Courtyard by Marriott Chicago at Medical District/UIC — Hotel in West Chicago Township

My wife and I got a room here for a little less than a week for a surgery I was going to have at Rush. The location of the hotel is outstanding. When it was time for me to check in for my surgery, all I had to do was walk across the street to the hospital. Throughout my stay in the hospital, it was very convenient for my wife to go back and forth to get things, rest, and shower. It was kind of like her home base while I was stuck in a hospital room, and the location made it very easy on her. This was also nice, because the valet parking situation here is horrible. Your only options is $65 per night (plus a generous tip if you want any sort of expediency) valet parking at the hotel, find parking on the street around the area, or park in the hospital’s parking garage. If you do end up having to drive, just use the hospital’s parking garage. It’s cheaper, it’s covered, there’s plenty of parking, and the wait and hassle my wife went through just to get the car with the valet would have been no different than walking across the street to the hospital’s parking garage. Parking at the hotel just felt like a giant F-you, and gets my wife riled up every time it’s mentioned. I may have her leave her thoughts on it at the end of the review.

The physical appearance of the hotel was nice. My wife had stayed at a Marriott once before which she hated, and said made her feel depressed. Upon checking in, she we quite pleased with appearance of this hotel over the last she stayed in. It was pretty quiet overall, and didn’t appear to have a lot of guests during our stay there. Staff inside the hotel was friendly. They even let me use the hotel’s wheel chair when I had to head into the emergency room shortly after my release from the hospital. My wife was very happy with he maid staff, but like I said before, had nothing positive about the valet service.

The room was nice. The cleanliness seemed good, although my wife found a pill on the floor which wasn’t ours. There was a large couch in the room, the bed was quite comfortable, and was pleasant to lay in for a couple nights after I was released from the hospital. The bathroom was nice, and included a walk in shower. The shower had two shower heads, one was fixed, the other a wand type. You could switch between the two shower heads, or use them both at once. It was my second favorite part of the room. My most favorite was the TV. Aside from the basic cable channels, you could watch YouTube, Netflix, and HBOgo. We had a full day drive home from the hospital which I wasn’t capable of doing immediately after discharge from my surgery. The TV options gave me plenty to entertain myself until I felt ready to make the day long journey.

I try to stay in a Homewood Suites or Embassy Suites when I need to stay the night somewhere. I feel a lot more welcome, the staff seems to always be hiding behind every corner ready to help you at a moments notice without expecting something in return for it, and I get a lot included with my stay. At Homewood suites I’ll have complimentary snacks and drinks in my room. At the Marriott there was a basic bottle of water which I would be charged $3 if I opened it.

Although the hotel appeared very nice, the room was comfortable, and the entertainment options on the TV were excellent, I felt like I had to constantly have my wallet open to dole out money for all sorts of hidden charges, and the valet service just made my wife so upset. Plus I had stayed at a Homewood suites the weekend before, which was the absolute best stay I have ever had in a hotel. That is why I only gave the 2...

I hosted my sons engagement party; at the Couryard by Marriott at Medical District/UIC and, it was a HORRIBLE experience!!!!! I would not recommend the venue an option to anyone seeking to host a "Special" event. They are very unprofessional. The Sales team had me stressed out 2 weeks prior to my event. ||It was memorable. ||I planned and booked the engagement cocktil party from Denver Colorado, over the phone and email. ||I selected the property 10 months in advance. I shared with the Sales Manager that my wife and I got married, at the property, 33 years prior. I also shared how important it was to make sure it was to make sure the event was perfect. The Sales Manager assured me it would exceed my expectations. The Sales Manager advised up front the property was undergoing renovations. BUT would be finished by our event. When I asked if we could bring in catering to reflect Chicago-centric food, she told me it should not be a problem. She would have to confirm with the new Sales Director, who would be starting in January 2023. ||In January, I reached out to Director of Sales regarding the proposd menu. She advisd we would have to use in-house catering. Again I asked her if the hotel would consider allowing us to bring in our own food. I asked her to send menus and she advised they were not available yet. Nor in March, nor in April. There was no kitchen in yet. ||At the end of April, 12 days before my booked event, the Director of Sales suggested I move my event. There would be no food availablefor my event. Invitations had already gone out, my guests had already booked hotel rooms, and the deposit had already been charged to my credit card. No way I was moving my even at the LAST minute. ||I advised the Director of Sales that was not an option! I finally suggested we buy all the potato chips and cookies from the in-house market place. She begrudingly agreed. She created a menu from the in-house market place and sent it over. The make shift market place is located next to make shift front desk! ||WHY AM I DISGUSTED? ||My wife and I arrived to our walk through an hour early, the day prior to our event. When the Sales Manager walked us through our event and alternative spaces....Lo and Behold...there was catering set up for the event held at the property THAT morning. Worse yet...a catered breakfast was still set up from an event, THE morning of my event. The chaffing dishes were still lit. Ice water was still in the pitchers. I was CONSISTENTLY told there was NO catering available. ||My cocktail party went without a hitch! The Banquet and Catering team were AWESOME. They made sure...even though I only had cookies and potato chips, it went off without a hitch! The hotel employees were gracious. ||To this day, the General Manager has refused to speak with me...I called her and left messages several times. After completing an email survery, I received an email. I even reached ou to Marriott corporate on 2 seperate occasions. No response. ||If your event is important to you, CONSIDER using a...

My wife and young daughter stayed at this property for 6 nights. Overall, the location is close to downtown, 3 blocks away from a train station. They have a gym which my wife utilized 4 times. She said it was basically brand new, equipment in excellent condition.

They also provide limited shuttle service, only ~1mile from hotel; it’s not very far. Although this seemed to vary on the driver and the frequency at when they would take you also seemed subject to individual drivers. For example, some drivers would take you at any time but some only would take you on the hour or the 1/2 hour. It was inconsistent and very frustrating when they would make you wait to get to the hour mark or 1/2 hour mark to give you a ride when they weren’t doing anything. Some drivers said we only drop off, you have to make your own way back. But some drivers told me that you can call for a pick up; even offered a card with a call back info.

Onsite parking is another problem. We drove in from out of state. They have a good size lot and it is underutilized. They charge $40 per night + taxes to stay in the lot. It amounts to about $53 per day. Four blocks away, you can park in the hospital garage for $15 a day, all fees included.

I spoke to a couple different managers and complained about the fee amount versus the cost of parking down the street vs the underutilization of their lot. The lot was probably 50% empty everyday at night time; during the day, very empty. As a guest, it’s very frustrating to have to park a few blocks away, when there is ample space available. This hotel is not in downtown, and although the fee is less than downtown parking rates, it’s too expensive for the area. I don’t mind paying a fee, but make it competitive to the area, and not try to rip off your guests. One mgr told me they do not negotiate on parking rates, another one offered me $25 a night + tax… Although i appreciated the effort to offer a lower price, it was still too expensive and walking 4 blocks was worth the hassle of parking off site. Once again inconsistent messaging.

The house keeping staff was great, cleaned up every day, very nice, and friendly. The rooms are typical, we had a king room with sofa bed; it had small mini fridge. My daughter said the bed was fine; not as comfortable as her home bed, but good enough.

Overall, I’m split 50/50 on coming back here. The location is very good, close by train station helps out a lot; but the issues with onsite parking and limited shuttle service make me consider other options. There’s savings to be had staying here, but the customer service was a bit lacking. Not sure if it’s worth it. Plus, for summer stays, I Wish this property had a pool for...