The comforts of home

The Residence Inn on E. Walton does so many things right, I'm reluctant to mention the few shortcomings. As a non-luxury, suites hotel, it is solidly at the higher end of midscale; I have stayed here several weekends at very low cost via an online, opaque booking service, and been quite satisfied. The staff was pleasant and helpful, the location is great, and the rooms are spacious. Having a fully functional kitchen means that a budget traveler can reheat those leftovers from dinner-out the previous night, to make an economical lunch. Or go around the corner to the convenience grocer and buy whatever materials you need for your own cooking. The hotel will even do your grocery shopping for you free of charge! No need to worry about breakfast, because a plentiful buffet is provided free, and includes fresh fruits, yogurt, hot & cold cereal, hot scrambled eggs, make-your-own waffles, a variety of breads and muffins, assorted juices, milk, and coffee. Others have reported odors, but you must keep in mind that your neighbors may actually be cooking--so some assorted smells are to be expected. How they manage to keep each room free of grease and lingering odors is a secret I wish I knew, because every room I have been assigned to smelled fresh and clean.

The queen bed was comfortable, albeit less firm than I prefer, and the sofabed was comfortably functional as well. Climate control worked flawlessly, free wired in-room internet was reliable (wireless in the lobby is at an additional charge), full size refrigerator, coffee pot, mini-dishwasher, and cutlery area all excellent. I believe they disable the ice machines in the freezers, so you need to call the desk for ice (at least you have a bin in the freezer to put it in!) Plenty of closet and bureau space. I especially appreciated the strong lighting in the bathroom. After check-out, the bell desk will hold your luggage so you can spend the afternoon shopping. $35 valet parking is purportedly available, but the garage seems to be frequently full, though this was not a problem for me as I have no car.

Only occasionally did I hear other guests in the hallways or nextdoor rooms, but the bustle at the 8-10am weekend breakfast period showed that the hotel was quite full. During this time I occasionally had to wait for the 2nd elevator going down, as the first to arrive would be full, and there are no convenient stairs to the lobby for those on the lower floors, or for those preferring to avoid the elevator (stairways lead only to alarmed emergency exit doors). Hotel maintenance was to my room within 5 minutes of my late-night call to report a toilet-flushing problem, and they had it fixed moments later. There seems to be an issue with low pressure on the hot water supply, as once I had to postpone bathing; I hope they get that fixed.

All in all, I recommend the Residence Inn, but I'm not sure I would have been so pleased if I'd paid full rack rate.

Great hotel

Awesome location and staff! The only complaint I had was the smell on the 6th floor; it smelled horrible. The complimentary breakfast and social hour were more than expected. Bellstaff could've been a little more helpful. Our train arrived extremely early (6 am) and we were still able to check in at that time. I would definitely stay here again!

Location Is Great!

Our 2 bedroom suite was very quiet. We had an exceptional amount of room. The hotel is just down the block from Michigan Ave. and Lake Shore Drive. (We walked to Navy Pier) The hot breakfasts were good.

Now for the negatives: check-in took an eternity, forcing us to check our bags and return hours later. We were charged $35/day for parking BUT, we didn't have a car! Housekeeping was slow getting to our room for it to be serviced. Elevators are slow and can be crowded. But, we would stay there again for the peace and quiet and home-like feel.

Like having your own little apartment in Chicago.

Location in an expensive residential area just off Michigan Avenue Magnificent Mile, and short walk to Lake & beach. Most rooms are 1 room studio suites with 1 queen bed, a sofabed, kitchen, and seperate dressing area adjacent to bathroom. There are also 1BR and 2BR units (more expensive, of course). Monday-Thursday between 5pm-7pm there is a small light dinner served downstairs with free, apparently unlimited beer and wine. Also free breakfast every day. The room is pleasant, but not luxurious, and having a full kitchen is nice, but isn't reallly necessary for most short stays. Overall, a good experience--more like a little apartment than a hotel room.

Great Location, Great Staff!

Stayed here last week for several days. Excellent location only a couple of blocks to the lakefront or Michigan Ave. Great staff, from the bellman at the front door through to the front desk and housekeeping. Nice studio room with full kitchen. Breakfast was very good, with some hot items available. Coffee machine that makes lattes too!

Highly recommended.

Great location!

My overall experience at this hotel was average to above average. What really brought my opionion down regarding this hotel was being given a smoking room when my reservation confirmation stated I would have a non-smoking room. Granted, some of the fault is mine because I could have called the front desk and requested another room. However, it was late at night, my family was tired (my 6 and 3 year old daughters were already asleep), and we just wanted to get to bed. In any event, it shouldn't take a phone call from me to change our room. We should have been issued a non-smoking room in the first place since it was stated on our reservation confirmation. We didn't plan on spending a good deal of time in the room anyway. Lastly, I used my Marriott rewards points to secure the 2-night stay (normal charge is apparently ~$180/night) so maybe we were low on their priority list. The smell was very distinctive when you first walked into the room. Other than the smell, the stay was nice!!! The hot breakfast was wonderful. The hostess was very friendly. She gave our kids coloring books and crayons to keep them busy during our breakfast. She also gave me directions to the train station to go to Wrigley Field. Her advice to take the train instead of the bus saved us a little bit of time. They offered multiple newspapers (Herald, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, etc). The hotel has easy access to Lake Shore Drive and provides an excellent opporunity to run/jog along the lake. You're about 2 blocks from Michigan Ave which has some of the world's best shopping and restaurants. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory (5 minute walk) and the Food for Life "foodcourt." Easy access to public transportation.

Overall, a nice stay. We went to a Cubs game where Sammy Sosa hit a game-winnning homerun in the bottom of the 10th to beat Houston so I'm sure that helped my mood when we got back to our smelly room.

Great Service and Location

We stayed at the Residence Inn Downtown during the 4th of July weekend and were very happy with our room, location, accomodations, and service. The free breakfast was always wonderful. They always had some hot items along with cold breakfast items. They also offer a manager's reception Monday through Thursday, good as well. Altough the location is more North than we originally wanted to stay, it was very safe and convenient. Just blocks from a ton of attractions and train, bus, and trolley service. The staff were always upbeat and helpfull. The hotel is couple friendly, family friendly, and pet friendly. I would recommend it and we will definately stay there again!

Great for families

We needed a two bedroom suite for two adults and two teens, and the Residence Inn gave us a suite with lots of room, a great location, and a reasonable price. The lobby area is nice, but don't expect the rooms to be glamorous. But the two bedroom suite had large rooms, 3 TVs with a decent cable selection, and basic kitchen. Clean and comfortable. The breakfast provided enough variety to make everyone happy. Desk staff didn't seem all that excited to be there, but the bell staff was exceptional. Typical valet rates of $35 per day.

Nice enough, with great extras

Stayed All-Star weekend, and had a nice time. Suites/Rooms are adequate, but the good service, good breakfast, great coffee, free newspapers (plural, they had at least 3 different types) and great location, make it better than average. Friendly doormen, maids and cab drivers always waiting, made it a great vacation. Good to Great restaurants and coffee shops all around.

Chicago, my kind of town!