Chicago Lake Shore Hotel — Hotel in Hyde Park Township

As a regular business traveler I often stay at La Quinta Inns since I have appreciated their rewards program. Whenever my work takes me to Chicago, I typically stay at the La Quinta downtown but chose to try the Lake Shore site on this trip (10/23 - 10/28/17)...a mistake I'll never make again!...although a bit more costly, the downtown site is light-years better than the Lake Shore site!!!...stay there & you'll be glad you did!

In an effort to keep this review as brief as possible, here are my key issues:

1. Hotel Staff take a photocopy of your driver's license
2. Hotel Staff did not inform me of their internet access policy
3. Loud bathroom fan (24/7) with no switch to turn it off
4. Sliding entry doors from garage were not working
5. Breakfast area way too small and crowded in the mornings
6. TV channels constantly freezing
7. Check-In Staff were unprepared for simple questions

Here is a more detailed perspective on my aforementioned key issues:

1. In all my years of business traveling, I've never been asked to take a photocopy of my Driver's License. I'm typically asked to show it for ID /Credit Card purposes and that's it. In today's age of identity theft, this policy should be disregarded altogether!
2. Upon arriving in my room, I noticed the marketing materials which clearly stated that the hotel's WiFi access was free and didn't need a password. I tried over and over to get it to work but to no avail. After a # of minutes I called the front desk only to be told what the password was! When I told them about the in-room marketing materials she said that she didn't know anything about the contents within the rooms.
3. The constantly running bathroom fan was obnoxious throughout my entire stay with no way to turn it off...quite annoying!
4. Upon parking my vehicle in the garage, I then had to walk completely around the hotel to the frontal entrance from the garage since the sliding-glass entry doors were broken.
5. The breakfast food retrieval area is way too small causing too much awkwardness for the patrons as folks try to make and gather their food items prior to leaving the space to eat. The sitting area however is HUGE.
6. It is SO IRRITATING to be watching a TV show when the screen is constantly freezing up and stalling...other hotels don't have this issue.
7. When I asked the hotel staff to please explain why they deemed it necessary to take a picture of my Driver's License she responded by saying that she didn't know...it was just how she'd been trained. I further inquired if there was anyone currently onsite who would know?...she said "No". I then asked well who would know and she said perhaps the manager. So I asked when would this person be available...she said "Maybe tomorrow". After making the photocopy back in her office, she brought the copy to me at the front desk along with 2 Sharpie Markers and told me that if I liked I could cross out anything I wanted to on my license...I thought she was joking but she was serious!...so I started to attempt to blacken things out but the Sharpies barely had any ink and I quickly gave up. This whole deal was so totally RIDICULOUS I just couldn't stand it!...particularly with absolutely no explanation as to why they choose to have such a policy anyway!...there is NO REASON they should be keeping such private details on their patrons...it's not their business...if it was, all hotels would be doing it...the La Quinta Inn Chicago Downtown does NOT REQUIRE such a...

Service: There was no eye contact from the desk clerk and she didn't smile once. In fact, I never saw a single staff member smile the entire three days we were there. It took way too long to check in. We were notified at check in that the breakfast package only covered breakfast for two and was only for one night. That was not explained online or when I made the reservation. It was extremely inconvenient because I had four people registered in the room. We called down to the front desk for towels (never got them), bedding (came in a trash bag), heat (never worked. Call maintenance and they did come either night), went to front desk for extra blanket because it was so cold in our room and blanket has cigarette burns in it. We tried to ask about the area (grocery store, etc.) but the desk clerks made us feel as if we were inconveniencing THEM. I did not see a manager the entire time we stayed.

Room: Room was in terrible condition. Shower rod was broken, sink had cracks, toilet handle leaked every time we flushed it. Cracks in the ceiling. Holes in the wall and on the back of the bathroom door. Closet door was broken. Living room drawers were missing a handle. Pull out couch was in extremely poor condition. Stains and tears on the couch and the pull out mattress was very old. Carpet had stains. The phone was by the bed and not on the desk... I thought that was strange. The heater/air conditioner in the bedroom did not work at all. It would not even turn on. The heat in the other room did not work. The air conditioner worked fine. One of the bedspreads had cigarette burns on it. The TV reception was poor. It was very fuzzy on all of the channels. The only thing that we liked about this room is that it was clean and the view was beautiful.

Other: The elevator was in terrible condition. There was a lot of writing on the inside. It moved slowly and was slow to open and close the doors. It shook on the way up. The inspection paper that was displayed inside of the elevator was dated 2002. It was completely unsafe. For the price, this stay was horrible. I could have managed if we were paying $70 a night but $220 a night was ridiculous for the quality of service in a poorly maintained hotel. Also, an employee (maintenance or housekeeper?) shouted across the lobby in front of about five guest for the desk clerk to save him a room because he was staying that night. First of all, your employees should not be able to stay at your property. Second of all, he should not be shouting in the lobby in front of guests. Also, parking was an issue. There is no way that the parking garage can accommodate all guests.

This was definitely our last stay...

I live in Ohio. My sister, who lived in Chicago, IL, died in March. My family and I had to get back to Chicago and needed a place to stay. On 3/26/18 my husband booked and paid for a double bed room at the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel for 3 nights. When we arrived we were given a single bed room. We had to inform them that the booking was for a double bed room. The staff was rude and seemed annoyed. We were moved to a room with a double bed. The room was not in good condition. The carpets did not appear clean, the furniture is old and broken, there are holes in the walls and the mini fridge had a bad smell. Due to the fact that we were coming in for my sister's services, we had already paid for the room and our inability to afford anything better we had to stay.

On the second night I was summoned down to the hotel lobby and told that we had to leave or pay for an additional night. We provided the hotel staff with the booking information showing that we had paid for 3 nights. The staff told us that the booking information was wrong and that we had only been charged for 2 nights. I asked the staff person why they had not informed us of this supposed oversight when we checked in and confirmed our 3 night stay. The staff person stated that they were not aware of the discrepancy when we checked in. This seemed completely inappropriate to me. Does the staff not review and confirm bookings before checking someone in to the hotel?

As I am grieving the loss of my sister and struggling to assist my family with the burial the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel is shaking me down for an additional night's payment, when, based on the reservation information we were able to produce to the staff we had already paid for 3 nights. My husband has recently lost his job. My sister is dead. I had to take off time without pay to deal with the death of my sister and the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel is only concerned about getting paid. Pay or get out! Well I had already paid and if there was a mistake it wasn't on my part. We booked, reserved and paid for a 3 nights stay. If the hotel staff was not capable of doing their jobs in the beginning then it was completely unfair to wait two nights and then inform us that we owed more money when we had a booking confirmation to the contrary.

I am very unhappy about the treatment my family and I received. Given the circumstances of my experiences and the condition of the roomI would not recommend the Chicago Lake...