Best Western River North Hotel — Hotel in Chicago

Extremely upset over the way that Courtney the "manager" handled an issue that I brought to her attention. On 09/18 I booked a room through a third party website and called to ensure that my room would be ready before heading over. The receptionist informed me that they did not have any rooms available and that I needed to come back at 8 am. I asked if there way any way for him to do an immediate check and again he stated that he could not. At that point I asked for a refund and he stated that since I booked through a third party I would have to call them in order to get my refund. I thanked the receptionist and informed him that since there were no immediate rooms that I no longer needed the room he thanked me and we disconnected the call. I thought nothing of it and set myself a reminder to call the third party website to request my refund. Today when I called they stated that they contacted the hotel and spoke to the manager Courtney who told them that she was not going to approve my refund request because I did a no call no show. I was extremely confused and explained the conversation that I had with the receptionist. I hung up with the agent and contacted the hotel and spoke with Courtney. I explained once again the situation and informed her that I was very confused as to why her receptionist told me one thing but now I'm being told something else. At this point I'm very frustrated because that just shows me that the receptionist didn't receive proper training and mislead me by instructing me to call the third party website for a refund. Courtney also told me that she did not see any documentation on her end about the phone call that I had with the receptionist, which infuriated me even more because now they have every right to say that I did a no call no show since my conversation was not documented. I told Courtney just that and told her that it wasn't fair that because of the lack of training that her receptionist received I am now out of my money. She admitted that her receptionist has only been working there for a few days and that she will instruct him on what to tell customers but still denied my refund. I asked for the name of the receptionist which she refused to give me, so in my eyes this "receptionist" is imaginary and for all I know could happen again to other people and he might not even receive further training. Courtney also needs to learn how to handle customer issues. It could've been so simple for her to apologize but rather she was very defensive and told me that it was my fault for not returning at 8 when I CLEARLY TOLD HER RECEPTIONIST THAT I NO LONGER NEEDED THE ROOM but nope there was not documentation of that of course. NEVER WILL I EVER STAY AT A BEST WESTERN BECAUSE OF THIS HEADACHE OF...

I generally stay at a way nicer hotels by standard however based on the photos I decided to give this hotel a try. I walk in to check in and the front desk area is nice and I notice some guest coming out In a happy mood from the right side of the front desk. I was trying to confirm with myself that I made a good decision by being overly observant. The front desk lady was really nice and kind. She checks me in and hands me my key card and I say to her....this is a decent hotel right and she says....I mean we are not a 4 start hotel but we have nice amenities and a pizzeria. I said ok cool. She said ok your hotel is back out the front door and head over to door number 2. Instantly when I entered the door I feared for my security because it was easy for anyone to access the rooms and not have to go past the front desk because building 2 was not connected to the building with the front desk. I noticed how muggy the air was as soon as I entered door two...I get up to the 5th floor and the walls are dirty and the halls are very warm. I get into my room and it is cool but damp, the room is small and cramped. You can tell the cool air in the room was fighting with the warm air entering the room through the door and the room had a weird smell. The air conditioning unit made a loud and weird noise when he cut off. My husband arrives later and he can tell by my commentary that I was not pleased. I said that we will make a decision to move or not after we go get food. We leave to get food and waited for 10 minutes for the elevator to make it up 5 floors which was my breaking point. At that point I was like...yes we are leaving. My husband was sweeting profusely while we stand and wait for the elevator due to the hot halls. We finally decided to take the stairs for 5 flight of stairs down so we can go eat. We get back and pack our bags to head to the next hotel. As I am checking out 3 hours later, I told her I didn't care for the conditions and that it was very muggy and hot to the point where my husband and I have started sweating at random times. She said that their building is old.....! said that's fine but we are leaving. I asked if I for a refund and she said "no". I said ok. Take care. A nice gesture would have been to not charge me for the entire day. However, I imagine and based on reviews many people chose to cut their stay short here. 1 imagine that the people who have voted this place 5/5 are those who get to stay in the facility/building of where the front desk is located.... not those who have to exit the front door and go to door number 2.

Best Western will never see...

First I must say that I have worked at hotels for the past 10 years and like to do hours of research before booking a hotel. With that said although I don't fully regret booking here. I do regret not booking the other option I had in mind. This property has great potential and some of the complaints brought by other guests are true but can sometimes be out of the control of the hotel. The lobby is were first impressions are made and I walked in to a lobby that had torn carpet and furniture. That is usually a sign that the rooms are in similar shape. Indeed my room had really worn out and damaged furniture which made me feel like I was staying at a motel on the side of the road. However, those are just cosmetic items that I eventually saw past them. The room itself was fairly cleaned and was cleaned daily by housekeeping staff. Mattress is encased in a zip up mattress protector which is a good sign that they do their best to prevent bed bug infestations. Water pressure and temperature worked great. Air conditioner although old and loud worked better than new units I've seen or worked with. This was my first time booking double beds instead of 2 queen beds and I must say it was a mistake. It was very uncomfortable for two full grown avg. sized adults to sleep in one of the double beds.

Some people complain about rooms and hallways feeling/smelling damp and and I agree. But I quickly realized why that is. The rooftop pool is amazing and many people make use of it. Unfortunately many people walk the hallways and go to their rooms barefoot as water runs down their feet and onto the carpet. Well in the summer months the heat will cause this water to evaporate and make all the hallways and rooms feel damp. Again this is an issue that is more of a guest caused issue than caused by hotel.

Overall I give this property 4 stars because of good clean rooms and all things in room working in good proper order. As well as the proximity to the city center and tourist attractions. This hotel if it addresses some of it's cosmetic issues and gets a good maintenance/upkeep team can make this a...