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3.5 Stars - 4 Reviews and 749 Opinions
I've stayed in so many different hotels in different places on business trips that, until I checked my own Chicago VT page, I had completely forgotten that it was an Embassy Suites hotel at O'Hare airport I used the last time I was passing through! This time, I received late notice of the IEEE meeting in Chicago so, by the time I tried to book a room, the Embassy Suites Downtown seemed to be the only one with rooms left in fairly close proximity to the convention.
I made an on-line booking with the company credit card and received confirmation back that all was fine, so I printed it out to take it with me. It was a good thing I did, because when I turned up to check-in a couple of weeks later, they had no record of me at all! Stuff like that doesn't faze me, so I just pulled out my piece of paper and they found me a room no problem!
Unique Quality: It was a nice suite (it should be for the final daily rate of ~$300 including taxes and a $5/day internet service charge), the staff was friendly and it is very conveniently located close to the downtown Loop area - but within easy walking distance of many of Chicago's finest buildings. Although an indoor Atrium looks like an Embassy Suites standard feature, I enjoyed my 5th floor view of both it and the street activities taking place not too far below my bedroom window!
The hotel had a free drinks session (spirits, wine, beer) accompanied by various finger food dishes for a couple of hours early each evening, located as seen in a 5th photo view from outside my room. I tried it a couple of times but really, the food wasn't all that great so decided to give it a miss from then onward. What I did like was the comfort of my bed and their Atrium breakfast area at the other end of that large open space. There, you could have your choice of breakfasts with the price already included in the room rate. Made things easy for getting to the distant convention centre each morning by 8 AM! I also picked up one of the small 'This Week in Chicago' booklets in their lobby and tore the downtown street map out of it - excellent to have with me for all my walking tours!
The location is great not far from Michigan Ave, next to a subway station (Grant, red line), next to a grocery store where you can buy the one day pass for the subway. There are many restaurants nearby.
A buffet breakfast is included, the egg omelets are good but the pancakes and french toast are awful. The coffee is really bad too.
The room was big, fairly clean, the bathroom fixtures are a little old and could be cleaner. First I didn't like that our room faced an ugly parking lot, that was very very close to our window (see picture No.4) but then I was happy that at least it wasn't facing State St. since we could hear the noise from the street even though we were at the opposite side of the hotel. The bed was too soft for my taste. The rooms don't have wi-fi and 3 out of the 4 days that we were there the business center wasn't working.
Overall I would say that the hotel is OK but not for $300 dlls plus tax per night.
The Embassy Suites on State Street is a very nice if somewhat isoloted hotel. The room was very comfortable and well kept. Rates are good for downtown Chicago. The center of the hotel is an atruim that goes from the floor to the glass covered roof, all the rooms open up onto the atrium. There is also a full breakfast included with the room rate. The breakfast is an all you can eat buffet with almost anything you could want for breakfast, from eggs and waffles to cold cereal and fruit, a great way to start the day. The only thing we didn't like was the location, it was just a bit to far from Michigan Avenue for our taste. The hotel was very nice though.
We especially appreciated the helpfulness of Titus, a Food Service Manager, and Richard, the concierge. We would definitely come back to stay at this hotel, with its great staff, location and services.
I know it's a bad photo, but it was the only one that I took on an October, 2004 business meeting trip. It is a 6th floor balcony shot of their enclosed central Atrium restaurant area taken in the poor morning light, showing where breakfast was being served.
The hotel itself is quite nice and I ended up with a sizeable suite that cost US$202 with all taxes included. It so happened that this was where the one-day meeting was booked.
Their breakfast options were a bit better than some that I have experienced. You could either have the standard buffet line-up or you could ask their on-duty chef to cook you an omelette or other such egg combination while you waited.
The room had high-speed internet connection or dial-up with the first hour free (using your 1-800 number) and then 10 cents/minute thereafter. The hotel has a free shuttle-bus service to the airport. At the Ground Transportation area inside the airport building, just follow the big Red Arrows in the floor and they will lead you to the shuttle bus area - wait at Post #15.
We went to Chicago to go to the Cubs - Red Sox game and stayed here as we called and the stafff stated it was only a block form public transportation. We knew better than to try and drive to Wrigley Field. We were not allowed to leave our car in the hotel parking lot for 4 hours after checkout, without paying a $28.00 per hour parking fee. I was very disappointed that the hotel would not accomodate this request. Otherwise our experience was fine but I would not recommend this hotel nor stay there again.
Every July we travel to Chicago for shopping and all the attractions. This hotel was our first in Chicago. It has everything you need to have a comfortable trip from the cook to order breakfast to the managers reception, this place is our favorite. See you in July.
This hotel has a good location and the rooms are nice; service was fine. There were far too many kids running around on the weekend -- and I do mean running. It includes breakfast, and the food was marginal. It was a full breakfast, served in an unattractive manner. Not much selection on the bread front. The food at the attached restaurant was great, though. This is probably a great place on the weekend for families with younger kids, but that is not my situation. I was primarily there on business and had to stay over the weekend. It was much more quiet during the week. The guys working in the garage were very nice and helpful.
My teenage daughter and I stayed here in July 2005. Hotel is a block from a subway station (we rode a train from Midway) and is close to a bus route that goes to Navy Pier (good for nighttime). We were able to walk everywhere. Michigan Ave about 3 blocks. There is a Starbucks and a nice grocery store across the street. Many restaurants within a block - ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Cafe, Pizzeria Uno, Weber Grill and quite a few others. Our room was standard for an Embassy Suite. It was very clean and non-smoking with a king bed that was comfortable. I asked for a room away from the street so we had a view into the adjacent parking garage but the room was very quiet. We were at the hotel midweek and there were lots of noisy kids. We only ate breakfast once as it was crowded but there was a separate seating area for young children with small furniture, cartoons on a big screen and kid-friendly cereal. Concierge,front desk and doorman very helpful. Internet access is overpriced. The refrigerator is filled with expensive minibar items.We took those out and went to the grocery instead. Pool is small. Mostly kids using it.
Osteria Via Stato beneath the Embassy Suites
Okay we finally have paid reservations at a hotel and *sigh of relief* it is not the Essex or Congress Plaza like I was originally considering.
We are staying at the Embassy Suites on 600 State Street (Which looks like a good location!) We will arrive there around 9PM and want to walk down to Grant Park (Buckingham Fountain) for the light display at 10PM (Or if we arrive early we would like to make the light display at 9PM.) Will this be a safe time to walk to the park or should we just count on taking a taxi?
It's a bit over a mile and quite safe, but if you get tired you can take a bus on Michigan (2 blovks easst of your hotel)--no need to take a taxi,.
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Address: 600 North State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60610, United States
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