The Royal Sonesta Chicago River North — Hotel in Chicago

While I typically LOVE Kimpton hotels, to call this a 4.5 star hotel is extremely misleading. Its website is extravagant and promises an ultra-modern feel when the place is poorly lit, there is certainly nothing grandeur about walking up to the hotel, and the "lobby" falls short of the word -- check-in is in a very narrow hallway that might be nice for a residential building at best. I was unimpressed by the room and the decor (I didn't understand all the pictures of ancient Rome -- this isn't Caesar's Palace?) and though the beds were comfortable and clean, I found an Advil tablet on the ground next to my bed and that alarmed me about how often the floors had been vacuumed. Now that I think about it, I did not once see any cleaning staff for the 2.5 days that I was there (in addition to being told that my room would not be cleaned during my stay due to COVID) -- this is extremely disconcerting. The hotel hallways itself are also dark and in serious need of a reno to meet the expectation that they set.

This is not to say that the staff wasn't very nice; they were friendly and provided what I needed, but I hesitate to say that they went above and beyond. I had called in advance to let them know that I was bringing my dog, but rather than the dog bed and treat that I was promised, there were just a couple of plastic bowls on the ground (I have stayed at other Kimptons where there is a fun greeting board showing the names of the guest dogs, and the staff are usually incredibly friendly to my pup and ready with a treat -- no such thing here). I understand that we're in a pandemic so Kimpton cannot offer the majority of amenities that makes it a Kimpton hotel, so I wasn't bothered by the fact that the pool and restaurant/bar were closed and there was no wine hour, but that should be made up for somehow. That being said, I feel bad because they are clearly understaffed (I ordered takeout, which was delivered to the front desk but I did not get a call stating that it was delivered and was told to come down and retrieve it because there was only one person manning the desk). Again, I also did not see cleaning staff. The terrace is awfully tiny and the tall plants that surround the perimeter are all dried up and cover up the "view" - there is honestly no reason to sit up there; again, due to COVID, there are few chairs and no tables, no free wine, so... you're sitting on a very sad, uninviting concrete terrace with nothing to offer. We preferred to stay in the room with AC and a TV.

While the location is great given that it is walking distance to so many things in River North, the street that it is located on is nothing to write home about. I'm from a big city and don't mind the homeless that other people have complained about, but there is some riff-raff all along the street that it's on. Again, no grandeur feels here.

I would confidently rate this hotel as 3.5 stars, but no more than that. I was fine with my stay and for the price I got on Hotwire, it was fair. But I definitely question my next Kimpton stay -- for a central upscale Chicago hotel, this fell far below my...

We stayed at the Kimpton this past week for my birthday weekend celebration. I was excited because it seemed like a trendy hotel in a great spot and I had a weekend packed with activities in the area. Unfortunately our stay made many parts of our weekend stressful.

My biggest and most important complaint is that there was no hot water in our room - one of the very basics you should expect from any hotel, let alone one with Kimpton's star rating. We woke up Saturday morning before brunch and went to take a shower - ice cold. Left the water running for 5 minutes to see if it would warm up - still ice cold. Called down to the front desk, was told that "sometimes that happens in the morning" and they suggested we keep running the water or they could send up an engineer, mind you there was no apology from the staff. So now, we turn on all the faucets - another 5 minutes later it starts warming up - still not hot. I felt so wasteful by the time the shower was hot enough to use - 15 minutes of clean water wasted. Not to mention we were now running late for brunch so I let my husband take the shower and changed our plans so I'd have enough time to take one that afternoon/evening. Skip ahead to that afternoon, after a full day of shopping I was looking forward to a hot shower before our night out. I wasn't concerned about the water, because the staff relayed that it was a morning problem. NOPE - still no hot water, call again - was told to run the water for longer again. Now we're running late again for a cooking class with friends, I don't have enough time to do my hair and I was just really bummed that I didn't feel like I was able to look my best for my evening out. Fast forward to check out, I was asked how our stay was I told the front desk about my experience and that I was displeased. This time they say (disingenuously) sorry but some rooms do that in the winter. Excuse me? How is it acceptable to have rooms that cannot get hot water in the winter? I cannot fathom how much hot water they waste each year. I could have stayed at a Holiday Inn and they would have that. Why did you not move me to a room without this problem when I called? I guess I was just one of the many unlucky people to be assigned to one of "those" rooms.

Besides the lack of hot water - the bathroom and carpet were dingy, the bed was sub-par and the pillows are tiny and lumpy. The room service menu is also tiny any really lacking. All things that probably annoyed me more than they normally would because of our experience with the water & front desk.

Oh and after complaining to the front desk, they ended our conversation by saying "hope you stay with us again soon". What? Why would you say that to a person who was just telling you how disappointed they were with their stay without giving any resolution?

Conclusion: I suggest you stay away unless you feel like gambling on your room quality and quick access to the very basic of amenities. The hotel staff will certainly not do anything about it if you feel like it's not up...

During our recent trip to Chicago we stayed at Royal Sonesta Chicago River North hotel. HANDS DOWN DO NOT STAY HERE!! We arrived late Friday where only a single individual was at the front desk (completely understandable since it was late). We had two rooms booked. He only activated the key for the first room. I have a 21 month old who was asleep but unfortunately with the moving around woke up. I had to go back downstairs to get the keys activated. Upon arriving in the room the mini-bar is locked because they are rebranding this hotel to be part of the Royal Sonesta and they do not have permission to sell alcohol until July 1st. In our room there was still soaking wet old towels in the bathroom. We had to call and complain, which the guy sends housekeeping up to clean and the house keeping attendant stated he did not know how to clean rooms he just brought fresh towels up. In the second room the mini-bar was locked so they instead brought up a mini-fridge to put in the room (which we did not need but was asking why it was locked). The mini-fridge is completely empty if you were wondering. The first room once I called back stating the information provided to us that the gentleman did not know how to clean they moved us to a different room. Continuing our stay this hotel had a number of individuals going clubbing/bar hoping - not an issue it all but be prepared if you are looking for a different type of environment then again do not book here. The beds were soft, pillows soft, sheets come off the bed if you move just a little. Housekeeping never came to clean the rooms. There was always only one individual at the front desk either morning or afternoon or evening. The wait time to get assistance took a long time since there was always a line. The parking costs 72 dollars per night!! That is insane especially since booking the hotel rooms were expensive. The poor valet that we saw worked middle of the night shifts and day shifts. He was always kind and friendly but he was exhausted from being asked to work so many hours without assistance. If he wasn’t there (assuming at home resting before his next shift) the valet stand was very slow and backed up significantly causing congestion on the main road with someone who did not look to be an employee. There is no restaurant or cafe in the hotel so do not expect to eat at the hotel. No room service either. No bar either since they can’t sell alcohol. This hotel is pet friendly but we did not have any pets. I will say the one room smelled like old Chinese food. We will not stay at this hotel again and I hope this review will assist others before...