Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel — Hotel in Chicago

I have had many bad experiences with Marriott hotels in the past, so I was biased going into this experience. I expected to be disappointed again, but I was pleasantly surprised how good this hotel is.

We came for St. Patrick's Day 2025 and let me tell you: this is the BEST hotel in the entire city to stay at for this event. The intersection of State St and Wacker in front of the building seemed to be where the most activity was at. We had a great view of the river for the dyeing and general people watching. Amazingly, the windows actually crack open, which allows us to also experience a personal serenade since there was a guy playing bagpipes right down below us at the RAISED rooftop bar. Couldn't have asked for a better experience!

The hotel room was pretty nice. Double queen beds in a single open room, with two lounge chairs by the window. The bathroom was spacious but lacked a fan (which seems common in these downtown hotels; hope you're close with your traveling companions lol). The entire room was clean and well maintained; zero complaints there. There are 6 elevators so going up or down was never a hassle.

The hotel lobby on the ground floor has a restaurant and bar. We had a couple drinks at the bar and they have a plethora of choices, including some fine Scotches that I enjoy. The front desk also has some premade drinks available after the bar closes, which are legitimately the HARDEST pours I had the entire weekend. At around $28 per mixed drink, they were easily worth that in alcohol content, and were tasty.

We ordered some food to be delivered and ate in the lobby late Saturday night. While there, I spoke to TJ and Sarah at the front desk, who were both so fun and legitimately were the icing on the entire night. They were besides themselves trying to help us in any way we needed it, whether it was straws or flatware, showing us their options or giving us timetables for when things opened/closed, or reciprocating our small talk and being the perfect level of professional yet jovial.

The only complaint I have about this hotel is the listing on Google itself (which I just tried submitting an edit for). The main entrance to the hotel lobby is on the north side, on Wacker. There is a full area to pull into for drop off/pick up, as well as luggage trolleys. Google Maps has the hotel listed on the south east side of the building on State St. There is an entrance here but it's small and annoying, with bad signage once you enter the building. We walked all the way across the building, past glass front salons and coffee shops, before finding someone that could guide us to the stairs. Since we had luggage, we had to ride an elevator up one floor to get to the lobby, then go through pull open glass doors. It'd be much easier for everyone if the listing more accurate showed the entrance on the north side, both for navigation and for ease of guests entering the lobby. I'm HAPPY this is the only complaint!

Overall loved this place, and for $560 per night couldn't imagine a better spot to enjoy St. Patrick's Day weekend or any other Riverwalk event! We will be back next year for sure!! The photos I took were from our main window on...

I was truly looking forward to this hotel, having so enjoyed every other Ren I’ve been in - especially the fabulous Montgomery, AL edition. While the property is gorgeous, the hotel is seriously lacking in a couple of key points.

There are only a couple of food options - a loud “rooftop” bar (if you can really call the third floor rooftop), and a combo bar/restaurant on the main floor. While the menu is adequate, the staff at Staytion is indifferent at best, actively hostile at worst. We tried two nights, both of which were about 70-80% capacity, yet our servers both nights couldn’t seem to get orders right, remember to come by the table - although they were enthralled with neighboring tables - and managed to get orders wrong both nights. Even small things like asking for silverware were actually met with eye rolls. And 45 minutes to get a check. Yes. Really.

After receiving a soft drink instead of the ordered cocktail I approached the manager (no server in sight), and asked if she would please send him over. A full fifteen minutes later, still no server, no drink. Back I went to the manager. At this point I let her know how unhappy I was with the service, and I was admonished for “talking badly about (her) staff”. Yes. Really.

When said drink finally arrived, the drink napkin was tossed on top of the silverware. The drink was placed on the bare table. Nice.

The CL doesn’t offer much respite. Closed on the weekends the offerings are slim and unimaginative, although the staff here is fantastic. The seating is rather blah, and more boring cafe-like than lounge-ish. Even with the limited snacks it’s a safer place to grab a bite inside the hotel than the disappointing Staytion.

I should also mention to check your hotel folio carefully. I was billed significantly above my reservation rate, $100 more on the first night, about $70/night on the subsequent nights - around $500 in total. While this was finally corrected, it took two people at the desk and no small amount of time, and more arguing than it should have. Very disappointing.

One plus: the staff is very responsive to Bonvoy app chat. That’s refreshing.

I’d heard such glowing reviews of this property, and it is beautiful. If you don’t have to use the food service it would be great. If you’re working while there and too exhausted to go anywhere though, you may be disappointed...

I am excited to be the 3,000th Google review for the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel. Please send my prize to....just kidding. This hotel is a fantastic place to stay for attending a ticketed event at the United Center and exploring city neighborhoods. I stayed for those reasons on a weekend in February 2024.

First, the iconic address of this hotel, 1 Wacker Drive, means a lot. River views, amazing architecture, access to the CTA buses and trains to go everywhere, in the theatre district, and more. Getting to the United Center and West Loop is easy on the #20 Madison St. bus. The State & Lake elevated rail is at one of the four intersections that defines the hotel's city block. The orange line from Midway takes about 25 minutes and costs $3 one way or you can buy a CTA day pass for only $5. The Chicago CTA has to be the most bang-for-your-buck mode of transit it the universe!

The hotel's public spaces have been recently renovated and are interesting. For example, there is a taxi cab mural made out of pencils, well curated lighting, and giant screens at the entrance with some colors and designs. The water pressure and mixing valves are ideal in the guest rooms and the rooms are of ample size and well appointed. Every staff interaction I had was pleasant as well. Overall, the fresh look and ideal location of this hotel earns it five stars.

There is room for improvement in the food and beverage quality, especially for the price. Also, the hours of the restaurants and kitchen seemed somewhat limited for a weekend, especially at night. We would have dined in the hotel more, but things just closed. We ended up going to nearby Elephant & Castle Pub for a later dinner, for example. It was actually difficult to utilize the $25 per night hotel credit that is part of the cost of staying at a downtown hotel these days. Also, don't drive here. You shouldn't need to, but if you do, you will spend your children's college savings on $80 per night parking. But hey, college is over-rated these days, right! Whatever you are staying at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown for, it's easy to sprinkle...