our view was ok nothing great because we were in the 2nd floor. The hotel staff was very nice. And the marble stair case was gorgeous. I liked that they had complimentary bottled water. That's help whenever you walking continuously around the city.

Contras: I had issues about several things that may not matter to some people but it bothered me. I asked twice for a sleeping mask and the first night they're were out said they'll get some in the next day. On the next day I asked again and they already have them out.?.? I feel they should have notated I requested one the first day and then have it ready the next. The bed linens leave something to be desired. They use a flat sheet for the bottom sheet which kept coming undone. The comforter wasn't big enough for the bed. It continuously kept falling off so in the middle of the night I had to get up and cover my wife back up. The room was for the most part clean. However I drop something and when I looked under the bed I saw individual skittles covered in dust :-/. And the restaurant... We tried to eat and drink there but the service was terrible. Took 20 mins to get menus and a water. I guess they're understaffed? But we left before ordering anything due to the service. The overal stay wasn't terrible. I would stay there again but I would never pay full price for it.