Best Western Grant Park Hotel — Hotel in Chicago

Updated review (posted Feb 28): I spoke to the general manager on Feb 24th about compensation for the issue and missing items. He promised we’d get valet parking refunded and the hotel stay refunded. So far, as of Feb 28th, we’ve only gotten valet refunded.

Original review (posted Feb 23): They (without permission) changed our reservation, took our belongings, and threw out other items we had, costing us probably $200+.

We booked a 2 night stay for MagicCon. We stayed the first night and woke up around 8am on day 2. We went to MagicCon and came back to what we thought would be our room around 8pm. We heard people laughing inside and our room key no longer worked. When I went downstairs, we were informed we were supposed to check out at noon. I said, no, I booked a two night stay. The guy at the counter didn’t believe me until I showed him my confirmation email. Then, he checked the system, which said our reservation was changed to have us checking out after one night. This change was made at around 7am, before we woke up, and had no notes regarding why the change was made. I never received a call, email, or confirmation about this change, and they did not contact me to let me know we were supposed to check out or get our belongings. They did give us a different room.

It took them about an hour to find our belongings, but we are missing all of the Premium items we got for attending MagicCon, which was approximately $200+ in value. They also threw away our tooth brushes and food, so we lost about $50 in left overs and had to spend another $50 or so for new food and tooth brushes/tooth paste. In total, this mistake cost us $300+.

I was told by the supervisor that I would be contacted this morning (Feb 23) about the resolution for compensation. I was not contacted and went to talk to the woman at the desk, who told me the earliest I would be contacted is Monday or Tuesday. I had little faith we will be compensated for the missing items.

Regarding the rooms and service, both rooms had issues. One room had a broken drain and the second room I had to manually flush the toilet using the drain inside. The valet was awful, and we were told it would take no more than 10 minutes to get our car. It took over 30. The valet didn’t want to give us our keys, either, because they had thrown out the valet slip we got. The front desk lady rudely said “they lost it” as if it was our fault that they threw out our belongings.

Location was the only plus for our purposes.

Will update my review once they contact me to discuss the compensation for the stress, missed plans, and the missing items. I have little faith they will offer us even near the amount...

So for context, we had just come from a different hotel where our experience was completely different, so that may have affected things even more. I think it’s important to start with staff behavior, as of course the most important thing when you’re on holiday is how people make you feel.

This was the most unhelpful group of hotel staff i’ve ever encountered. I’ve stayed at a range of hotels, from La Quintas to higher end and I can honestly say this group needs some training on proactivity and customer service. Even if the outcome is the same, there are ways to communicate to make the customer feel valued. For example “May I request a late check out of an hour”. Instead of a short “I’m sorry but no”, maybe pause and say “you know what I think we are full but let me check on that..” pause a few moments and then still deliver the answer is no. Humor us, makes us feel like you actually want to help. Every single question we asked the staff, both the male group and female group - the response was always either no or deferred to someone else. I would honestly describe the treatment as a bit lazy and lacking initiative.

The rooms were a fine size, but this hotel has not updated to pump soap and shampoo, which means their mini single use bottles are quite wasteful, I didn’t feel comfortable using them so I just used my own stuff. I prefer hotels that have the refillable pumps so they show they prioritize their impact.

The bathtub and sink didn’t drain properly which was a gross effect.

The windows don’t open, which isn’t a big deal but for someone who likes fresh air or needs more oxygen intake, can be a nuissance. The AC is also quite loud.

Housekeeping did not do a good job cleaning at all. They essentially took out the trash and left the rest of the room in order, which may be fine for some but we did request a more thorough clean.

The location isn’t the best for tourists as it’s not walkable the way hotels in Mag Mile are, but if you’re comfortable with transit, there are a good amount of buses and subways near by. Grant Park and Millennium park are near. Uber prices were also super reasonable for us.

Would not recommend for more than a 2 night stay just based off front desk unhelpfulness alone, the other stuff make it a guarantee we won’t be...

I’ll start out by saying the positives. The view was incredible. The water pressure of the shower was good for a hotel. The breakfast vouchers for the nearby brunch was an affordable meal.

The negatives, well there’s quite a bit. For starters the valet that you have to pay for would’ve been nice to know before hand. The valet guy I had was rude and had a lot of eye rolls and I imagine it’s because I didn’t tip him. I was already paying $120 for 2 days for valet that I was unaware of having to pay.

The room. Was a blast from early 1990’s. The fabric on the walls to the carpet I can confidently say has not been replaced in decades. It was the worst musty smelling hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. I had a difficult time breathing and sleeping due to the smell.l and so did my child.

The air conditioner runs and cools off the room but within seconds the cold air is sucked out of the room due to lack of insulation. So it was very cold then hot within minutes at all times. The room temperature fluctuation was uncomfortable.

You can hear everything in the hallway. The people talking, doors shutting.. there’s just no insulation and I felt like I was in a paper room.

The vending machines on every floor were sold out of water. The hotel does not provide bottled water at the front desk either. They have a tiny water pitcher with plastic toss away cups with a sign that says “do not fill your bottle”.

There’s homeless people that linger out front and the staff does not shew them off. Which was uncomfortable as a woman traveling with her child.

The elevators are the TINIEST elevators I’ve ever been in. And it really sucks when you’re on the 9th floor coming down and it makes stops to pick up other people and 5+ people unconsciously try to squeeze in with you. (Very scary) The elevators are loud and obnoxious so I can’t imagine what the rooms sound like that are right next to the elevators.

All around, the stay was subpar for I paid for. Almost $800 for two days and nothing to enjoy but the view was a real let down.

I would suggest staying at the Hilton a few blocks down. I made a mistake staying with Best Western. Maybe if their valet and concierge was more polite, I wouldn’t be writing this review. It was not an enjoyable stay...