Hilton Garden Inn Chicago McCormick Place — Hotel in Chicago

My stay was very uncomfortable. The stay did not begin on a positive note (which should have been a sign of things to come). I arrived to the hotel after midnight due to flight delays. I contacted the hotel prior to my arrival to inform them of my late arrival. Although I check-in online via the Hilton App, I could not enter the hotel using the Digital Key. Eventually, the front desk clerk unlocked the door for me. Her mood and attitude were not welcoming. In fact, she seemed annoyed that I was checking into the hotel. She was curt during her explanation that I would need a physical key; she did not acknowledge me as a Diamond member; and she seemed further annoyed when I requested a bottle of water (which is to be provided to Diamond members).

During both of my days at the property, there was a smell of marijuana that penetrated my room from another guest's room. I informed the front desk about it twice and nothing was done. I would smell marijuana coming through my bathroom ventilation, and it would eventually make its way to my sleeping area.

During my second night at the property, there was a problem with loud guests. At 1:15 am there were loud guests partying next door to me and above me. I contacted the front desk regarding the noise. When I contacted the front desk at 2 am, I was told, "We have a large wedding party". The size of a wedding party should not be more important than my sleep. The noise eventually ceased at 4 am!

Lastly, the lack of complimentary coffee. I have visited several Hilton properties during 2021. I am aware that breakfast options vary due to the pandemic. However, there has always been complimentary coffee with a full breakfast or a 'grab and go' breakfast. It seems like this property would rather send guests to the attached Starbucks than provide complimentary coffee.

After a marijuana-scented, sleepless night, it would have been nice to have a simple cup of coffee in the morning.

This has been one of the worst experiences I have had at a Hilton property. As a Diamond member, I have enjoyed Hilton properties all over the country. I cannot recommend this property to anyone who has business in downtown Chicago or is visiting the city on vacation. Based on my experience, business travelers will jeopardize their much-needed rest, and families risk exposing their children to...

This place by far has been the worst hotel I have ever seen. And I didn’t even check in yet.

The day I made my reservation on Dec 15, I tried the group code for the group I’m with ( which was still available). It kept showing me error every time I am trying to proceed with the payment, I was frustrated and afraid to lose the opportunity to get the room. I had to delete the group code and complete the reservation not to loose the booking due to rooms quickly running out. I thought I would call the hotel or costumer service to apply the code and they would be helpful and they can work it out. First on Dec 16 I tried the live chat they said they couldn’t use the code on my reservation and advised me to call costumer service I called the number I was provided, They said they couldn’t apply it and that I have to contact the front desk. Upon contacting front desk they said they can’t and that I had to contact sales and marketing. On Dec 17 I tried again and called Hilton team I was provided assistance case number and they promised to contact me back, The marketing team told us for the code to work again the MAS-ICNA should open a new room block so the Hilton garden inn could apply code for me. Now as the MAS-ICNA opened new room block I am contacting them again to make sure they apply the group code for me. They told me my reservation passed the cancellation time and they can’t modify it anymore. The lady in the front desk was so rude she was yelling at me then put me on hold for over 20 minutes. I hung up and called the sales team they transferred me 4-5 times without any one picking up the call. Unfortunately I was transferred to the same front desk staff member who told me there’s nothing they can do and was yelling and screaming that if wanted I can cancel the reservation I told her I only want to modify my reservation. She kept being disrespectful and when I asked to speak to a manager she hung up on me.

I tried everything through 10 days period of time, I spoke to over 10 people, calling costumer service, hotel sales and management, hotel front desk. No one helped. It’s a shame that a big name like Hilton with a supposedly good team of professionals handle costumers issues like this. They are losing...

On the day we were set to arrive our flight was delayed. While waiting to board I completed mobile check in and informed the app that my arrival would be later than 10pm - this was a prompted answer with the only other options being 7,8, or 9 pm. The app informed me that I’d have to speak to the check in desk at arrival for our mobile key to load - I was unsure of the reasoning for this as one was not provided, but assumed it was just an issue with my Bluetooth and we were good to go and would just grab a key at the desk when we arrived. I later found out the actual reason was that I had never used the app before and it needed to be activated by staff on the first use, but again this was not explained in the app. I did not call to inform the hotel of our delayed flight which was putting us past midnight because I assumed it was understood that I was coming - I checked into the app and did not cancel by the refundable date. Well, upon our arrival after 1:30 am we were informed that our room had been sold and the entire hotel was sold out. The front desk agent explained the policy that you are assumed a no show after midnight and with it being Lollapalooza weekend they were completely sold out. He tried calling nearby hotels but everywhere was also sold out for the same reason. After an hour and a half of this turning up with no luck we were stressed, tired and frustrated that a room we booked months ago was taken out from underneath us. We got extremely lucky at this point as someone actually checked out early in the morning and the desk agent cleaned that room for us to get into. Thanks to Steven cooks at the front desk cleaning that room (something that is not his job but no maids were on staff at that hour) we were able to get into our room and sleep at 4 am - he is the only reason I give the hotel a 2 star instead of 1. We understand it was no fault of his and he really saved us, but we are quite upset with the hotel in general and the policy that allows this kind of thing to happen. When we were dealing with stressful and frustrating delays at the airport our last thought was to call the hotel that we had already paid for to confirm that our room would be available for us when we arrived a bit later...