Warm and cozy

It was a cold night in Chicago, probably the first of the season.

Arlington House did well to keep things warm, both in the rooms and the public areas. The free coffee was also a welcomed reward from the blustery outdoors. Because I hadn't thought to bring a scarf, hat or gloves, the gentleman at the front desk was nice enough to let me look through the lost and found and pick out just what I needed. I only hope the next time I return I don't bump into the real owner! LOL

Beyond expectations

Arlington Hostel was good relief away from the chaos of Chicago. It is not downtown but in quiet area. The staff was most helpful and would go back again when in Chicago.

This Place SUCKS

The staffs are so rude and arrogant. They'll give you the worst service ever!!! Rooms are just the places to hide... If you love being treated by some pretentious *******, stay here! Otherwise, spend a little more money and go somewhere else to make your stay in Chicago pleasant. Do not waste your money on this garbage.

Keep it up!

I stayed here with my boyfriend over the weekend and everything was great. Our room overlooked a quiet tree-lined street. It was well-decorated and the housekeeping tended to it regularly. Cute, little cafes were just five minutes out the front door, and downtown was just ten minutes by bus. Also, when the airline lost our luggage, one of the guys at the front desk stayed on the phone for 30 minutes to track it down and have them deliver it in the wee hours of the night.

Now, that's what I call service. The other complaints about this hostel really aren't warranted. It's not fancy, but at $54 bucks a night I wasn't expecting it to be. Chicago may have better hotels, but it doesn't have a better hostel. See you guys next time we're in town.

Overpriced and shabby

Stayed there for one night recently in a small plain chamber called privated room for 54 Dollars. The house was noisy, the shared bathrooms too small and quite dirty, and the worn-down room had the charme of a prison cell. Additionally, the staff was unfriendly and charged my credit card twice. Last winter I have stayed for 96 Dollars in the nearby "The Willows", a very nice upscale neighborhood hotel, which even offered me their suite for the same price. I can only adivse to plan plenty of time ahead and try to find a good deal in another place.

It might be even twice as expensive, but it's worth it.

Worst Place - EVER!!

I've been around the world and stayed in heaps of places including cheap hostels and I have to be blunt - this is the worst place I've ever stayed in.... period. It is cheap - but you definitely get what you deserve. The hostel reminds me of a hospital (a children's hospital is located down the street) but the room was like a prison. We booked out a private bed - it had two beds, a light bulb, and a small dirty wardrobe (which really was dirty). There wasn't anywhere to put stuff (no tables or chairs) and the ceiling had huge cracks in it. The room didn't come with any towels (which is understandable - being a hostel) but the linen on the beds was very thin and dirty. I pulled off the blanket and I found pubic hairs underneath the sheets - not pleasant at all!! The staff were not friendly (especially the guy who does the night shifts) - they don't have much in the way of tourists suggestions and there were little brochures or street press to be found in the lobby. The Internet prices were truly outrageous - around $20US for an hour - so don't even bother. The media room (it has a TV and couches) and the games room were full of smokers so it wasn't very pleasant to be around (being a non-smoker myself). Another massive problem we had here was that one of the toilets was blocked (with large pieces of "you-know-what" in the toilet). It had been blocked for over 30 hours before we started to complain to the front desk - after then - it began to flood not only the toilet/shower area - but also the outside corridor (there were pieces of "you-know-what" amongst the flooded areas). I felt like calling the health inspectors. When I confronted the front desk about this - they rudely said "there was a note about it." I had to pump them for more info - they said "engineers were coming in the morning" - 48 hours after the fact. I didn't think the bathrooms were cleaned on a regular basis - paper towels (used to dry your hands) weren't replenished on a daily basis plus the floors looked dirty - which made me think the cleaning here wasn't up to scratch.

Also - our private room did not look like anything like the room displayed on their website. To sum up - don't go to Arlington - you will be very sorry indeed.

Unexpected outcome

After what I thought was a very pleasant stay in Chicago, I came home with more than I bargained for. The hostel staff were fairly friendly on arrival and departure and I really had no problems throughout my stay, from Friday night until Sunday morning. However, exactly one week after our stay (I was with one other), my friend and I realised we had both picked up scabies as a result of sleeping in the Arlington House Hostel. As we do not live together and had bearly seen each other all week, it was far too much of a coincidence. It had to be from staying in Arlington House Hostel. I find this outcome completely unacceptable and would like to inform others, before they make a decision to stay there. Scabies is an extremely foul infection to pick up, one which I would not wish on anyone. Obviously, this was not a favourable outcome after a momentous weekend in Chicago.

Good value

Basic but clean and cheap. Staff were unfriendly and unhelpful though.

Good, large communal rooms where everyone congregates late at night.

Expensive internet access but great location, just near the main road which runs all the way downtown.

Best deal going in Chicago!

We have traveled much of the world, and stayed in nearly every hostel between LA and Sydney. Arlington House ranks right up there with the best of them. It's bare bones to be sure, but the location is perfect, Lincoln Park, and not too far from the (free) zoo and Wrigley Park (our first baseball game - we'll stick to soccer). The staff was extremely helpful in telling us how to use the public transportation, and also giving us tricks on how to do the city best in only the short amount of time that we were there. The price was $54 a night for two, and in a major metropolitan US city you can't beat that. I saw the previous review and had my doubts, but I'm glad I chose to stay here. The only negative: AH doesn't have the international-chain affiliation of the HI hostels, but then again, maybe that's a good thing.

Decent place, GREAT location, unfriendly staff

Stayed in a private room with private bath with 3 other people. Room was better than expected, we each had our own (bunk) bed. Room and public areas were very clean. Location is GREAT: within 5 minutes walking of restaurants/bars, less than 10 minutes to the Fullerton stop. Very young neighborhood. Only complaint is about the front-desk staff: they are not that friendly (I'd even say rude) and they seem to hate their job (that's probably why they're rude).