Congress Plaza Hotel

My family just returned from Chicago and I was perfectly pleased with this hotel. I can only think the bad reviews are, by now, outdated or that the writers missed the charm of this historic and quite enchanting place. The staff could not have been warmer or friendlier beginning with the doorman/valet. Yes, there is still a picket line, but we chatted with a few of those people as well. The desk clerk and bellmen were extremely helpful. We were even treated to a mini "ghost-tour" by the security people. The Gold Room is absolutely fabulous! Ask them to take you there! We then walked the haunted (?!?!) 12th floor and it is very CREEPY!
Everyone we spoke to was so proud of the rich heritage and offered wonderful stories about movies filmed there and the famous guests.
The rate was only $115/night for a large room with two king beds and a view of Lake Michigan to die for, overlooking the Buckingham fountain and Grant park! What a treat each morning!
We did have problems getting hot water and had to run the shower for about ten minutes to get it comfortable enough. The bathroom was rather small, but the room size made up for it. (Ask for rooms ending in "74"---those are the biggest. That was a hint from the staff.)
Conveniently located minutes away from all lakefront activities and walking distance to the trolleys, "L's" and the Sears Tower. Right in the middle of it all! Let the valet park your car and enjoy the city!

Pros: Historic charm, Close to Family Activities

Cons: Small bathroom, Slow hot water

Posted 07/12/08

I read the reviews on this page before booking the hotel, and most people who have complained about this particular hotel have no grounds from my personal experience. I loved this hotel! It's very old, has an amazing past, and has so many treasures to uncover. The Gold Ballroom is absolutely exquisite. The antique elevators are beautiful. My room was enormous, spotless, and had a killer view of the Sears Tower. The lobby is spectacular. I would only suggest it to people who have an appreciation for history. I found the staff there very pleasant and helpful - the Indian bellhop is a charming man and one of the doormen is very sweet. I did a little exploring in the building and found certain areas of it very creepy - almost as if I expected The Shining twins to appear at the end of the hall. Some hallways are pitch black because no one is booked there. In fact, during my week stay in Chicago, the only time I felt uneasy was in one particular hallway. The location of the hotel is right in the middle of everywhere. Two blocks from the Art Institute, three from Millennium Park, a brisk 20 minute jaunt to the Magnificent Mile and Chicago River. It's a very photogenic building, and I fell in love with its old lady charm. I'm returning to Chicago in June, and will definitely stay there again.

Pros: large, comfortable, quiet, great location, antique beauty

Cons: smells kind of weird, a little creepy in some areas.

Posted 01/13/08

DO NOT STAY HERE!!!!! After we checked in.. They gave us the wrong directions to our room & we got lost finding what we thought was our room, we finely found what we thought was our room only to find out both keys didn't work to the door.. Well unknown to us they have 2 of the same room no#'s. ARGH Then we wait 30 minutes in the hall for them to send up someone with new keys & no one shows up, we get agravated & went back down to the lobby (that's when we found out they have 2 of the same rooms with the same room no#).. On top of this they didn't have the room I reserved/requested & on top of all this the whole place was terrible, it was old, every thing smelled like curry, it was in terrible shape (the halls, doors, every thing).. Not worth the money & we didn't even get to see the room which we figured was just as bad as every thing else. We just told them to give us our money back & we left. If your looking for a romantic getaway go to the Essence Suites in Orland Park or the Sybaris.. We ended up at the Essence & it was well worth the agravation... Oh & the hotel was on Strike. They had strikers out front. ARGH Terrible Terrible Hotel.. Will not even try to stay here again....

Posted 10/28/07

If you're looking for a dump at which to stay in Chicago... may I recommend the Congress Plaza. This hotel will certainly grant your every wish... providing you wish for a smelly room with cigarette burns on the carpet and bedspread, an icy cold shower with the same water pressure as a cheap plastic squirt gun, an air conditioner that dates back to the Truman administration only capable of slightly warming the already hot and humid stale air, a television made before the invention of the remote control, and insects....yes, insects(bathtub insects, closet and dresser insects, and everyones favorite... bed insects). That's right gentle readers... Chicagos worst hotel welcomes you (or at least the former employees who are picketing out front for almost 5 YEARS will!).

I wish I had something positive to say about this flea-bag/crack-house of a hotel... but I don't. When in Chicago, STAY ANYWHERE BUT HERE!!! (you'll thank me later!)

Pros: I finally finished my work and was able to GET OUT of this dump!

Cons: there isn't enough space for me to list them all - such a disappointment - stay away!

Posted 08/05/07

I travel a lot for business and don't consider myself a complainer by any means. I chose the Congress Plaza because I needed a location convenient to downtown that I could afford for the weekend when my employer was no longer footing the bill. However, my stay here was so disappointing, I hardly know where to begin. I arrived on a Wednesday evening to a bustling front entrance with no doorman in sight. When I did finally get some help, I found the staff consistently dismissive. When I got up to the 10th floor, I was almost knocked over by the obnoxiously soapy smell. My room was no better - it was a non-smoking room yet reeked of cigarette smoke. The room was in poor repair as well - the cord for the curtains was broken and the room darkening fabric appeared to be crumbling at the bottom. The temperature control was rusted to the point of being unreadable. All electrical outlets run to the single wall switch, so I accidentally turned off the tv and all the lights when I flipped it. The window leading out to the fire escape was broken. I discovered this when I attempted to open a window because I couldn't turn down the heat. Bedding looked moth-eaten.
I was overcharged for parking even after contacting the front desk, waiting for 15 minutes for a manager to come on the line, and explaining to her that the vehicle had only been there for one night. "The garage doesn't tell us when you pick up your vehicle." Perhaps they need to establish a better relationship with the parking establishment before having their doormen send customers' vehicles there? The valet service provided by the hotel was shoddy - they brought me the wrong vehicle.
I've stayed in old hotels before was expecting a certain amount of disrepair in the room I managed to get at such an affordable price. This goes WAY beyond simple disrepair. Clearly, this hotel is not interested in providing a comfortable experience to its customers. DON'T STAY HERE!!!

Posted 12/06/06

Well.... This was a horrible hotel! Upon check-in I could already tell it was going to be bad. We requested a Lakeview Suite, which had a beautiful view, but was not worth $190.00 a night. Our bill ended up being around $500 for the weekendit also included taxes and parking. The worst part of the view was looking out at night and seeing all of the homeless people sleeping on benches across the street. After seeing that I decided that I was lucky enough to have a bed to sleep in at night. The 10th floor had a horrible smell and so did the room. It was so bad that I was getting ready to say move to a hotel down the street, but they were sold out already. When I went to into the bathroom there was hair on the toilet seat and also on our towels. The bathroom door would not close! Friends of ours were also staying at the hotel and had a room with two double beds and they said we had the nicer roomugh!!! The mini-bar was empty and also had mildew all through it as well. Dont waste your money at this horrible hotel.I cannot believe that they can actually keep there doors open. It was close the Field Museum, but that was about all. They also had people on strike outside the whole timethe staff said it had been going on for three years. Overall it was a bad experience and I would never recommend this hotel to anybody!

Pros: Close to the Field Museum and has a nice view of Lake Michigan

Cons: Smells, very old, dirty

Posted 08/15/06

Anyone who says this hotel is good, must be an employee. I am not looking for a 5 star hotel. My first room had a broken TV, was very old/run down, and the water took 30 minutes to heat and you could not cool it down. I requested a room change. Although the TV worked in the new room, it was run down and the water took over 30 minutes to heat. The sink never had warm water. I spoke with two managers who told me, "This hotel is over 100 years old and there is nothing we can do about the water problem, every room has the same problems." In my eyes this is unacceptable. Oh and their exercise facilities was a room with a good deal of broken equipment. DO NOT STAY HERE! Spend the extra few bucks to stay some place that can provide some comfort!

Cons: 30 min for hot water, uncomfortable, dirty

Posted 12/10/05

This place was a total DUMP! The rooms were old, worn out, and horrible, needing badly to be re-painted. There was chipped tile in the bathroom, and the bathroom tub didn't drain. The room was dark, without enough lights. This was supposed to be a premium hotel, but it was very very poor quality.

Posted 09/18/03

I visted Chicago this past August and was pleased with this hotel. It offers a great view of Grant Park and, if facing Michigan Ave., a view of the spectacular Navy Pier fireworks. This hotel is OLD--it reminded me of the hotel in The Shining. The hallways could be straight out of the film. In terms of the hotel being haunted, we did not see anything too creepy. Just a child's shoe hanging from the sprinkler and the television turing itself off twice. All in all, this hotel has much to offer for a relatively cheap price. I would stay here again.

Pros: Good Location, Great Views

Cons: Old, No pool

Posted 09/17/03

If you want to travel to Chicago and save a lot of money on hotel prices, stay here. Yes, the room service is bad, yes the food is bad, yes the people are rude, yes the rooms are older and not so nice BUT one of the best rates for DT Chicago.

Pros: Cheap, Cheap, Cheap

Cons: Older Hotel, Rude, Horrible Resturant

Posted 08/24/03

I've stayed at cheaper hotels that were a lot nicer. Strike going on out front, front desk forgot about deposit on phone so I couldn't use it, stains on carpeting everywhere, room was musty smelling, 25 minutes for hot water, looked like 2 year olds had painted the walls, bellman (about 70) telling us we had to give him a tip to store our luggage. The only good thing was the location to all the sights I wanted to see and security.

Pros: location

Cons: run down, poor service

Posted 07/21/03

We visited on a business trip. We had three rooms. The price was the only thing good about the visit. The orange water flowing into the tub eventually tuned clear. No cold water flowing to one shower. Two of three windows in the room with broken latches. The front desk did not have time to look up who was in which room for a call about a family emergency, so the call was simply not put through. To top it off, the hotels staff was on strike picketing around the clock. They in particular turned the volume up at 4am. But they were polite, when you looked out the window to see what was going on, the would all scream GOOD MORNING to you. It is a very good location though, just not a very good hotel.

Pros: Location, Price

Cons: Upkeep, Service

Posted 06/25/03

You can tell this place is cheap when you stay here. You can see where they cut cost so that it will stay cheap. I stayed there a few weeks ago and was not happy with a lot of things at this hotel. The room service was bothersome. They would come by ever half hour even when we would tell them not to come. The room service came twice with NO CHANGE. And urged me to put it on the room, which i did not want to do. The hotel maintainance had to come and they took two hours. Then they were unable to fix out tub and we had to change rooms. Which made us late for an engagement we were suppose to go to. The front desk was rude and very childish. When they would answer the phones they were very unprofessional. I do not recomend this place!

Pros: inexpensive, Great looking lobby

Cons: cheap, shabby looking rooms, water pressure awful

Posted 12/22/02

Stayed here Nov 2002 for $99 per night.
I would recommend this place without hesitation.
don't look at the map and think it is miles away from the action ... it's only really a 30 min walk to the main shops at the mag mile and the loop gets you there even quicker.
... sure it is showing its age but the rooms are big and comfortable and the staff are very friendly.

Pros: Affordable, comfortable, grand style

Posted 11/21/02

I really love the Congress hotel! The lobby is amazing and so was the room! We came down to chicago to see the fireworks on the thrid of July and i was amazing. We had a lakefront room with all the amenties. I will definetly cme back and stay at the Congress anytime.

Pros: Location, view, SERVICE

Posted 07/24/02

I spend alot of time in Chicago and the Congress Hotel is my favorite Hotel. The rooms are huge and very comfertable. The view, over looks buckingham fountain and the lake, which is the best in the city. The location is next to all the best Museums, and you are less then a mile from The mag mile. Next time you are in chicago you should stay at the Congress hotel!

Pros: View, Service, Location

Posted 07/24/02

This place looks very fancy from the website, but once you get a closer look, you'll see why we were dissapointed. It has a casino look to it from the front hall and the lobby is pretty. The lady at the front desk was not friendly at all, however, the concierge men were all very helpful. They put us in the UGLIEST room! Big floral print bedspread and our view from the bay window was blocked by a fire escape! The maids are very annoying. I was napping with a Do not Disturb sign up and they knocked so I told them I didn't need them. They called a couple minutes later and said they were coming in. I don't think they understood English. So I had to get up so they could come in. What a pain. DO NOT STAY HERE. I wish I would've read the reviews before.

Pros: Location

Cons: Falling Apart

Posted 05/31/02