The Congress Plaza Hotel Reviews

The Worst, we traveled from St. Louis and by the time we checked-in which was 5pm it was defineltly too late to look for another room considering this one was 200+ already. The pictures are not at all what the hotel looks like, its very old and i truely believe that young adults come there to party, drink and have a good time which for indiciduals that would go off the FAKE 4 start rating that this hotel has would not like this atmosphere when they stay somewhere. So the first thing that happened was out room was so difficult to find it actually was down some doorway in a nook that I ended up having to go get some assistance to find. Once in the room i decided to attempt to take a shower only to notice there is NO hot water, upon calling the front desk they advice me to turn the sick on at the sametime...WTH !!!! who does that 4 stars remember.... then after that got resolved sometime during the night i relized that it was quite warm in our room only to find out that we had no electricity I assume that a fuse blew out... OMG this is not a place you would want to stay people go to hotels to relax and have some comfort... Never ever again

Unfortunately the room given was not facing the michigan avenue and lacked a good view. They were charging extra for the view facing the michigan avenue although they had rooms vacant. Amenities as mentioned during booking included dental kit, however when we asked for toothbrush, they said its not part of the dental kit. The location of the hotel is really good.

Room was clean and well kept, staff was very friendly, and ideal location for our tourist needs

Only stopped in on a Weird Chicago tour but the inside was very nice

We love staying at the venerable Congress Plaza. Right in the middle of everything! Very nice rooms for the price.

Bang on congress street, stayed there for couple of days , got really good deal,

Spacious Room but not many amenities. If it's business that needs done. Congress Plaza is your place to stay while in Chicago. Great view of the Buckingham Fountain if you have a Lake Michigan frontal view. Staff is also courteous and housekeeping takes care of the rooms. Great Bar, but expensive. That's expected for downtown Chicago.

Location and the price was excellent. The food was very good and the breakfast was very reasonable. Staff was friendly and helpful with recommendations where to go, eat and shop.

This hotel was a bit outdated, but that was what I liked most. Hotels are always the same in their up-to-date-ness and their shiny new everything, but this hotel had character and real feel. It was only minutes away from Millennium Park and around the corner from dozens of stores and places to eat. The staff was really friendly and accommodating! I would definitely stay here again!

Services was super friendly and hotel room was clean

A nice balance of history and more modern updates. Comfortable and clean enough and a good deal for the location.

If a visitor knows where to go, how to get there, and where to eat, this place is okay. But, if one has questions or needs help about the city, forget it. Room was basic but bed was comfortable. Never could get the Wi-Fi to work. Staff, with the exception of housekeeping, was cold and not helpful. Will not stay here again.

Amazing views and good price, we enjoyed our stay. But the parking was a problem.

I went in for a drink at the bar. There was a specialnkitside for a burger and drink for 12 bucks. Sounds good for Chicago. The waitress didn't know if she could give me the deal inside. The decor was alright for the place and had history to it. A little run down though at the same time. There were only 5 beers on tap. The good was pretty bad. The burger was something comparable to college as well as the fries. I asked for no onion but it came on the burger anyway. Avoid the place. Overpriced and poor quality food.

Nice big rooms, helpful staff, neat historic hotel. Rooms are fairly up to date, but the hallways kind of smell. Could use a little updating in that regard. Food is a bit pricey, but that's part for the locations. Great rates with AAA even during primetime. Will consider coming back!

The Congress looks amazing from the outside and the lobby is absolutely beautiful! It is very conveniently located and we felt safe. We very much appreciate older architecture and were at first enamored with the old school feel...that said, our room was clean but the shower leaked all over the floor. The air couldn't keep up with keeping us cool even though it was 60 s/t outside. We ended up opening our windows as much as they would open. The bar downstairs is beautiful and the bartender was super friendly but not that on the ball...It WAS conveniently located by Grant Park and the beautiful fountain but....overall, I would say it was just ok...which make me feel bad to say b/c I love historical buildings and places but....

Everything fine until we asked for towels. They brought toilet tissue. We did eventually get towels after 3 calls the following day we tried to leave and the bell hop wouldn't let me have a cart to bring down my luggage when there were 6 empty carts right next to him. He said they don't let guests push carts. He said he would bring a cart up when he had time. He was rude and no help whatsoever. After carrying down our luggage I now see 10 carts where people were helping themselves right where he was standing. Not a good ending to a visit but this gentleman needs manners and a different job. Good luck to this hotel. With employees like him we will stay down the block on our next visit where I can leave when I want and use a cart when needed.

Lovely old world charm. Comfortable room. Updated bathroom. Great view of Lake Michigan. Excellent location.

Nice historical hotel. Stayed in room 441 rumored to be haunted by a shadow lady who kicks your bed at night. Was let down. She didn t come visit us but we liked the hotel.

Food was great and the atmosphere and decor were amazing. The fountain in the park is right across Michigan Ave and makes for a great view when leaving the hotel.

Good price, but you get what you pay for. No water in rooms and 4$ for 6 oz. Had to have the toilet fixed because it would not stop running twice

We stayed in the North Tower which is part of the original construction. Great place. Lots of history. Toured the Gold Ballroom and it's amazing.

Iconic hotel with historical artifacts and rooms. Takes you back in time to the gilded age

It was an ok hotel. Very old and outdated. Takes the water in the shower a good 25 minutes to get hot. Definitely need to get snack vending machines. Other than that I had a good visit. Staff is very friendly

It was a fun experience. The 4th floor was extremely creepy.

Newly renovated rooms with available unobstructed view of Lake Michigan

well located hotel but needs to be renewed.... electrical heating only allowing
for like on and off respectively cold and warm, leaky windows, only a handful of plugs in the room, a lack of room lights making it difficult to work at night... is this really 2018 standard in a city like Chicago? still it has a certain flair but actually it is also too expensive for what it has to offer

Obviously not the best hotel in this city. I'm pretty sure they try to give you value for your money. You get what you pay for.

Cheap but not at any value. I only slept there one night and couldn't wait to leave. Seems like a very valuable building waiting to get acquired and in the meantime they want to cover its cost of ownership.

Old, not clean, expensive and smell bad. Long walk distance from downtown. Not recommended to stay in.

Beautiful historic hotel with excellent service. Located very conveniently in downtown Chicago walking distance from popular tourist destinations such as the Bean, Buckingham fountain, Art museum, great places to eat and the subway station. Some of their rooms are not yet renovated and we stayed in one of them. But we simply loved the quaint old feel about it. Will go back again when we can.

The hotel is very old. Looks like a nice hotel from outside but is a rip-off with bit good facilities. Our shower and faucet didn't work very well and they had a handyman come and fix it for you which took an hr, you don't need that when you on a vacation to relax. They should have all these things checked out beforehand. You also had to pay for breakfast which 20$ per person per day, again a rip-off. We stayed at a different hotel before and was way better and cheaper. I wouldn't recommend this, there are better hotels with better facilities at same or lesser price.

Old place, tight for the large person, but inthe middle of it all.

While the location was great and the lobby was impressive, IF I could leave zero stars at this point I think I would. I became sick while staying there. I was VERY ill, possibly the sickest I have ever been. I couldn't return to work for a week. When I returned home I went to my doctor and they ran tests. I contacted the office to tell them about the lab results so they would be aware and could investigate and possibly find and/or fix the problem to prevent others from my experience. The person they thought I should speak to was supposedly in a meeting so I requested a call back. I received no return call. I called again, weeks later and got the same story and when I said that wouldn't work they transferred me to security where we went through a full report. Again I requested a return call so I could be certain my concern would be addressed. Again, no return call. I called again today, and the person they thought I should speak to (after telling them why I was calling) had just stepped out of the office, but was in the building, so we will see if they show any interest or concern for their future guests by returning my call this time.
I as others have reported, I could not control the temp in my room, and it took quite awhile to get extra blankets and a portable heater, pop machines ate my money and delivered no pop... all these were minor complaints in comparison to the illness... After returning home and after the lab results were in the Iowa Dept of Health became involved because it was what my doctor called a mandatory reportable results. I had to complete their interview process and they were very interested/concerned until they discovered/decided I was likely exposed in Illinois. Anyway, to sum all this up, I don't think a return call from the facility was too much to ask given the seriousness of my illness to investigate the possibility of their involvement.

Decent hotel in a good location. Rooms are a little dated.

Room s and beds we're nice and the location is close to the Soldier Field Stadium, and it's a good location overall

This place is old and dirty looking.stayed here few days.Only giving 2 stars because the maids were nice and always asked if you needed anything Every morning

If I could give this place no stars I would!! The lobby looks very nice!! Our room on the other hand....
The first thing you see is a creepy half closet inside the closet. After laying on the extremely hard bed we realize the 1940 s a/c does not work. The front desk said all the rooms are set on heat for another 2 months. Then we see all the bugs flying around the ceiling light because the lamps don t work. When we decide its time for showers, there were several long black hair in the tub. After washing them down. The tub does not drain. You have to take a shower in standing water. UGH!!! So now we are climbing into bed and go to pull the covers up, only to find an extremely large amount of black hair wadded up and stuck to the blanket by our face. It s now 11:15 and knowing my son needs to get some rest for tomorrow s gymnastics regionals meet, I decided to call the front desk to just cancel the 2nd nights stay and ask for my money back for that night and just pray we can get some sleep. 4 sweaty hours later, I m up and want to leave!!!! We showed the front desk the pics and we got a refund for both nights. I will never stay there ever again!!! As for my sons meet.... he came in dead last!

EXCELLENT service, cleans rooms, very cool old hotel with a ton of charm. Allegedly haunted if your into that, but that's not why I stayed there. Overall a great stay 6/5!!

Yeah not so much really. The lobby is very cool, but some of the rooms are obviously retrofitted in hotel rooms. Has an old somewhat creepy feel to it. It worked for a weekend trip though.

It's a really well located hotel that is really convenient for seeing sites. Hotel itself is expensive, as expected and has some older rooms as expected. So not the best hotel, bathrooms small, shower not great, can hear ajoining rooms easily, but it's not an awful experience for visiting and having a great location.

The room was definitely not cleaned to the standard expected.

It's a very nice hotel. I haven't stayed overnight, I only went to listen to ghost stories. They say that they won't rent a room to guests I think it was room 441 unless you specifically ask for it. That's their most haunted room and there hasn't been a guest that has stayed there the whole night.

Excellent location. Friendly bar staff. Great value. Fun historical building.

Nice large room great view . Here for the taste fest. Don't go to the Buckingham Wing.

Our room is wonderful! The staff is handling the huge amount of guests with grace and efficiency.

Yea it's older but a decent room at a decent price. And the location is great!

Very badly maintained. Except convenience nothing is good. Rooms are ok, bathrooms are very small and not maintained at all. I would not recommend for families.

She's a grand old hotel which has not aged particularly gracefully. Not bad value for what you pay, perfectly fine for no-frills business travel as the location is convenient. Reasonable dining options within walking distance. Overall the staff were nice. My room didn't have hot water throughout my four night stay.

This is NOT a reflection on the hotel but on the event holder. The hotel looked very nice.

I stayed three nights at the Congress Plaza in July 2017. Booked online. No problems with check-in or check out.

Pros: Good desk and security staff, updated beds and pillows in our 12th floor room, quiet room at night, hot showers, and great maid service daily. Cons: Old room doors that don't look or feel safe. No in-room coffee or in house coffee shop (1 blk to dunkin' donuts), generally ancient facilities like the terrible workout room. Not enough outlets in the room, but that's true for almost every hotel. No in room thermostat. Lots of maintenance issues throughout. What's with the mothball smell at the front door? This place was good enough for my son and I to stay for our chicago weekend trip, but I wouldn't take my wife here. No sir. I won't be back.Too many other options out there.

Location is great! Within walking distance of tons of stuff to see. But the hotel itself is only mediocre at best. The rooms are tiny. There's a musty smell most of the time. TVs are small. Most of the trim work looks like it was original but buried under 30 layers of paint. The bathrooms are nicer but the showers leak into the rest of the bathroom.

Basically you stay here for the location which is awesome. But there may be other hotels nearby with better prices.

The location was nice but the hotel could use some updates. Did not even have a mini fridge in the room

Great location on Michigan ave. Older hotel with character. Nice sized rooms and great staircase.. bathroom is nice..

Friendly service and a great lounge. Would go back for sure.

Nice rooms, some issue with the room keys not working daily.

Great location, friendly staff, beautiful interior, very near to public transportation and restaurants. A lot of sight seeing places at walkable distances.

Air conditioner from the 60s didn't work bed was hard as a rock, the blanket on the bed was ripped open every surface seemed dirty paid for 2 nights stayed for one. Never again will I stay in that hole.

Always a good place to stay when in Chicago for the weekend.

Parties and special guests take priority over typical guests and appearance of hotel. Is a very beautiful building if you can see through the trash on the floor and pot cloud on floor 8 during a big party weekend. Don't plan on being able to sleep if they have entertainment going on as you can hear it as far as the 8th floor booming through the levels til 3 a.m. even on the 13th floor where my sister stayed. We had to put a towel at the bottom of our door to keep the pot smell from coming in our room. Not what we were expecting but why management allowed how the hotel presented itself was rather sad. Maybe top management should hire staff who thinks it matters? There were more than paty goers staying there but we definitely knew who was priority. Just sad to get up and walk through trashed Main floor to go outside. Coat check room was a total disaster. Guessing the "staff" was at the party too and just too tired to clean up the trash, bottles and plates/ and to go boxes of food left laying around. Won't be staying here again.
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Rooms were great. Staff was friendly. Not to much hot water though. But overall I would stay again.

At least the bed was nice. All the rest, not at all. Old, dilapidated rooms and hallways, paint flaking off doorways. Could hear the neighbors (luckily only for 2 minutes) through the Paperthin divider door. Water from the tap was WHITE, vending machines sold out, only bottle of water was a tiny 4$ bottle of Fiji water. Everything here is in DIRE need of renovation. The AC unit in our room rattled, turned it off during night time. Pic of the control panel included to show what you can expect of the rest.

Cool place with an interesting history and ghost stories. A little freaky. Room curtains reminded me of coffin linings.

Wonderful white fluffy sheets. A stunning view. And a spectacular historic( possibly haunted) hotel to explore.

excellent service at this hotel, i had an afternoon stay and it was great, smooth check in, beautiful room

My group and I were meeting in the lobby bar for a bus tour. The hotel is absolutely beautiful from what we see, the drinks were pricey but very good and expected for a downtown establishment, the staff was all very friendly and helpful. We left considering coming back to stay for the historic hotel.

Great location in a historic building. Had amazing view from 14th floor. However overall upkeep and cleanliness could use some improving. Great for short stays.

Would have been fine except the housekeeper stole my $200 winter coat during our stay while we were switching rooms and the hotel's insurance has refused to compensate. It was late spring and snowing so I had to buy a new winter coat. So, unless you can fit everything you brought in a safe, STAY AWAY.

The e-mail response from the hotel in regards of the issue people were having at the hotel about a "racial profiling" incident was indeed false and completely made up. Read this:

(1/2)Jay Mirabal I was walking out of the hotel that day when that happen. You forgot to write that you guys (4). Where being very Laud and cursing up a storm for over 3 hours. While other guest came in and out of the hotel. Security where doing there job. DT pull the race card for every situation now. Find god!

(2/2)"Jay Mirabal They where asked in a respectful way if they where staying at the hotel. That's when the skinny guy that had a black T-shirt with a logo on it. Took it to another level and pulled the race card. I understand there is a lot of racism out there. But that wasn't right. And when they say the employees feared for there life. Actually. They where all screaming and 2 of them Whr banging on the counter at the front desk. If it wasn't for there friend. The heavier guy calming the situation. I think they would've jumped the counter. No lie"

Several attendants and the guards from the "scene" reported that the these comments that have been turned into e-mail responses from THIS hotel was completely made up!