Embassy Suites by Hilton Chicago North Shore Deerfield — Hotel in Northfield Township

We booked the presidential suite away from the base to celebrate my sons Navy boot camp graduation and his birthday so we could have a relaxing peaceful weekend. I called more than a dozen times to reconfirm our room type because our reservation said conference suite. We had no use for a 12 person conference table, we wanted the bigger living area so our family could all hang out together. We get to the room and guess what? There’s a giant conference table and a tiny little living room. Back down to the front desk, we get the presidential suite and had to get an additional room. Only two king beds, not a king and two doubles in this room as I was told at booking or the other dozen calls. An additional substantial amount of money that we didn’t plan for. We get into the presidential suite if you can even call it that, and tried to find where they spent the money on the multi million dollar renovation In April. The windows are thin and very drafty and it’s cold in the Windy City. The furniture was so beat up and very uncomfortable. We all now have a sore back and neck from sitting in these chairs because they force your body forward and there’s not a single foot rest. Our last suite in Tampa had super comfy chairs with ottomans and chaise lounges. There’s a huge kitchen counter with a wet bar sink and tons of cabinet space.....or so we thought. Turns out, the doors are bolted on with a metal bracket. We got a door off and found about an inch of dust, dirt, screws etc and it’s all perfectly usable space! Hinges are cheaper than these heavy brackets and guests could store their food and other items in there, but nope. It makes zero sense. The wallpaper is bubbling and peeling everywhere. All of the light switches are crooked and not secured to the wall properly. All of the door stoppers and brackets are not mounted and have wallpaper peeling behind them. There are holes and huge dents everywhere in the walls. The carpet is peeling up in several areas. There are unknown sourced dirty spots all over the bathroom walls and burn marks on the vanities. Housekeeping left much to be desired. I’m the type of person upon checkout to ask for the name of my housekeeper so I can leave them a large tip and a thank you note, but I don’t even have toilet paper today! Saturday night they had a huge party in the atrium until 9pm and it was so loud we could not hear each other speak and even with the tv on full blast, we could not hear it. Our son has been told what to do and when to do it for two months, all he wanted was to order a movie and a pizza and have a nice quiet night. We had to wait until after 9pm because we could not hear anything but the loud partying below us. I went to the front desk and expressed my concerns, and was told they only disclosed this loud party to the people checking in Saturday. I told them had I known two months ago I would’ve booked elsewhere. Mind you I had to go outside in the cold to speak to the staff because screaming at full capacity we still couldn’t hear each other. Since the rooms are so drafty, I asked for a few extra blankets. 45 minutes later as I go down to speak to Saha the front desk supervisor her coworker proceeds to try to hand me a stack of blankets to hold while I am standing outside freezing speaking to his superior. Am I supposed to stand here in 40 degrees and hold a stack of blankets while I am talking? At this point I am beyond my threshold of things I can tolerate. The problem is every place in town is booked, so we are stuck here. To make matters worse, the clean up crew was screeching tables across the atrium after the party till after 11:30 and then about midnight all hell broke loose and there were loud people partying on every floor. Out of the first four days, the manager was only present for two and there is not another manager to fill in. We finally learned that the two presidential suites were the only rooms not renovated and told it had some maintenance issues. Owners Response is a...

We've stayed here several times in the last 5 years- it was great in 2016, but has gotten worse with each visit, and I don't think we'll be back. Our most recent stay was last month, we were traveling to eldest child's college graduation, and had our 20 year old son and 17 year old daughter with us. We had used Hotels.com to book a room with two Queen beds plus a pull out sofa bed for 3 nights. Arrived to find out that the property had instead assigned us to a room with one King bed plus pull out sofa bed- not a workable situation, so the unfortunate 20 year old ended up sleeping on the floor and spending the next day tired and cranky. Neither Embassy nor Hotels.com was willing to compensate us in any way for their screw-up. Each blamed the other, neither would take responsibility, or try to actually serve their mutual customer. Embassy did move us into a different room for the 2nd and 3rd nights, and I appreciate that, but it meant that when we left the hotel the morning after the 1st night, we had to completely pack up and load everything back in the car, and then unload and unpack again when we returned to the hotel late that night. Also, AC was out the first night, so on top of being irritated over the botched booking, the room we were in was beyond uncomfortably hot, and made for poor sleeping. That situation was also fixed the next day. Further, even though there was a snafu about the specific type of room we were booked in, clearly our Hotels.com reservation specified that our party was 3 adults and one 17-year old minor, but the room we were booked into was stocked with only 3 bath towels, 3 washcloths, 3 water cups, etc., so definitely poor attention to detail. There was a decent breakfast buffet, but lacking the signature made-to-order omelettes, and the nightly manager's reception had not resumed, at least as of our stay. These things were attributed to COVID, and I would have totally understood and appreciated that during the previous year, but in my estimation, at this point, the absence of those perks is not a safety measure, it's just a cost-saving measure. I say that because (1) the Embassy Suites in downtown Chicago had already resumed the manager's reception, and (2) the Embassy Suites in Deerfield was basically taking no other noticeable COVID precautions by this time. There was a small sign by the elevator saying that masks were required in indoor common spaces, but I would say 80-90% of people in common spaces were not masked, and staff were not advising anyone that they should be. And while the pool at the downtown Embassy was still not open due to COVID, the pool at the Deerfield Embassy was not only open, it was being used for swimming lessons by a large group of people who were not hotel guests (clearly an outside swim school that presumably pays a fee to the property to use the facility.) So don't insult me by saying the reductions in service are to to keep guests safe- it's obviously just to save money. And as for those swimming lessons: while hotel guests were not explicitly prohibited from using the pool while the swimming lessons were taking place, as a practical matter, it's virtually impossible for a family to use the pool during that time, due to the number of instructors, students, and parents associated with the swim school in a fairly small pool, so if the hotel management had more integrity, they would make it clear on their website and during the reservation process that the pool is reserved for swimming lessons from "x" a.m. to "y" a.m. Mon-Fri and is not available to hotel guests during those hours, and then potential guests could determine accordingly whether that affected their desire to stay there. And I give a grade of "F" for security, as the door to the pool/hot tub area is propped open by the swim school staff before and during lesson times, so anyone is free to wander in. Front desk staff I dealt with did make an honest effort to be helpful, so I did...

Perhaps the melee in the hall outside my room at 2AM was a one-off phenomenon, but if not, the hotel appears to have gone ghetto. And I’m not talking about well behaved, upscale, Louis Vuitton carrying, professional Black families. These people were durag and bonnet wearing, pant sagging, brawling, inconsiderate, entitled, screaming and fighting in the halls while everyone is trying to sleep, type of inhabitants. To make matters worse, the hotel is ill prepared to handle the inevitable consequences of these people’s lack of civility! Neither day nor night security exists at the hotel. After speaking with management, I was told this is a “weekend effect”, that had its origin during COVID, where people from the South Side of Chicago come to the hotel for a “weekend getaway“. Multiple families squeeze into a suite, taking advantage of the free buffet breakfast, piling their plates up high and bringing back to their rooms enough food to last until they can load up on the complimentary appetizers that are available during happy hour. Instead of patronizing the hotel’s restaurant, they bring in fast food from outside the hotel and eat where the paying guests are dining. This is strictly forbidden, but not enforced by the hotel. Unfortunately, this bad behavior is endemic, culturally ingrained, and omnipresent wherever these people travel i.e, Carnival Cruises, Disneyland, shopping malls, movie theaters, airline flights, et al. Unattended screaming kids and teenagers running down the halls, in the pool, health club and other common areas, renders the hotel inhabitable and unusable to regular travelers looking for a peaceful place to stay and relax. In homage to P Diddy, there was even a couple attempting to copulate in the pool while there were children nearby. So, what inevitably happens is everyone else’s experience is irretrievably ruined. Thanks go out to Chicago’s Mayor Johnson for not only failing to admonish his constituents’ actions, but for emboldening and perpetuating their endemic bad behavior. Sadly, the hotel staff is complicit, as they do nothing to discourage or mitigate the guests’ unrelenting unruly behavior. This is a shame because otherwise, this is a fine hotel. The staff is friendly and the service is exemplary. During the week the hotel environment returns to normal. It’s quiet, guests can enjoy their stay at the hotel in peace, and actuality avail themselves of the hotel’s amenities. Nevertheless, Caveat emptor! Stay away from this hotel on weekends, especially Friday nights! Or this may turn into your...