Quaint Suites and Spotty Service
Written: Nov 02 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quaint Suites, Lot's of history, nice views are possible.
Cons: No free internet, spotty service, small regular rooms and elevators.
The Bottom Line: Look elsewhere for a first class stay.
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| bsauter's Full Review: The Allerton Hotel - Michigan Avenue |
I prefer to stay at historic properties when possible and decided to give the Allerton a try due to it's great location on Michigan Ave. When we arrived they were very busy, we had to leave our car double parked in the street (at the valet's request) and unload in front of the parking garage. When we went up to the 3rd floor lobby I was greeted by a long line at the front desk. It took 15 minutes to get up to the desk for check-in which is inexcusable for a higher-end hotel. They were obviously understaffed for a peak time.
We booked a double queen room and I requested when booking a view and upper floor. We were given a room on the 8th floor looking at the brick wall of the Radisson next door. The room was extremely small and cramped. It was so small that when our two suitcases came up there was no room for them in the room, we had to put them in the closet! That can be the nature of historic hotel properties but for the price they were charging it was outrageous. We were to pay $259 for the Friday night and $399 for the Saturday night. I called the hotel manager and was told there were no more 2 bed rooms but she would give us free breakfast for both days for our family and free drinks in the bar. She would also reduce the rate to $319 for the Saturday. My wife and I decided that wasn't good enough so we called the Radisson next door and got a room booked that was cheaper and larger. We called the Allerton's manager back and she then said we could have a suite on the 18th floor overlooking Michigan Ave with one bed, a pullout and a free roll-away for the kids. We went to look at that room and negotiated $259 for Friday, $289 for Saturday, Free breakfast for both days and she could keep the free drinks. She should have said that the first time but, oh well.
We got our bags form the other room and moved in. Now it gets a little better. The room was very nice with a separate bedroom with a queen bed. The bathroom was a decent size. There were 6 windows in the suite and they all opened so you could get some air. That's hard to find in hotels now-a-days. There was a sofa loveseat, desk, credenza with tv and safe and more. For the price it was a nice room. Happy now!
Breakfast in the 2nd floor restuarant was a buffet loaded with all kinds of good stuff and you could walk away very full. The restaurant staff was fast and very good. The bar was cozy but had a lot of cigarette smoke.
The location is great as you can walk to all the shopping you would ever need. Our room looked north over the historic Water Tower. A great taste of Chicago. The housekeeping staff was very friendly and efficient.
A must read is the history of the hotel they had printed for people to take by the restaurant. The Allerton has a storied past.
Checking out was easy but the bellman forgot us when coming up to get the luggage and I had to call back down after seeing no-one for 20 minutes. Oh well.
Overall the service made the decision for me that we would look elsewhere while in Chicago. I wouldn't recommend the Allerton unless you booked a suite, they double bed rooms are just too small, even for a historic hotel. Hopefully the service issues can be attributed to a bad weekend but at a Crowne Plaza Hotel there should be no bad weekends!
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
bsauter
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Location: Metro Indianapolis, IN
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Photo studio owner and 22-year police officer.
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