Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago, Chicago

The Millenium Knickerbocker Hotel just refused to change or cancel my reservation for this evening even though I have the flu (and someone in my class was diagnosed with the swine flu). I'm a low risk person (30 y/o) for complications from swine flu, so I'm not really concerned for my own safety. I don't plan on leaving the house (to go the a doctor's office or hospital) for fear of getting others sick, but I am amazed at how irresponsible the Millenium Knickerbocker Hotel could be to not issue a refund or change my reservation. One would think the hotel industry would be especially sensitive to getting their customers sick with the swine flu. Hopefully the Knickerbocker is just an abhorrent exception.

Fantastic room rates for 4 star hotel (£35pppn - superior double). Very friendly service. Modern room, very clean, huge bed! Great location for the city and the lake. Go around St Patrick's, weather is a little on the chilly side but the fun definitely makes up for it.

Review May 2 2008 If it were possible I'd actually give 1.5 stars. We just returned from this hotel and to be fair I must give a little leeway for the renovations currently going BUT we had real troubles. They said that they were booked up and were moving some people to the Hilton and I wish we were one of them. They "upgraded" us to a suite and it was old, dated and in poor condition for nearly any hotel cost. There was long black hair everywhere in the bathroom, the walls, floors, everywhere. The plumbing was slow and the sink didn't drain, the shower flooded onto the floor and we heard the same from others in the group. The heat was non existent and we froze (thermostat showed around 65 the whole time even though it was set to 73, then 75, then 80 and then full, nothing worked) before we asked for a downgrade to a normal room. The construction noise was unbearable as it was on the floor and rooms just above us (at this time floors 7 and up, we were on 6). After one night we asked to be moved and were showed a number of rooms (so much for being booked solid) and two of the rooms were tiny and one was decent (normal) sized and a little further away from the construction, floor 5. We told them that we'd take the last room as long as the heat worked, sink drained and there wasn't hair everywhere. The man on duty couldn't have cared less about us and said it wasn't even his normal duty and was only filling in. He said he'd send engineering up to check on the heat but never did, he didn't help us transfer our bags nor did he send help even though I have one arm in a cast and sling, he just disappeared. Well, the new room although smaller than a suite was warmer and everything worked. The housekeeper for this section of the hotel was outstanding, didn't catch her name, blond east European(?) woman who works very hard, is friendly and deserves a raise in our opinion. The construction noise was still horrible during the daytime, reminded us of the Travelocity commercial where they are unable to speak over the noise it was that bad and we were paying nearly $200.00 for this opportunity to hear the men working. The desk staff were friendly but we felt we were being hustled in the way they tossed us into a lousy room. Sure they upgraded us, it was to offset putting us directly under construction and in a room that had no heat and lousy plumbing. The door and bell staff were friendly with no problems at all. The lobby was clean and nice but it gets worse from the time you enter the elevator. We are far from picky people and mostly just want a clean comfortable room with a good bed and it drives me nuts when people are overly harsh on reviews, doesn't give a fair or reasonable representation of the facility for the regular person. This being said, perhaps in the future this will be a beautiful hotel again, it has the potential but it certainly wasn't worth the $189.00 per night charge. The construction noise alone made it unworthy but even a Days Inn would give me a warm room with decent plumbing and hopefully no hair everywhere. We stayed at a Hampton the night before that cost $80.00 (not in Chicago) and it put this hotel to shame. My advice would be to avoid this hotel from early 2008 until at least 2009 to give them a chance to get on top of the problems. P.S They also charge for WiFi and it's spotty service at best.

Got a room through hotwire for under $100; awesome deal considering where it is located. Was greeted nicely and enjoyed my one night stay.

After reading all the reviews about small rooms, we requested one of the jr. suites since the Knickerbocker was offering "under construction rates" during our visit. We had plenty of room, including a king size bed, desk and sofa/sitting area. Our bathroom had a large walk-in shower but a very small pedestal sink and toilet crammed next to the shower enclosure. We had a large walk-in closet opposite the bath. Service was friendly and the room was clean. We liked the proximity to the Michigan Avenue sites and restaurants. I would go again if the price was right.

I loved the location as well as there old world elegance. I didn't spend very much time in the place as I like to take in the city, but the hotel for the price was of great quality. Very friendly staff will stay again.

Liked: Location. Yet I think that anything in this area would be a good location Price: Booked on priceline for 73 dollars Bed was comfortable Glass shower Lobby was nice Disliked: Shower leaked onto floor Room was small, but def not the smallest chicago room I've seen Found a beer cap on the floor that was not ours Overall, this hotel was much better than what the reviews say. I would stay here again for the price

I recently returned from a stay at the Knickerbocker. It was my fourth trip to Chicago. The location north of Michigan Avenue is excellent. However, the rooms are very small, particularly the bathrooms which make the pricey (even for a Chicago) stay not worth it at all. Further, the front desk staff were inept and condescending. My friend and I had an issue with the bill, which the staff failed to comprehend, and I ended up being billed AFTER checkout for services not incurred.

While this is a good location for shopping and sightseeing, I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. The rooms are small and bathrooms are tiny, all of which is to be expected in an old urban hotel, but apparently care has not been given to updating the hotel (ever!). The crown molding and base boards are cracked and it appears to only have been painted over and over again. The newer tub liner in the bathroom is merely floating above the old tub and when you stand in the shower it bubbles under your feet. The shower tiles are old and the grout is not clean. This hotel has not been restored the updating that has been done are merely band-aides. There is no fan exhaust in the bathroom and the carpet is ontop of a very hard surface, probaly concrete with no pad in between. The lobby is smokey because of the large open bar in the small space. We were in town on business and supposed to stay 4 nights, we left after 2 and went to another hotel.

Yea, yea, yea, saw some reviews about great locaiton and room is clean etc....Can you really give credit to a hotel that charges over $200/night (after negotiated for a special rate) because the room is clean? For unknown reason there is no shuttle bus from airport to this hotel and we had to take train then taxi to get here last night. At the check-in, we're told our reservation (for King bed)could not be honored (WHAT IS A RESERVATION FOR!),so my husband and I were moved to a Queen bedroom. Fine, but not fine....the room is so cramped we did not have space to put our second suitcase (trust me, we travel light). My creative husband hanged his on the bathroom door. Then, we tried to hook up our laptop to internet, no Wi-Fi,(Surprise!) and had to purchase a short cable from them (for over $6.00). We're certain then that we could connect to internet. No, not yet, had to pay $10 for 24-hour connection. Hilton never charged for internet connection! We asked about business center, oh, it was closed (do they think no on will conduct business after 9:00pm?). Called the front desk to ask about the stsarting time of tomorrow's conference - they don't have the information. Hmmmm, who has the info. and is he hiding that info from everyone else? This morning, I was glad to see ironing board and iron in the closet, but,the iron was locked onto a resting plate with one-foot long cord and the resting plate is screwed tight onto the ironing board. This is obviously to prevent their $200/night clients to steal an old broken iron. Have you tried to iron pants/shirts with an one-foot long lock cord attached? I was not able to reach the end of the pants or shirt sleeves. Moreover,the iron turned itself off before I could finish my job and refused to turn back on... Well, if you read up to this point. Thanks for your patience. Unfortunately, I have four more days to go...