Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago-Downtown — Hotel in Chicago

Mixed feelings on this hotel.

Valet: This was the worst experience I've ever had with parking. When we arrived, the valet was so backed up that 2 rows of valet was forming and we were all blocking traffic with no idea where to go or what to do. I called the front desk for advice and they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about and insisted there should be a valet spot for me to pull into. I ended up having to pull into an area that was a no-parking zone... going inside and letting them know where it was and to please move it asap so I'm not towed or ticketed. The valet people seemed to have zero urgency all weekend and understaffed. Wait times for them to retrieve vehicles were up to 40 minutes. In hindsight, I probably would have found a nearby parking garage with in & out privileges and done that instead.

Room: The room was spacious and set up pretty well. It seemed clean besides some slight discoloration on the comforter, and a long random hair stuck to the shower wall. We didn't spend much time in the room, though - so I can't comment on how well the appliances in the kitchen worked. The toilet was extremely hard to flush, I felt like I was going to break it - I had to tell my daughter not to flush it and that I'd do it for her. No toiletries were supplied besides shampoo, conditioner, and soap. Usually places will have lotion, q-tips, and make-up remover wipes... none of those were present. Ice machines were not available - if you wanted ice, you had to request it at the front desk.

Noise: It's somewhat expected to have a noisy atmosphere in the heart of downtown, but it was still incredibly loud after midnight with horns honking, police/ambulance type sirens, engines revving, yelling, etc... I know the hotel can't help that much, but figured it was worth noting. There was a loud bomb-like noise just before 1am - no idea what it was but scared me to death while I was trying to fall asleep. I was woken up to more police/ambulance sirens at about 6am. It's an awful location if you want to get any sleep... maybe bring ear plugs.

Breakfast: Breakfast was free, but not very good and rather limited. Eggs were undercooked (most hotels do this, I'm not sure why they can't cook them to the normal consistency of omelets). No waffle makers. The only meat option was sausage links. Limited yogurt flavors (only cherry and strawberry - and it was the kind that had pieces in it). Other options were oatmeal, bagels, bananas, toast, cereal, and tator tots. My daughter wouldn't eat the banana... said it was mushy and tasted weird - all she would eat is a plate full of tator tots. I don't blame her... I only ate tator tots and sausage links. In addition to the let-down on the food, the seating seemed limited. They have long booth seating that could fit a lot of people, but very few tables. Also, they had hot water available for a few tea packets, but no hot chocolate packets - my daughter was pretty upset about that.

Location: It's an awful location if traveling by car with traffic. It's an okay location though if you're planning on walking around for shopping or going to Navy Pier. Navy Pier was about a 30-minute walk with my slow 7-year-old. I think it was about a 20-minute walk or so to find the closest Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off tour bus.

Misc: The elevators were sometimes slow, with wait times up to 10 minutes occasionally. It's worth mentioning because we were trying to get down to our valet that was ready for pick-up and I got a message saying they were going to re-park it if we didn't retrieve it within 2 minutes - I almost missed the window due to the elevator taking so long... I didn't see any stairs to take instead of the elevators.

Overall, it was okay. I'll likely never choose to stay here...

TLDR: review for: king corner suite with sofa bed: PROs: -Great for kids, bring your own crib sheets if youve got a babe. Comfortably slept 1 baby, 2 kids and 2 adults. -Amazing breakfast provided -dishwasher and silverware/dishes provided -only a block or two from magnificent mile -clean room, no sign of any bug issues at all (I looked extensively) -fast and easy checkin/checkout -good security -indoor pool

Cons: -no in room safe. -beds not particularly comfy -pack and play provided rather than crib. Pack and play mat was kind of gross looking. Didnt provide a sheet for it. Add a sofa cushion and your own crib sheet and itll be just fine.

This place was wonderful. We came to chicago for one night as a family of 5, (3 kids aged 2,4, and 5) we got the king corner suite with sofa bed and ordered a crib to be brought up. I dont believe they had rollaway cribs (which is fine, those things always look like creepy asylum beds anyway) they gave us a pack and play and anyone who has ever owned a pack and play knows they dont clean very well, even when theyre clean they look gross with water marks and what not. I brought my own crib sheet and we used a cushion from the sofa and a couple towels to fill in the gap, put a fitted crib sheet over it and it was a cozy bed for my babe without needing to worry about the not so nice looking mat of the pack and play. It worked out great and she was out within minutes. My 4 and 5 year old took the sofa bed with no complaints, i brought them each a blanket from home to make it homier and they did great too. The view was great, the staff were kind and helpful, the hotel room was clean enough, i checked for bugs and everything and saw nothing. The mattresses looked fairly new, still totally white which was a huge relief for me lol i brought all sorts of cleaning supplies and didnt feel a need to use them at all. I was surprised to find the kitchen area came with dishes and silverware and even a dishwasher and full sized fridge! Fantastic. The bathroom area was a bit small, i think it really only felt that way though bc it was the only mirror in the room so we all needed to be in there as we got ready for the day. If there were more mirrors, even just one, it wouldnt have felt so crowded. The bath and toilet are separate from the sink like most hotel rooms are set up. The king sized bed mattress was not comfortable really at all and felt alot like a pull out sofa mattress does-decent edge support and little to no center support.

The breakfast was incredible and full, refilled constantly. Eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes, amazingly moist muffins, bagels, toast, cereal, juices etc. It was like a real restaurant style breakfast buffet we were allowed to take whatever we wanted up to our room, with trays to make it easier. This was a fantastic place to stay for families. Having a GOOD breakfast provided to start our day efficiently was a HUGE bonus for us as we had booked a stay at a different hotel the night before that was more expensive, in a worse location and had no breakfast provided and reviews mentioning some infestations. We ended up canceling that reservation and switched for this one and I cannot express how RELIEVED i was to see where we ended up. Oh! Another thing, i loved that the elevator to get in required a key up. Granted anyone could hitch a ride from a guest i guess but there was a security gaurd posted near the entrance, and the hotel couldnt be accessed unless a key was used to go up the elevator. I had a moment outside where i wanted to get away from someone sketchy and felt automatic relief the moment i stepped into the building, even with the sketchy guy standing just outside the door.

Great hotel 5/5...

It’s currently 10pm and I am at this hotel. We checked in last night. They ran my credit card 3 times so instead of a $200 hold for incidentals they are now holding $600. The room is clean- they take covid seriously which is nice. We are in a one bedroom suite and have five people. The bathroom came with 1/4 roll of toilet paper and 3 towels only. Unlike most suite hotels where the bedroom is typically the “parent room” this hotel has two beds and the bathroom in the bedroom. We have three kids who go to bed earlier than we do, so the kids take the bedroom but then we are stuck with the pullout. Do you remember those old pullouts from the 80’s? Well.. this bed is like that... but worse. I could literally feel every spring. It was so bad I actually moved to the floor in the middle of the night. The bathroom is redone nicely but you have to go through the bedroom to get to it ... again a huge pain if people are sleeping in there. The room does have a full kitchen which is great but what is not great is the elevator/stair situation. The main entrance is on the first floor then you have to go up to the 6th floor to get to the lobby. Confusing but No big deal.. the elevator is small, crowded, and slow as in typical hotel fashion... but don’t think you can take the stairs- you can’t. I tried to take the stairs from my room on the 9th floor to the 6th floor lobby but when I opened the 6th floor door it set off a very loud alarm. I then realized there was a note on the door saying that I cant exit the stairs to the lobby, instead It instructed me to go to the 1st floor and then take the elevator back up to the 6th. So now instead of 3 flights of stairs, i had to go down 9. what was worse is that when I finally got to the first floor the door was locked. When I tried to go back up the stairs the door had locked behind me, in fact all floor doors were locked and I was literally locked in the stairwell. Thank God I had my phone and my son had to come and rescue me. You don’t have to worry about cleaning service stealing because they don’t clean rooms if you stay more than one day. That 1/4 roll of toilet paper and those three towels have long been used. Don’t try and call the lobby to ask for these things either.. they take the phone off the hook. I even tried to call the lobby from my cell phone.. still a busy signal. Taking the slow elevator to the lobby (since I didn’t want to be locked in the stairwell again) did no good. There were 10+ people in line at the front desk and one stressed looking worker. I had to take toilet paper from the lobby bathroom.. and I guess ill be taking a shower and drying off with a wet towel. The front desk clerk made a huge deal of telling us when we checked in we always better carry our IDs because they have had issue with strangers just walking on in. There is a security guard but after dinner tonight we were able to walk right in. No ID check, no key needed to get up to our floor. On a good note.. staff was all extremely nice.. perhaps overworked or short staffed or something- they have free breakfast and my kids love the pound cake. Pound cake was good.. but not nearly good enough to make me ever...