The Chicago Hotel Collection River North — Hotel in Chicago

I wanted to share my experience so others are aware that the previous reviews are very accurate. The staff was not very nice especially Noemi. When I initially booked my reservation for 3 nights it was through trivago. I reserved the standard room which trivago said was 2 beds. I paid $336 for the room. They told me I would have to pay $202.89 at the hotel when I checked in. I understand that sometimes third parties are not updated with the actual hotel fees. ||The day I checked in, I was told by Noemi that I was going to be charged $49.95 + 17.4% tax for amenities (which was basically just 6 waters a day, 24/7 coffee and tea availability, and laundry detergent if you want to wash and discounts to certain places which they never gave me information for, I was also never given the free wifi information) |She also said there is a reservation fee of $40 + tax that they added on. Total charged $316.83. I was confused as to why it was so much but Noemi kept telling me those are just the fees of the hotel. It was late at night and I just wanted to go to my room. When I got to my room, I was given a 1 full size bed for 2 adults. The bed sheets were dirty and the toilet paper holder was broken. I went back down to let them know that I reserved 2 beds and they told me that trivago doesn’t give accurate room descriptions and that they were fully booked and there were no 2 beds rooms available. If one became available the next morning they would call me but they never did. She never gave me a receipt as to what I was charged for and what I paid even though I asked for it. The bn xt morning I asked for a receipt but all they gave me was my reservation info. ||The first night was very loud. My room was right next to the train and all night I heard the trains passing by. The a.c stopped working. We left in the morning and didn’t get back till later that night and the a.c was not on again.Because there is no overnight staff, I texted the emergency number to let them know that the a.c was broken but no response. The next morning I let the front desk know that it was broken and I had to let them know 3 times that it wasn’t working. ||The night that I had to check out, Noemi was at the front desk. I asked her to give me a receipt of what I paid for and she gave me someone else’s receipt and I had to ask again for my receipt. When she finally gave it to me I noticed that at the front desk there is a paper stating that there is a amenities fee of $49.94 +tax and a $20 reservation fee ( no tax is on that). I asked her why she was charging me so much money if the notice shows that I should’ve only been charged $175.92 for the amenities for 3 nights and $60 for the 3 nights of the reservation fee. She said the computer could’ve made a mistake and I asked how much my total refund would be since they overcharged me. She gave me a paper saying it would only be $46 and that when I check out in the morning the other amount should be given back. I needed more clarity and asked so if the amount that I’m getting back including the tax that I paid ? At this point she was raising her voice at me and cutting me off telling me that I was confused (of course I was confused she wasn’t giving me any clarity as to why I was charged so much and how much I was going to be refunded). It seemed as though she didn’t want to deal with it anymore but I had to leave to the airport that same night at 4am to catch my flight and there wasn’t going to be anyone available to help me. Again, she cut me off and said that I’d get the refund in a day or 2. I was still looking at the paper when A gentleman asked her for waters and she went to help him and threw a pen across the desk visibly upset. Behind my back, my friend saw her make an angry face at me and look me up and down in front of the gentleman and my friend. My friend asked her if she was mad and that she saw what she did. She denied doing anything and I honestly didn’t want to talk to her anymore. It left me feeling very uneasy and uncomfortable. I felt very taken advantage of and unheard with my concerns. I sent an email regarding the issues but didn’t hear back so I had to call. The front desk said the manager will call me soon to discuss the issue. I wanted to like this place but honestly, I’m very unhappy with my experience here. Not only was I overcharged but my room was dirty and broken and it wasn’t the original reservation I wanted. I’m still waiting for the manager to call me but I had to file a dispute through my bank because it seems as though they may try to justify the overcharge. |||The good things I experienced were that It was conveniently located near a lot of restaurants and attractions and the shared areas were clean. I wouldn’t...

Quite possibly the worst hotel downtown Chicago has to offer, definitely the worst hotel I’ve ever been in at least.

My wonderful experience starts with simply being blocked from entering the building. The revolving door is disabled and one must ring the intercom instead, fair enough; but instead of being buzzed in, the daytime concierge comes up to the door instead and holds it ajar while aggressively attempting to turn me away: first, I am too early for check in (I had a multiple-day stay but was a bit late), then I should’ve checked out already (?), then how long exactly am I staying. All this while standing outside and him properly gatekeeping the door, no offer to come in and actually check my details on the computer like a normal hotel, and I’m sure if an early arrived would to ask if they can stay on the lobby for a couple of hours they’d be turned away.

Finally being allowed into the place, I am almost smacked to the ground with the smell of it. No two ways to describe it, it smelled intensely like excrement. Maybe it was a burst pipe or faulty AC or something, but the fact that the entire first floor smelled like poop is not at all how I want my stay to go, thankfully I was on the second floor so I didn’t have to deal with it long. The smell remained for the entire duration of my three-day stay, so whatever the cause was, they clearly weren’t in a hurry to fix it.

Getting to the room, looks nice, beautiful concept, but apparently freshening up takes some extra steps too because there are no towels. No problem, a quick call to the front desk should fix that, if they were to pick up the phone... so going back down to the lavender-scented ground floor to ask in person, I wait for at least 5 minutes, call the number just in case but still no dice, until my nose finally gives up and I am forced to go back to my room. I had to repeat this process well into the afternoon until I was finally able to meet another concierge who very helpfully immediately went housekeeping my way.

The toilet... is broken. It flushed all right but the seat is not correctly installed onto the bowl (only one screw), so it just swings left and right like a mockery of pendulum if you try to sit on it.

All in all, I would recommend one try a youth hostel dormitory shared with eight other people and an outhouse that would smell nicer than the reception lobby over this place. Waste of...

Do not make reservations at this hotel. We made them almost two months before our trip to Chicago and it was $391 for a room for one night. We showed up at 3:15pm and were told that they didn't have a room for us. They couldn't honor our reservation even though I received an email from them earlier that day saying our check in was available. They already charged my credit card the day before. Also, the person at the desk was rude and moved us to another hotel that wasn't even affiliated with them. That hotel then charged us $100, but we were told that there would be no other fee for the inconvenience.

I opened a dispute with Discover Card and after weeks, just received information that The River North hotel said that I cancelled my reservation within 24 hours. I have google map screenshots that show I was standing at their hotel for 15 minutes and then had to drive to a different hotel. River North completely lied to Discover Card and said I cancelled. Why would I cancel a reservation and then still drive 5 hours to a hotel to stand in the lobby with my daughter? To make matters worse, Discover Card won't use 3rd party apps as evidence. Even though I have screenshot after screenshot of evidence, they said they can't use any of it and must side with the merchant because they said I "canceled". So, if you book here for several nights or a week and they don't have a room for you, they will tell the credit card company that you cancelled your reservation and you are now responsible for the several thousand dollar bill. I have never written a review before...beware of this hotel, and if you use Discover Card, know that there is no way that you can prove your innocence. I even asked if I would have videotaped me standing in their lobby being told there wasn't a room that they couldn't use that as evidence because they are not allowed to use video or audio. THIS HOTEL CAN LITERALLY ROB YOU AND GET...