The Congress Plaza Hotel & Convention Center – A Historic Chicago Landmark

Worst experience ever! It was scary and creepy we experienced many issues with our room fridge didn't work very very cold in some places it was colder than other spots, I even turned the air off. Went to complain to front desk manager who assured us we would get a full refund didn't happen we received partial refund even tho we cut our trip short because I couldn't stay another night at this place. The security clothes looked as if they where never washed or ironed for that matter. For the price they charge we paid 400 my mom paid 600 with her having similar issues. I felt unsafe like I was being watched a very Erie feeling wish I would've known all of this before hand but we traveled with other family who chose this Hotel because it was right across the street where the taste of Chicago was being held.

We got more than we expected. The map showed we would be in a good spot, but we didn’t know HOW good. We had a view of the lake and Buckingham Fountain. The king bed had a firm mattress. My wife was not thrilled with the pillows, but she slept well anyway. The desk had a chair and the corner table with two chairs was good for a breakfast nook. We did not use the room coffee maker. The fridge was large enough for our needs. We did not use the room safe. We would have had to get help from the front desk had we needed to use it. We had plenty of drawers and closet space. We did not use the iron or ironing board or laundry, but it was available. The curtains did a good enough job to keep out the morning sun. The AC was meh. It was on or off. There was no real modern control. The bathroom had all the towels we needed plus tissues and toilet paper. The sewing kit was a nice extra. There was a pump dispenser for soap and the shower had body wash, shampoo and conditioner. The water was hot and the pressure adequate. The toilet worked as it should. The bathroom gripe is that the door hooks were good, but there was nowhere to put towels to dry outside the bathtub. Housekeeping was good to switch out linens and dump trash cans, so no big deal. On to the hotel The lobby/reception area is pretty. It is old-school pretty. Why update? Check-in/out was quick and the people on duty were nice and efficient. The gift shop could be a good resource in a pinch. The dining and bar facilities are there, but there are so many places surrounding the hotel that are good and less expensive***. They have vending machines in case munchies attack. Restaurant Rafael was temporarily closed during our stay. The bar/lounge seemed to be open, but we did not go in. There is a pool table and Ms Pac-Man/Galaga machine if you want to have fun. The breakfast zone is open, but looks like no one goes there. You will get a damage deposit charge. It will get refunded in 72 hours or so. We read about the North Tower 12th story ghost. We were on the 10th floor and nothing happened. In the end, we feel that we lucked out and got a room with a great view. The hotel and our booking site also communicated well after our evening flight was canceled. We showed up the next morning and were able to get in the room immediately. I mean, we did not cancel and we did not want to lose the reservation. They honored our reservation and we could get in the room immediately since it was already “occupied”.

When we got to the hotel a quite beautiful lobby full of History and grandeur. But when we got to our room on the 13th floor it was clean as much as we could see at the beginning. Then we noticed the deadbolt locked to our door was not working. We talked to security and they were going to have engineering come fix it but they never did. So we had to place a chair against the door to ensure our safety as the hotel was completely booked. Also I noticed that the room had ants crawling on the furniture. Not many but it did have me concerned about some of the cleanness. Although quite a beautiful hotel and lobby I do not think I will be staying here again or suggesting anyone to stay here again even with this rich history. To add the rooms were not cleaned daily and fresh towels were never delivered for the couple days that we stayed.

We had a great room with high ceilings and a great view. The bathroom was great and the room had new fittings and old aircon but overall I found it very acceptable in my half-sleepy state. Nobody tells you they don't routinely freshen up the room each day so we mentioned this and it was dealt with. Unless I heard that management were now keen to manage the place I wouldn't spend above any average price.