More about Raffaello Hotel
Great experience!
by TripAdvisor Member wafer
It's a lovely hotel, my husband, me and my family have a wonderful time staying at this hotel.
Pros: The rooms are big and trendy.
Newly renovated.
Quiet at night time.
Nice size bathroom, but not enough counter space.
Friendly staff.
Comfy bed.
Prompt service.
Just two blocks from Mag. Mile.
Nice toiletries -- Gilchrist & Soames
Cons: Trouble with the telephone network. The message light on the phone was blinking the entire time at my family's room. Try to call the front desk to solve this problem, but kept redirecting to room service.
There is no restaurant inside the hotel.
I booked this hotel at the hotel's website, and I used my AAA card to get extra discount. It was such a sweet deal!
never again!
by TripAdvisor Member lotsatrips
Our experience was unpleasant. The hotel rom a/c was not working properly, the rooms were without internet connection and the elevators (tiny as they were) were reduced to intermittant service due to mechanical problems. When we asked for late checkout in order to find another outlet for internet service in order to complete a work assignment, the front desk mamager was gruff and repeatedly only offered a 1 pm checkout. There are many hotels in the neighborhood. Look elsewhere and save yourself some difificulty!
Very disappointed
by TripAdvisor Member afeava
I booked a deluxe room for a three night stay, and when I got there the first night, it was overbooked. The night staff was completely useless. I was bumped down to a double, and I wasn't even able to get money back because they claimed they did not know how much I paid for the room because I paid for it online, even though I had booked it through their own website! After a bit of haggling, I decided to give the place a chance. I was tired, and sucked it up for one night, and got bumped back up the next two nights. Turned out to be a bad idea! The elevators are extremely small and there are only 2. My advice, if you somehow end up having to stay here, is to request a room on the lower floors and just walk it. The rooms are ok. Though some people have mentioned that the amenities are great, I can not say that I was impressed. Overall, I would not have been too dissatisfied, until I found out that they ended up overcharging me. Being that they couldn't tell me how much my room charges were, I had to find out via my credit card bill. And this was after I had made sure that I would not incur any extra charges for my room fiasco! Final words: Very incompetent staff.
Good rooms, Terrible Service
by TripAdvisor Member mikegodphx
Where to start.
Well, the check in was difficult at best. My wife and I booked our room through travelocity and had our confirmation number and had no problems. The couple we were with did the same but even with their confirmation number they were told they did not have a reservation. It took 30 minutes to sort that out. THe front desk staff is clueless at best.
You can certainly tell they are a young property in that they lack any kind of customer service. While we were going through this ordeal, the concierge did nothing to help out anyon of the many people waiting in line behind us. Considering they were queueing up right in front of his desk and he was flipping through a magazine, that seemed pretty thoughtless. It is evident they need to get a good manager in there to get a handle on the staff or this place will not last as a hotel.
My wife and I were very pleased with our room once we got it. despite being on the second floor, we heard no lobby noise and nothing from the hallway. THe showers are awkward in that they do not have doors that close and the showerheads are the sprinkle type instead of jets. Additionally they are mounted so if you are taller than 5'8" you are going to have a terrible time in there.
The one other complaint I have is the room seemed to have two air conditioning units. One was controlled by wall switch and the other had no control whatsoever. Now I like cold rooms, but this was an ICE BOX. Asking the front desk to fix this for the three days we were there was fruitless.
There is no restaurant on site and there is not even a small convenience type store to pick up a few things.
All in all, I would not stay there again simple for the fact there are hotels just as nice in the same price range that are full service.
Fantastic!
by TripAdvisor Member cberling
My husband and I lived in Chicago for two years (2005-2007) and stayed in this hotel for our last two nights after our apartment was packed and moved. We LOVED it. It is behind the Hancock Building/Water Tower Place and just two blocks from Michigan Ave.
The room was small (I think we had the smallest one on the floor by looking at the map on the door) but it was extremely nice and well furnished. All the furniture was very nice and seemed new. We had a flat screen tv in the room, king size bed with pillow top padding, tons of pillows (which is a pet peeve when hotels only give you two!), granite counter tops, wonderful bathroom...etc.
I don't know if the hotel offers breakfast, but it doesn't offer any other food. But you are in Chicago...best food in the world! Don't eat at your hotel....such a waste. For food, don't just stay downtown. Eat in Lincoln Park, Gold Coast...etc. You will get to see what Chicago is really like.
As a side note. The hotel says it has parking, but doesn't mention that its at least $20 a day and $40 if you want to get your car more than once a day. I recommend driving around the block until you find street parking...hard during the day, but easier early morning or after 5pm.
Had a great stay
by TripAdvisor Member rnasiatka
We stayed at the Raffaello for a long weekend getaway and enjoyed it very much. Contrary to other reviews, we found the staff to be very friendly and accomodating. We arrived early and while the room was not available yet, they checked our bags and we went to get lunch. They called within about a half hour to let us know that it was ready. They also checked our bags again upon checkout as our flight was not until the evening. And they had umbrellas to loan on a rainy day. The bed was very comfortable and the room was quiet as others have stated. We actually liked the rain shower showerhead and my boyfriend is 6'2" and had no problem with it. (it is adjustable) Others have complained about the size of the rooms and we also had the smallest room on the floor but it was plenty big for the both of us. The location of the hotel is great. We did not rent a car and had no problem getting where we needed to go on the buses and trains.
Overall our stay was very pleasant, however there were a few cons. The blower on the AC was a little weak in our room. Most of the time it was comfortable but there were times when we wished we could get it a little cooler in the room. Also, I feel that with all the hotels that offer free internet and continental breakfast, it's just greedy to charge $10/day for either. Although I do think they offer free internet in the business center. Like others, we went across the street to the Hilton for a hot breakfast for about the same price.
We would consider staying here again.
Horrible front-desk service
by TripAdvisor Member MidwestTravelerIowa
The room was okay--not great, but passable--but the front-desk staff was unbelievably poor. I could list numerous oversights and examples of incompetence, but I'll only mention the worst. Even though I fully prepaid for the hotel reservation through an online booking service, the hotel's front-desk staff erroneously charged my credit card for the entire stay, as well. It has been nearly a month, and I'm still waiting for the credit to my account that they tell me they've processed. That's only the most egregious of a long list of problems, ranging from refusing to send up additional towels, mischarging for valet parking, you name it. In a city full of nice hotels, there's no good reason to take a gamble with this one.
Rough around the edges
by TripAdvisor Member catfishdigby
My husband booked our room (a suite) through the hotel's website and paid $268/night. We were allowed to check in early and told that our room was ready. At first glance, the hotel and our room seemed very nice, but after being inside a few minutes we realized that there were a few problems. First of all, housekeeping had done an incomplete job of making the room ready. There was a towel on the floor of the sitting area, a handful of change on the table, and somebody else's eyeglasses on the shelf in the bathroom. We flipped through the hotel's service guide and found out that there is no restaurant (despite having a section in the guide for restaurant). The shower was too low for my husband (who is 6'0), and he had to bend down to shower. (Contrary to what another person posted to this site, our shower was not height-adjustable, unless you count the hand wand.) The HDTV's (one in sitting area and one in the bedroom) were not equipped with HD programming, so the image always had that "stretched" look to it. The continental breakfast was included in our package rate, otherwise we would not have eaten there. ($10pp for cold cereal and a selection of baked goods - none stellar - seems a bit much.)
On the plus side, the bed was extremely comfortable, the furnishings were lovely, and we had no problems whatsoever with the staff (always seemed very courteous). The location was excellent for anyone hoping to spend time on Michigan Avenue or Oak Street Beach.
Overall, we just expected more for the money. The hotel is nice but still needs to work out some kinks.
Good hotel, but don't depend too much on the service
by TripAdvisor Member js9539
Got a great deal on a room at the Raffaello and overall was quite happy with the hotel. The location is terrific, the decor is nice, the amenities are more than adequate, and the room was clean and a decent size. The only issues we encountered were service-related. Although all the staff members we interacted with were extremely friendly and tried to be helpful, we encountered a few problems ranging from a wake-up call that never happened to incorrect telephone directions to the hotel from a location less than 10 blocks away. I also overhead a couple at the front desk dealing with the hotel having somehow "lost" their luggage. Anyways, although I would still recommend the hotel overall, I would probably also recommend not relying heavily on the staff for stuff like wake up calls, just in case!
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