Wicker Park Inn — Hotel in West Chicago Township

We hosted a bachelorette weekend here and the owner was a tremendous help with the planning. We had several changes going back and forth and all were handled with extreme patience. Laura was able to book a cocktail making class for us, which was so much fun!

We did have a mixup on parking. We had originally booked 3 spaces for two nights earlier in the week and the day before changed it to 1 car the day prior to our stay, Friday and was not charged for the other two cars. Very late Thursday night added another car to Friday and was assured that extra spot and that it was no problem. Upon checkin, that spot was being utilized and was told that some spots were rented out during the week and would have to wait until the car moved to use it, sometime after the work day ended. She said there were no other available parking spots and we would just have to wait for the other car to move to use it. Luckily, we were able to find free street parking but would not be back to the Inn until later that evening. No one was in condition to move the car to the assigned space and therefore unable to utilize it. Some spots are not available at checkin time, which didn't help us at all and which we were not informed of prior. We were still charged the $35 for that spot even though we brought it up at checkin that we were unable to use the spot.

I was very concerned for the other guests, as this was a bachelorette weekend party and the walls and floors are thin. I am hoping we didn't disturb the other guests too much. I wouldn't recommend for large groups unless you plan on renting all the rooms at the Wicker Park Inn.

Again, Laura was a huge help and worked with all our room changes, planning of our cocktail mixing class and giving us suggestions on where to go for different activities we had planned. The breakfast was amazing as well. The party had a great weekend. Just be careful about the parking situation if you need it.

EDIT: I did email you to verify that the spot was not used after being charged for it when I saw that it was on my receipt when I got home. Your response was: "My apologies about that. We had designated three parking spaces for your group when the reservation was initially placed. We removed all but one. Then added a second parking spot for just Friday night. By the time we added the last parking space, we only had a Friday/Saturday night spots available. Glad you were able to find parking nearby. It’s difficult to find one that doesn’t require a permit and overnight parking is not allowed on Milwaukee Avenue during the weekend."

We were not told at time of booking that it would only be available in the evening hours, I would not have booked it. The refund only came after my review and after the person being charged called once again about it. I really do appreciate your efforts, but I also appreciate honesty. I gave an honest review and an honest account of what transpired with regards to parking. When I first came and told you there was a car parked there you seemed confused and said you would look for another spot. I said I will come back in a couple hours and check back. When I came back to get the parking pass, you were in a meeting with someone and were very short with me and said, "well, that's all we have. Sometimes those spots are rented out Monday through Friday and you will have to wait till the work day is over." I told you we would not be able to park there because of that. We would be out and back to the Inn very late. No comment from you so I...

update: I wasn't going to go into the reasons for my one-star review because I wanted to go easy on you, but since whoever responded to me decided to track down who I was and make the incorrect statement that I tried to cancel my reservation a day before in an effort to undermine my review, I will give some details. A few days before my stay, the concert I was coming into town for was delayed to a different date. I checked the website for the terms of the non-refundable agreement and nothing was said about moving the dates of your stay, so I decided to give a call to inquire. I left a message with my concerns and was called back by someone who left a message with their personal cell phone, telling me to call them there instead of the business. I should have been warned off by the sketchiness of this, but I dropped $300 on this room, so I needed to find an answer because times are tough and this was supposed to be a special treat to visit. When I got on the phone with this woman whose name I no longer have access to, she very rudely told me that I could not move dates because that would be a cancellation and that is not covered in the non-refundable policy. I explained that I wasn't interested in canceling. To cancel would be to not come and stay in the hotel at all. What I wished to do was move my stay so that I could still come for the show and enjoy the room I paid for. She continued to insist this is a cancellation, which is just categorically and semantically incorrect. I pointed out that the language in the agreement says nothing about rescheduling. At this point, she started screaming over me that rescheduling is cancelling, which it's not (at this point on the call, I began to feel like Larry David having a Curb-Your-Enthusiasm moment because she clearly was just making things up to fit their agreement so they didn't have to refund me, even though I didn't want a refund; I wanted to still stay in the hotel on a different day). She continued shouting over me so I couldn't speak. I became overwhelmed, and I hung up the call after saying the conversation was going nowhere. Not only was this behavior incredibly unprofessional, it just shows a base inability to regulate one's emotions, further exemplified by waiting over a month then tracking down who I am from my review so they could leave a passive aggressive comment trying to blame me for my low review. No, you're straight up scary to deal with and I would never in my life book here again or ever think of stepping foot into this place after how I...

The Inn is perfectly located for easy play time in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Just walk out the door. It is also beautifully decorated, bright and comfortable (we slept like babies). We also chose the place/room BECAUSE it is next to the train tracks, which is a feature we love. A cup of coffee on the patio and the El. Chicago! BUT...two stars. Here's why: The staff at check in were wonderful, friendly, helpful, as one might expect when checking into a $250+/night B&B. The staff the next morning however (Fri, July 19th) ..not so much. When I made the reservation, I was prompted to detail dietary preferences, which I was surprised by, but thought it was cool that they'd go extra step, since they already offered "breakfast included" in price, and it was touted as actual breakfast, not continental as on some other sites. Turns out the breakfast was a small quiche and berries and bagels, with no vegan options, except for berries. I went down to office to ask about this and the staff person just sort of blew me off. Saying "yeah we can't always accomodate" and told me me bagels probably weren't vegan, since they're from Costco. That's it. My party had planned to eat at the Inn, and enjoy the patio off our room, but needed to pack up early to have time for breakfast elsewhere before we had to leave Chicago. This aside, the thing that really bothers me is the attitude of the staff person and that my concerns weren't addressed very professionally. Don't ask about dietary preferences or tout an in house breakfast if you can't accommodate all of your guests. Also, the check out process was confusing. One couple came down to office when I was looking for staff as well, and said they really needed to leave, but weren't sure what to do with their keys. Rooms were wide open for cleaning and office wasn't locked, so as a guest it feels uncomfortable leaving room keys without checking out officially. AND, when I did speak to staff (same person from earlier) and dropped off keys, there was no "thanks for staying" or "how was your stay". They just seemed distracted and/or indifferent. Maybe upset because I asked about breakfast? Anyway, the place is cute, there's parking, and location is great, but the attitude put a damper on the experience. I rarely take vacations, so I'll spend my money elsewhere, next time, in hope of a...