Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown Lakefront

, Chicago, United States
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Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown Lakefront

3 star

Rooms: 455

511 North Columbus Drive - Chicago - Illinois - 60611 - United States Hotel Website | 312 836 5900
522 Traveller

Reviews - Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown Lakefront

Historical Traveller Reviews of Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown Lakefront

Never again.

from leftsocktwo
For $300 a night you'd think you'd get something more then this. It's a shame to call these cramped rooms a 'suite'. They should've utilized more of the lobby space on their rooms. Housekeeping service was shoddy - during my week stay only once was my room cleaned without me calling the front desk.

However, the happy hour and breakfast were great. But these two things aren't at the top of my priority list when returning to a hotel. I'm surprised this hotel is ranked so highly.

Perfect Chicago stay!

from sleep7
We loved this hotel!!!! Great location first of all. A few blocks walk to Michigan Avenue and a few blocks the other way to Navy Pier. There is a huge movie theatre right next door as well as a Walgreens drug store. The airline lost a piece of our luggage and the front desk staff could not have been more helpful and pleasant about faxing documents to the airline. Even though we were traveling with our 3 kids I didn't see an abundance of kids in the hotel at all. Cocktail hour was great. Breakfast was great - if you want high fiber cereal bring your own though, but that's just me! At $220 a night it was well worth it. A fabulous dinner tip is to go to Lawry's (like the seasoned salt) Get a coupon from the concierge that is for a complete - including a full bottle of wine - dinner there for 2 for $89. It was the best meal of the trip. We would highly recommend this hotel to anyone kids or not!

Room never cleaned after three phone calls

from A TripAdvisor Member
The hotel looks great but the service was terrible. I came back from day at the Housewares Show to find the room had not been cleaned or bed made. I called housekeeping and the front desk three times over five hours and no one bothered to come.

Finally about nine pm the front desk called to check on the clean staff who had still not arrived. At that point I simply asked to have some clean towels and left alone so I could go to bed. The towels and new coffee mugs took another forty five minutes to arrive.

A Family Hotel, Not a Business Hotel

from kolowalu
Everything is great about the Embassy Suites in downtown Chicago--convenient location, helpful staff, big clean rooms, and a spacious lobby. Unfortunately I seemed to be the only guest at the hotel that was on business. It must have been spring break because the hotel was bursting at the seam with young children running in the halls, hopping on and off the elevators without parents, and lounging in the chairs in the lobby. None were disrespectful, just boundless with energy. The morning buffet usually required a wait of 30+ minutes from 8:00 a.m on and is not conducive to conducting business. After the first morning I took business associates up to the Sheraton for a quiet breakfast. An evening drink at the manager's reception also meant standing in line--and each person has to get their own drink. Off to the Irish bar on the riverfront for me.

I will only stay at this hotel if I bring my family with me.

A Good Hotel.......

from SuperChief
Though we spent only one night at the hotel, we found it to be comfortable and perfectly suited to our needs. Our 2 sons enjoyed the indoor pool, which is rather small.....but what can be expected of an indoor hotel pool in the city! We enjoyed the jacuzzi as well...very nice after a long day of running around and seeing the Chicago sights. The complimentary breakfast was excellent, got right in and got a table with no problem. We were expecting long lines and a shortage of tables per a few other reviews, but we had no problem. All in all, a comfortable hotel. The double beds were a bit on the small side...but no big deal. The hotel was clean and quiet, an excellent choice for our family of four. A good choice...we would definately stay there again. Oh...and don't forget "Ed Debevics" just right down the street, a great hamburger and milk shake joint.....great for families!!!

great for kids

from smkidtravel
We stayed at the Embassy Suites Lakefront with our daughter. We had a wonderful time. The staff was nice and informative. The included breakfast was great, a nice way to start the day. Plus, we enjoyed that we were given two seating times for the breakfast. A good location to get most places. We could walk to Navy Pier or Michgan Ave. in a matter of minutes. Our only disappointment was that the indoor pool was cool. We were there mid- March and would have been nice if the pool were a tad warmer. I have alread recommened this hotel to other people.

Great Location, Nice Hotel

from JanuaryGirl8888
Just returned from a weekend stay at Embassy Suites / Lakefront. Based on other reviews, I was expecting it to be "OK" but was pleasantly surprised. The hotel itself is very close to Michigan Ave (2 blocks) and Lake Michigan (Navy Pier area - about 3-4 blocks - easy walk) and it's easy to grab public transportation to get where you need to go. We parked the car Friday night and didn't touch it again until Sunday when we left. (Note: As is probably the case w/ most downtown hotels, parking is *expensive* -- $64 for two days.)

The rooms are spacious and comfortable. We had the 2DblBed suite and it was fine for us (couple w/ two kids). My only complaint with the room was that our fridge did not work. I didn't bother calling maintenance, though, because we really didn't have anything that required refrigeration anyway. (One other minor complaint: the concierge was not helpful at all....she basically points people to the rack of brochures.)

Based on some past reviews, I was expecting the breakfast to be chaotic but it wasn't -- it was great!! Good food and lots of variety, including fresh fruit. We're early risers, though, so we were at breakfast by 7:30am.....I noticed it WAS quite crowded later in the morning. The evening reception (complimentary drinks) was definitely overcrowded -- SRO and looong lines at the bar -- so we didn't bother with that at all.

Overall we were very pleased. On the way home, my kids starting planning our next trip to Chicago. We'll definitely pick the Embassy Suites again.

Lots of space

from LisaRex
I really like Embassy Suites because they offer so much more space than the average hotel room and breakfast is included. This makes it great for families. In this particular case, we were six female family members traveling for a girls' weekend away in June 2004. Having a living area to congregate is a nice feature.

The location was good -- a short walk to the Navy Pier in one direction and the Magnificent Mile in the other.

We booked two rooms at a great corporate rate ($165/night). Because they have 2 double beds (or a king) and a pull-out sofa bed, we were each able to have a bed of our own. Having a separate living room also meant that the snorer in our group could sleep without fearing that she was keeping everyone awake. :)

Our rooms were okay, but could have used a makeover. We had to ask for more towels as there were only two in the room. The bathroom was adequate and the rooms were smaller than other Embassy Suites that I've visited.

As others have posted, the pool is small and inadequate for the number of guests. I used the workout room twice, and it was also small but I had no trouble getting on the treadmill at 7am. The breakfast buffet got very crowded after 8am but the line moved quickly. I'd definitely recommend arriving early if you want a table. We didn't take advantage of the evening manager's reception.

If you're looking for charm and elegance, this is not the place. Embassy Suites definitely have an "urban" feel to them because of their contempary, open air design. The rooms are situated along the outer walls of the hotel and face a huge, open-air atrium. If you're afraid of heights, or if you're traveling with kids who are climbers, this may not be the place for you.

A watch-out: Parking is expensive. It's $20/night for self-park and $34 for valet parking. Before you decide that it's worth the extra $14 to avoid having to haul your luggage to your room, be advised that if you use valet parking once, they will charge you that rate for each day your car is parked. It doesn't matter whether or not you ever use valet again. So what we thought was an extra $14 turned out to be an extra $56 because we were there for 4 nights.

Holiday stay at the Embassy

from HWlovesmaui
We spent two nights at the Embassy with our family between Christmas and New Years. The hotel was full of families, but we were not bothered by noise and really enjoyed our stay. We got caught in a huge line for breakfast the first day, but the staff seemed to be doing as much as possible to help move things along (everyone seemed to arrive for breakfast all at once). By the second day they had made some adjustments to the set up of breakfast service which helped speed things along even more. The pool is very nice for a downtown hotel, lots of natural light and a nice hot tub / sauna. Great location- convenient to Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier. Take advantage of the free trolleys downtown- great way to see it all!

Only if you have children

from A TripAdvisor Member
Stayed here 2 consecutive nights in December 2004. Attractive hotel in a nice location, however I would not stay here again, as I do not have young children. The hotel was full of kids. I heard them running and yelling in the halls and in the elevator, as well as crying and screaming at breakfast. Not relaxing!
Oddly, the other problem I encountered was the pervasive odor of cigarette smoke throughtout the lobby, breakfast area, bar, etc. An odd combo with so many children, but indeed, we saw plenty of smokers puffing away admist the screaming tots.
The room seemed in good repair. One bulb in a lamp was burnt out and I called housekeeping. They sent someone up quickly with a bulb. However, the fellow just handed it to me, and did not even ask if he could replace it. I had to unplug the lamp, take it off a table and fool around with it to replace the bulb. This should have been the task of a hotel employee.
Parking is very costly, and we ended up using a cab most of the time anyhow. If no one in your travling party is under 18, then I would suggest you book elsewhere.

Top Local Tips for Chicago

Save $ on Family Meals Chicago has a lot of great takeout and gourmet groceries. Instead of putting up with hotel restaurant food, grab takeout from a good food court like Water Tower Place or get a fantastic gourmet meal from Fox & Obel's (For example, Ahi Tuna and Golden Beet salad for Mom and Dad; Potstickers for the kids; a bottle of wine and great bakery treats for dessert.) Better than room service for half the price.

Cirque Shanghi This was a great show. Bought the 19.50 tickets online prior to trip, got seats in 4th row, pretty awesome. Do the night time show for the lighting.

Millenium Park If you're like us and just arrived from Europe so you're getting up very early, go to Millenium Park early in the morning, before anyone else. You'll get to see your reflection in The Bean more or less on your own - great for photographs. Also the Crown Fountain gets very crowded later in the day but it's fun to have it all to yourself.

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Other names for Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown Lakefront

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  • embassy downtown lakefront suites
  • chicago embassy suites
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  • Address: 511 North Columbus Drive - Chicago - Illinois - 60611 - United States
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