L7 CHICAGO BY LOTTE — Hotel in Chicago

If you love being bombarded every evening from sbout 8:00 PM to midnight by incessant "drumming" on a plastic bucket by a street person (possibly seeking to extort payment to leave from neighboring businesses) whom the police (despite, I have learned, repeated complaints) never silence, by all means make the serious mistake of booking a room at the L7 Chicago.

Upon my arrival, the young man at the desk noted that I was only on the second floor, and asked if I would like a higher room.

I responded affirmatively, but he was unable to locate another room, so I accepted the key (cards) to Room 215. Upon entry, I was pleased to find the room to be clean, spacious, and comfortable, with large windows looking out over Wacker and Wabash.

Upon returning to my room after an excellent dinner at The Dearborn a few blocks away, I soon realized why the young man sought to move me to a higher floor. The cacophony of obnoxiously pounding bass from tricked-out vehicles and shriek of motorcycles in the street outside was compounded by a street person with no musical talent whatever "drumming" manically and incessantly on a large plastic bucket.

When I eventually reached the limit of my tolerance and patience for his disturbance of the peace, I called the front desk to complain.

The woman with whom I spoke explained apologetically that they have previously complained about it to the police, without effect. She explained that they have even previously tried to induce the "drummer" to leave, but he persists. She offered me ear plugs.

The "drumming" was complemented for a half-hour or so by jerks on loud motorcycles who inexplicably loitered in the vicinity.

Finally, the cacophony subsided at about 1:00AM, and I was able to rest.

In the morning, I requested a room change to a higher floor, but the only rooms they offered me (not the same as the only room that would eventually be available after cleaning) were rooms directly across from the elevator that would only present another form of disturbance of the peace.

I had packed my bags in anticipation of a room change, and proposed checking them at the desk for the day (while I visited a special exhibit at the Art Institute, the main focus of my visit to Chicago) until a much higher, better room away from the cacophony became available.

The young woman at the desk told me no rooms other than the rooms across from the elevator would be available.

After much discussion, it became evident that the problem was not that no other, better rooms would become available, but that they were unwilling to give me a quieter room because I was not paying the rate for a quieter, inhabitable room.

The L7 should not market the room I was assigned without a warning that, unless you are deaf, noise from the streets outside will most assuredly drive you nuts.

However, if the L7 were truthful in disclosing this defect in certain of its rooms, it could not foist them on unsuspecting fools willing to pay over $250/night for the privilege.

I spent a lot of time shopping for an alternative to the Palmer House, at which I have enjoyed staying occasionally over the years (as I often did in its glory years, when I was a child, with my parents). Reviews mentioning bed bugs at the Palmer House caused me to look for a new option despite numerous good experiences there in years gone by, snd its relatively reasonable cost.

I passed up several other highly reviewed hotels in the same vicinity in order to give the L7 a try. The rooms and amenities are excellent. Water pressure in the shower is excellent. It would have been a good value, except for the fact vermin in the streets (the City of Chicago chooses to tolerate in a way unthinkable when Daley was Mayor) made my room uninhabitable in the evening.

The L7 apparently calculates that it is to its great advantage to continue to entrap unsuspecting guests in its less habitable rooms, instead of warning them away to the large number of comparable hotels in the vicinity where they could enjoy...

Caution: You may be paying for an upgrade you’ll never get — and if you dare speak up, prepare to be insulted for it.

We returned to L7 Lotte Chicago for a long weekend after a lovely previous stay in one of their river view rooms. That room had a beautiful bay window with seating for two adults, and the staff had been warm and accommodating, even allowing an early check-in. Based on that, we booked the same upgraded room class again. What we got this time was an absolute nightmare.

We arrived early and spoke to the front desk attendant, a short, stocky gentleman, who also turned out to be a manager. He told us early check-in wasn’t available (fine), he took my ID, noted my cell number, and said we’d get a text when the room was ready. There was a glitch with the payment device, so we couldn’t pay the deposit then, but he told us it was no problem — we’d do that later when we returned. We thanked him and left for a few hours.

Four hours passed. No text. We came back at 5 p.m., and the same manager acted like he had never seen us before. When we asked about the room, he claimed the reason we didn’t get a text was because we hadn’t paid the deposit — a complete reversal from what he told us earlier. Despite being polite and patient, we were clearly being gaslit.

Then came the real shocker: the room we were given was not what we booked. Instead of a river view with a large bay window and seating area (as listed and paid extra for), we were placed in a corner room with a tiny window that couldn’t accommodate a toddler — let alone two adults. Barely any river view, lacking many of the listed amenities — it was a clear downgrade.

We went back to the front desk to clarify. That’s when the manager became rude, defensive, and downright insulting. He denied everything, blamed us for booking on a third party site (even though the listing matched their own website), and even had the nerve to say if we didn’t “fit in the window,” that was our problem. We are two average-sized adults — but that’s not the point. The comment was wildly inappropriate and completely unprofessional.

Even after showing him the confirmation with photos and descriptions, he continued arguing. Only after undeniable proof did he finally, begrudgingly, give us the correct room — no apology, no accountability, hardly any effort to make things right.

As someone who has worked in leadership at a well known five-star property, I was floored. This level of behavior from a manager — lying, insulting, deflecting — would never be tolerated in any professional hotel setting. Yet here he is, leading the front desk.

The one bright spot was the bellman and restaurant staff — they were excellent. Kind, helpful, and professional. But unfortunately, the front desk experience completely ruined the stay.

Bottom line: Be extremely cautious booking here, especially if you’re paying for an upgraded room. Triple-check what you’re getting. And if anything goes wrong, don’t expect empathy, professionalism, or even basic courtesy. We...

We booked a hotel block and our rooms for our July 2024 wedding back when it was the Kimpton Monaco. Luckily, when the hotel transferred ownership, our hotel block and existing reservations were all honored our experience was fantastic all around! The staff was so helpful with booking our wedding hotel block and there was no financial obligation if our block wasn't filled. Quick and easy to set up and book as well. For the "bridal suite", I booked a King 1 bedroom riverview suite and it was so luxurious and spacious with a fabulous view of the river! It had a nice sitting room, a huge bedroom with cozy window seats in every window and a large and bright bathroom with lot's of counter space. The amenities in the room like the refrigerator, coffee maker, face masks, yoga mat and air purifier were appreciated as well. We had tons of space that perfectly fit two makeup artists, 5 bridesmaids, 2 moms and myself for getting ready and the hotel staff were helpful in bringing in extra tables and chairs for the artists. There were more than enough outlets as well. Things got a touch crowded once my 2 photographers and 3 person videographer team showed up along with my coordinator, but we all still fit!!

When checking in the night of our rehearsal dinner I had a ton of luggage and was stressed out about getting places on time but the valet and front desk staff were incredibly helpful in assisting with bringing my wedding dress and luggage up to my room as I checked in and with helping my mom valet her car. They were extra accommodating and went out of their way to make our stay for our wedding feel special and even upgraded my husband's room to a better view when he checked in! I could not be more grateful for the L7 staff, they truly were the best. When we came back from our wedding, I think they were going to offer us free food but we were so exhausted we just went straight upstairs so sadly didn't get the chance to talk with the front desk too much.

Sleeping in the room was clean, cozy and comfortable and the hallways were nice and quiet. Friday night there was a lot of traffic and people outside so I could hear that in the riverview suite but the blackout curtains, white noise from the air purifier and wearing earplugs helped block all of that out. We did get breakfast at the restaurant downstairs and although pricey, it was absolutely delicious.

I cannot recommend this place enough whether you're visiting Chicago or looking for a hotel for your wedding! We plan on coming back to stay next year for our anniversary because we loved it so much.

Pc: Madi...