The Congress Plaza Hotel Reviews

Location is good. Main entry and lounge exude class but the rooms are gross. Hallways and room doors are unbelievably hacked together. One feels like they are in. $50 a night hotel in a depressed neighborhood from forty years ago. Late October and heat is not available in rooms. Bathroom door handle broken whereby one unintentionally locks themselves inside the bathroom. Gross rooms.

This must be the worst hotel i have ever stayed. It is just old. Super old. Needs to be demolished and built something new instead. It smells, dirty, heat doesnt work properly, everything is dirty, I mean just garbage of a place to stay. Spend a little more and stay at a more modern place

Great food, location, and service. Rooms are smaller than expected but very good none the less

My family has stayed at the Congress when coming to visit for almost 15 years. It's a beautiful building with really interesting history. A few of the bus tours make stops here, like the serial killer tour and the haunted tour. Rooms are nice and clean, and the location idea easy access to everything in the Loop, River North, Streeterville, South Loop, and Mag Mile. Was here recently got a wedding reception in the gold room, and holy cow is that a cool hall. Fancy spot for special occasions.

Scariest but beautiful hotel to stay in. Didn't know it was haunted till after my son had booked here. Close walk to Grant park and the lake.

The hotel was very fancy looking. Although the elevator had pizza crumbs so maybe just work on the cleaning around the halls and elevators. Over than that it's a great hotel.

Hallways to rooms are very deceptive. I thought we were in trouble, but the room is beautiful. Still have 5 more nights, but so far so good!

Hallways are pretty sketchy looking, but its an old hotel. Could really use modernization, but it adds character. Room was pleasant and had lots of natural light.

The hotel's location is definitely convenient residing on the South End of Downtown. The interior is a bit old - last time I visited - and would be great for a budget stay.

One of the most charming hotels in Chicago. Will always return here. Definitely dated but still classy and the staff pour their hearts and pride into their work.

the rooms look nothing like what you see online, an what you pay

Nice hotel but the check in were talking to each other and made me wait over 5min they were having conversation which was very annoying.

My girlfriend and I stayed up here for the night for our two years of dating. Reasonably priced, for what you get. I paid for a king room and the room we first got reeked of marijuana and still had the residue laying out in one of the rooms. Not to mention the room had two full size beds and not a king bed like I paid for.

We went back to the check-in desk and told them of our issue, the lady helping us was really nice and got us the room we originally paid for and was very apologetic.

Overall, the staff were pretty friendly and attentive to any issues we had. So i guess the reason I am giving three stars is because the bathroom was very small, room not too spacious, and next to no AC in the room which held at roughly mid to high 70s. Very hot. Little iffy on whether or not I ll stay here again.

Over priced. Not worth the stay. No continental breakfest, or pool. Mini fridge costs money. Not a good enough quality for the price.

Room was comfortable and historic. Prices were ridiculous, paid $63 for room service breakfast, and it was average at best

Excellent location, great attitude staff. The bathroom was a little bit tiny but nice.

The hotel itself is beautiful, didn't get any ghost action. The bellman in the morning is superb. The reason I only did 4 star is because the front desk seemed to be annoyed to do her job, not friendly, not welcoming. Our room was very elegant, loved the vintage decor. My husband loved the shower & great water pressure & that the water got good & hot, close to pretty much everything.

Good hotel and although I understand it's a historical place, some upgrades wouldn't hurt. That aside, it was good.

Don't like the bathrooms in the room. The hotel and it's history is cool though.

It's an inexpensive option relative to the hotels near it, but it certainly isn't as nice as the Hilton or some of the other hotels along the waterfront. Staff is great, beds are comfortable but it's clearly a dated hotel and half the rooms look out over perhaps the ugliest inner courtyard ever (coworker had a view of the lake which was superb.) I was in town for a conference so I didn't particularly mind and would stay here again during business trips, but if I was traveling for pleasure I'd look elsewhere.

I love this hotel! I have stayed here several times between 2011 and 2014, whenever I am in Chicago for business. The rates are very competitive for the location. People are right about the creep factor, it is a very old hotel and not operating at full/former capacity! So if the historical vibe doesn't work for you, you may want to look elsewhere. But, the rooms are *very* clean and I have to say that I have never had a bad experience here. I have always gotten a room with a lake view, always have good wi-fi and a good night sleep. You can even sneak around through the banquet rooms which are true gems. It's my favorite hotel in Chicago.

Grand old dame looks tired and worn out. The former glory is gone. Don't get me wrong, it is still a great hotel and if you are lucky enough to get a lake side room, gorgeous views await. But having gone through a number of renovations, each of which has left its own mark, it simply looks like the lady has far too much make-up to hide the wrinkles underneath.

I reserved a room, needed to cancel two days later. Two days after cancellation these folks charged my bank account $103 for some unknown reason. Had to file a dispute with my bank to get the money back. I never stayed here, but you can bet your bottom dollar I never will.

I live downtown and wanted to access the gift shop because it looks nice from the outside. Twice I ve called ahead to see when they would open and they told me. 5:00 P.M. Twice I ve come into the hotel and the gift shop is closed. What a sham! Don t advertise it if you don t intend to open it.

Location is fabulous. Lobby spectacular. Rooms are dated. Good value for the price

Wonderful historic hotel. Great location and fantastic views.

The most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept in. Hard with springs digging in to me. Very high priced room for not having basic amenities and being extremely outdated. The room was very clean though. Our room was not ready at check in. Our booking explained that our room was guaranteed at 3pm. At 3:20p the manager argued with me and told me "check in starts at 3pm, but is not guaranteed" .

Came here after staying 4 days at the Hilton Chicago. The Hilton was amazing but the Congress was a dump with plenty of deferred maintenance issues. Room was dirty, bathroom had hairs all over the floor, room ac had standing water in it (made me think of Legionaries disease). We decided to (after checking in) to walk away and return to my friends house out in the suburbs.

We were out 150ish for the room but there's no way I was staying. We had room 943 on Saturday June 29, 2019.

Full of history and awesome. It is an old hotel, people...don't visit if you're expecting modern. Great location. Great staff.

Love the historical hotel. The rooms are very nice as well blending both new and old. I enjoyed my stay and would like to stay here again. Great location too!

Old Hotel at a very good location. They don't realise that we could have arrived late in the night and many days know the door at 8.00 in the morning ot check if they have to roster for cleaning the room which was disappointing.. Location is very close to the bus stop and lots of restaurants around..

Clean rooms, free wifi, unbelievably convenient location

Convenient location, suggest a lake view room definitely!

I will never ever purchase from Groupon again.. I purchased a groupon about an hour before me trying to check in and was told ther was no reservation.. After calling the Congress Hotel to make sure I would be ableto check in ..Then I made the purchase of a room for $154- So with that being said I went on to make a purchase thru Congress for around or about $160 not a big difference in price .. After contacting groupon so see about the money I paid I was then told I wouldnt be able to get a refund or Groupon bucks a stay at the Congress hotel due to a "NO SHOW". I fell terrible for even going there and making the purchase at groupon.. Ive never had such horrible customer service in my life.. Thats basically 2 dyas of work for me thrown into thin air.. I was a no show.. How when I went in and purchased the room within the same hour and not to mention the room I paid to stay in was terrible.. I feel horrible and very sad by this experience.. How is there nothing u can do when u have serval rooms aval but want allow me to use one when indeed I paid.. So its like I paid over $300 to stay in a shack for 4 hours.. If it wasnt for me not wanting to drive back south after hanging with family I havent seen in years to go to my uncles funral I wouldve never even brought a Hotel room..This is high way Robbery and its sad that I keep being told there is nothing that can be done to assist me with something that was paid for and unused.. Its not like Im asking for a hand out.. Just good customer service to assist me in my time of need which is why its called customer service.. I wish Congres would read there reviews to see how people deem them and be of better assistance.. Also my groupon says this is still available so why want they honor this..I paid for 2 rooms in 1 night and only stayed in one for about 4 hours bc I had to go to work- Can someone from the upper staff please assist me if thats not to hard to ask.. I work part time and dont have money to shell out.. I wouldve rather gave it to a cure for cancer than just throwing it away..

Just keep getting bigger and better in the room oh my God. Lakeview can you see the Buckingham Fountain and the planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium

The room was great! It was comfy, and the staff was super nice :)

Lobby is old and gorgeous. No frills room. Would be nicer to have refridgerator. Good service. Fantastic location. Hallways and elevators run down.

Had a great view and a great experience while there.

A 3 star hotel in a 5 star location. The room was clean, just old. But no complaints.

For the price paid for a downtown hotel in Chicago, the Congress did the trick. Parking was a little sketch since it wasn't an actual garage but an open lot. We found parkikg down the street covered in a parking garage for $3 more. I would suggest that. The lobby is beautiful, however, the rooms could use an update for sure. Like I said up above though, the price for a downtown Chicago hotel is really nice.

Hotel lobby looks amazing. The rooms might be due for an update. They are very dated. Know what you are getting into when booking a 120 year old hotel.

Loved this classic presidential hotel. They ve maintained all the old charm right down to the hotel bar.

First the good- Vintage. Clean. Good location with a bright sign that helped me navigate while I was exploring the GORGEOUS lakeside trail. NEGATIVES: I had my room cleaned 2x and both times my key card was inoperational when I got back to my room. There were 2nights I had Do Not Disturb on my door and my key card remained functional those days. Mystery. The most frustrating part of my stay was that I had zero access to Internet. When I'm on a biz trip, I need to work late nights to keep up, and not having internet was a huge productivity suck. My friend complained to me about the same thing before we realized we were both staying in the same hotel. I would not stay at this hotel again for that reason, plus the rickety elevator and spiral staircase. Also, my hotel phone had what I'm assuming is a Flamin' Hot Cheetos smudge on the dialpad. This smudge bested the cleaning crew, but the phone is circa 1990s so maybe it should just be retired.
One more thing- driving in a new city with 1way streets is disorienting enough for me, but the Google Maps location coordinates for this hotel actually match up to the island between the hotel and the next street. It was a flustering frustrating experience just getting to this hotel. Nothing against the people who work there, who were all very friendly and polite, but never again will I stay there.

every day you can watch the picket of striking workers. go inside and see what a union busting hotel is like.

My iPad, wallet and credit cards were stolen from our room. Hotel staff did nothing to fix the issue! Do not stay here! Your things will come up missing.

Very dated hotel. There was a horrible chemical smell in the hallway near our room, and in our room. The bathroom was disgusting- hair on the floor, toliet needed cleaned. The water wasn't even warm for a shower. Limited amount of plug-ins to charge devices. You could hear everything through the walls. Disgusting carpet in the room... Bring flip flops. We won't be back.

First room had issues (I'm sure was not intentional) they corrected it quickly, comped us breakfast, and even upgraded our room. They where helpful and curtious, and I could not be happier with my stay. The rustic feel if a nice touch too

Room is very clean. Service is efficient and friendly. Would stay here again.

Great location and friendly doorman... that is where the compliments end. I had to be moved from the first room I was given due to a loud fan and non-functional windows. The second room was acceptable however Spartan. The bed is very firm and the covers don't fit properly...the Halls are musty and in dire need of freshening. Overall I would not recommend it; however, the price was quite inexpensive and the location is very nice.

Staff was nice and polite. Allowed us yo check in early. Elevator was broken with no notice on upper levels. Bedding was stained and not very nice looking when we got there. Room was roomy and clean besides that. Day of check out we had not checked out yet and when we returned from breakfast housekeeping was already in our room cleaning.

Saw beautiful pics online. We booked it online through a third cheaper site, but we called the hotel to make sure we could pay cash & just reserve the room w a credit card.
But whn we got there, w all our luggage, & no car & no other option cuz we already pre+booked it, they said we were misinformed & they'd hav to charge the room to her card & pay cash when we leave & they'll restore the $ to the card.
Tht screwed us up because she had to call home & get a family member to put more $ in her account.
Then we were put in crummy room, def not the pics they showed on their website.
It was like we were in the wing of the hotel tht hadnot been renovated. Painted cracked wooden doors in the hallways. Dirty & unvaccummed.
But the main floor had a beautiful chandelier room & bar

Excellent hotel, quick check-in and amazing staff. The cleanliness was really good and our room was very nice.

This is an absolutely trashy hotel, graffiti on the wall and the worst customer service. The rooms smell of must and are very outdated. The room gave me an athsma attack! warning do not stay here, motel 6 is better quality that this crappy place. Please avoid at all costs! You will regreat booking!

The hotel had a great location. As for the room, the furnishings were slightly outdated. But, comfortable enough.

Great location, old hotel in need of a complete overhaul. Customer service was some of the worst I have experienced in the USA.

The rooms were fairly clean but outdated. The service was okay.

Lobby looks luxurious. Rooms are sub par. They tried to make luxury but on a tight budget. Was surrounded by White Walls. Gloomy feel.

We live in the suburbs but wanted a night out and away from our normal. We decided to stay here because of its long history. We love old buildings and architecture. The paintings, mosaics, molding and detail in the wood is just gorgeous. We are also paranormal investigators and this is one of the most haunted places in Chicago. The hotel staff had no problem with us wandering around doing evps in the stairwell. They were even nice enough to show us around the gold and Florentine ballrooms. If I ever had a fancy shin dig I would want to do it in one of those rooms.
The bellman Jose was incredibly helpful and friendly. We probably hung out talking with him at one point for an hour. He also hooked us up with a free appetizer at a nice restaurant for our anniversary.
If you don't have a lot of money rooms are about a third of the price in the off season. If you are looking for character and true hospitality I highly recommend. If you like shiny perfect new things not so much.

I enjoyed so much my stay in this unique and antique hotel, lobby is so beautiful, room are nice, bed and pillows are so comfortable, my view was pretty and it is in the middle of everything, walkable distances to Millennium park and others interesting history places...

If you get a room with view of the fountain, the view is spectacular. The rooms are old, and feel old, but they are clean and not in bad shape. Just understand that it's an old building, so don't expect the same level amenities you'd find in a brand new building.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. For an older hotel, the room had a very modern feel.

really hard to like it. The air conditioner is always too hot. It can be either too hot or nothing

Great location, relatively cheap parking nearby, a nice cheap hotel.

Great hotel for event. Love the architecture and the ceilings in the hotel lobby and conference rooms. Staff is very friendly and courteous.

The hotel is old and you can see signs of aging your room. The HVAC system works but makes you wonder if the air filter is changed if there is any!
The beds were firm and the bathroom was renovated but the water was leaking. My room had a slight slope which made me really concerned as a structural engineer!
Also, it kept the drawer beside my bed opened! If you believed in ghosts, that would be really creepy!

Historical hotel. Still got some charm but in need of renovation.

Each wing must be very different; based on our experience I don't understand the positive reviews. The Congress is a run down budget hotel. The paint is peeling off the walls, the wallpaper in the room is coming down, there was gum stuck on the walls of the elevator, all the furniture and fixtures are low quality junk and it smells of stale smoke mixed with Lysol. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. You have better options such as the Hilton and Blackstone.

Went to Chicago for the ABA Techshow and they stole my bose speaker the first night I got there. Leaving my booth handicape w no speaker

Old hotel that needs rennovation. Staff are horrible and not friendly...down to the manager.

Excellent location and reasonably priced in comparison to other hotels in the city. They accommodated an early check-in and late check-out at no additional cost. The hotel is old, but the lobby is beautiful and the rooms have been updated. The hallways are a little scary, but they've done what they could with the old bones. The beds weren't the most comfortable thing, but all in all we were very happy with our stay.

Great history but falling behind. The rooms are well below basic standards, no cold water for the first half of my stay, no recycling, most machines in the gym are out of order, sandpaper towels and be careful for rusty water out of the taps. On the plus side, the bar is good.

I go to Headrest Barbershop and always receive excellent service.

The room I was given was sub-standard. The carpet was old and smelly, the bathroom shower fixtures were rusted and tile was crumbling. The furnishings were adequate but the walls were in need of paint. I was very disappointed with my accommodations.

The service was good, but the room was definitely showing its age. Looks like when the rooms were updated, they did a bit of a sloppy job. Other than that, the hotel is very beautiful and nice. Good location, so much is within walking distance.