The Buckingham Hotel — Hotel in Chicago

The hotel is a beautiful building with outstanding views of Chicago and the Financial District. The hotel occupies the 40th floor of the building. There is an elevated train a block away. But as others have stated, finding the hotel and the parking is a challenge. I drove all the way around the block, and there are NO CLEARLY VISABLE signs identifying the hotel. The signs are not distinctive or well illuminated especially at night. Parking is below the building, you have to drive up to the closed rollup door, to active the sensor. Once you get your ticket and get inside, again there are NO signs for the hotel, except by a door that looks like a service entrance, that goes into a reserved parking area for tenants, not guests. I parked, took the wrong elevator, to the parking 1st level then and had to drag my three bags up some stairs. I found out that you'd need a special key card to open that service entrance looking door anyway. Then once inside the building lobby, security will advise you to take another elevator to the 39th floor. Then you have to transfer to another elevator to the 40th floor. Three different elevators to get the the hotel reception. There was no valet or luggage carts in the lower building lobby or bellhop. The hotel reception is run-down. The very friendly gentleman checked me in, but wearing a tee shirt. The rooms are very nice, very comfortable beds, although the bathroom storage doesn't have a shelves, but a large area under the sink. The shower is nice and large or can be used as a tub. The breakfast is just breads, cereals, yogurt and some fruit. There's no hard boiled egg or meats. The "high-speed Wi-Fi" isn't so high-speed in the rooms. The staff is friendly, but I'd recommend they have uniforms or a dress code for receptionists. The rooms are non-smoking, but our neighbors were having a wonderful weed party Friday night. It was quite strong stuff and the smell was in our room. The receptionist Ron brought some air freshener spray. I didn't care they using, but the rooms are non-smoking and there is a $250 cleanup fee, which I didn't want to be responsible for.||The gym/pool is closed on the weekend, and is only open 6am-6pm.||Again, the staff is very friendly and hospitable, the location isn't perfect, as you're close to the Magnificent Mile, but its a far walk or short taxi ride. I have to stress the hotel must get better signage for the hotel AND inside the building to mark how to get to...

This is one of the most unusual hotels we've ever visited. For starters, there is no indication there's a hotel in this building, save for a small placard on the parking garage sign. It's on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange building, so with that comes extra security.

The parking garage is on a small street and it appears to be closed; there are three doors but rest assured the one on the right is the entry. You arrive, find a spot, then make your way up to the first floor of the garage, where you are met by a security guard who shows you how to get into the main part of the garage. From there, another guard meets you who takes you to another elevator that takes you to the main lobby. Again, this is not the lobby to the hotel; it's the lobby of the building. When yo exit this elevator you have access to set of buildings inside a security barrier. On one bank of elevators you will see a sign for the hotel.

You take those elevators to the 39th floor, where you then switch to ANOTHER elevator that take you to the 40th floor.

You've finally arrived; you see a modest front desk where the person will check you in. The views from the guest lounge and your room can be spectacular...we were lucky enough to get a lakeside view of Grant Park.

This building is due west of Grant Park, about 7 blocks. It's an easy walk.

When you're coming into the city, assuming no redirects because of closures or construction, taking 90N to Ida B. Welles Dr practically takes you right to the building. Very easy coming and going.

We found our room extremely comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful. They serve a modest continental breakfast, but there is a restaurant just outside of the building's lobby if you'd rather eat there.

All in all we really liked the privacy and seclusion of this place and will absolutely stay here again the next time we come to the city.

I've included a few pictures that should help you...

We arrived at Chicago on 4/11/2018 at 10pm due to flight delays. They cancelled our reservation saying that their computer “automatically” charges my credit card if I don’t arrive by six pm. None of this was on our reservation agreement. They didn’t call or email and just simply handed our room to someone else saying my credit card didn’t go through. I called my credit card company and they said it was fine but sometimes “card not present” transactions may need additional verification. We were left stranded with 2 infants and had to pay $600 for another local hotel. My question is why this hotel never contacted me about the decline? Why they have to do this the very last minute? If they need the room prepaid, it should be part of the contract but there’s no such verbiage on the agreement. Just a few days prior to my arrival the hotel also emailed me that they have no cribs and they can’t put a roll away in my room either. After speaking to a few local hotels, it turned out there’s a major conference going on locally and all hotels are booked up. My conclusion is rather simple:

Hotel discriminated against kids/family/tourist. They’d rather give to businessmen who can join their athletic club. Hotel negligently cancelled my reservation without any due diligence. They likely sold my room to someone else for a much higher price.

Update: Despite the guest relations manager’s CLAIM that they tried to contact me, I have no missed calls, no voice mails and no emails in my inbox EXCEPT a cancellation notice. So their CLAIM of having contacted me a is a blatant lie. Even if they did — why do it the last minute? That’s gross negligence on the hotel’s part. Please don’t even bother dealing with those greedy lairs that sold my room to someone for twice the price....