Chinatown Hotel Sro, Chicago

I have stayed at the Chinatown Hotel many times for many years. It is very simple, not fancy, small rooms, but clean and comfortable.I always use this hotel while in Chicago.

We traveled 1500 miles to this hotel, arrive early in the AM and were turned away even after we showed our receipt and the confirmation number of our booking. The owner was very rude. The picture on the internet looks nothing like it. I would never recommend this hotel to anyone.

The amenities aren't fantastic. The rooms are very small. You're usually stuck walking up three flights of steps to your room (I've never had a room anywhere other than the top floor). Once you get past that... The price for the location is more than fair, there is a coffee pot in the room (i had green tea every morning!) the hotel is surrounded by wonderful little stores and restaurants, and it's very close the the red line. What it lacks in luxury, it more than makes up for in convenience. I've stayed here four times, and it's the only place I book when I go to Chicago.

Yeah, it's an economy-minded hotel. But, all we needed was a quiet, clean place to sleep, shower, and change our clothes. That fulfilled it. Price was right and even more so since it was a few blocks from the el-train station. Best memories of the trip from staying at this hotel: walking around Chinatown, bought some green beans from a resident who grew them in her little garden. I don't think I would've been able to do that if I'd stayed by O'Hare or in another neighborhood. In the morning, just walk a block to the main drag and buy breakfast from one of the Chinese bakeries. Then, take the train downtown and have fun. I can't think of another hotel we could've used as our base of operations and still had as much fun and convenience.

I can't believe there are bad reviews on this place. It's perfect! It's IN the city, but in a decent neighborhood; it's cheap, free wireless net, close to the El, clean, friendly staff...I really have no complaints. I guess it'd be cool if they had a continental breakfast, but really, for the price the deal is already hard to beat. I really like the surroundings. Chinatown is a really fun place to stay. The rooms are on the smallish side, but we had 3 people in our room and it was fine. This place was QUITE a find. Being so close to downtown AND so close to the Cermak El stop allowed us extra time to do what we wanted. It was neat checking out all of the Chinatown businesses. There is a fridge, computer with internet, microwave, vending machines, and ice machine downstairs. Heating and cooling in the room worked great. We had cable TV while we rested our tired feet at night. The bathroom was clean. The hotel was in overall good condition. We felt safe walking to the El at night (although I don't condone walking ANYWHERE at night ALONE.) I've seen people mention the parking being expensive. Obviously, I'd prefer to NOT have to pay for parking, but honestly it was not bad. I believe they offered two different options: one rate if you just wanted to park, and one if you wanted to come and go so you wouldn't have to pay the full rate each time. It did NOT cost $30 or $40 a day like other downtown hotels. Maybe if you come and go frequently it could add up to that, but with the Red Line so close, it's silly not to take advantage of it. I think we paid $10 or $12 a day to park. Overall...Fabulous deal. Fun place to stay. Would DEFINITELY recommend this place to anyone and everyone. Indeed worth the money! We're staying there again in 3 months.

This is a basic hotel. No frills. You get a nice clean bedroom with a nice clean bed and a nice clean spare bathroom. The decor is uninspiring. There is no view. BUT what I really appreciated was that the walls were quite thick. The rooms were quiet, and I slept soundly at night, which is all I really need. It felt private. The water was hot enough. The rooms were warm enough. Not the most romantic of lighting, but I could study. Rooms were safe, secure, and our luggage was undisturbed. The hotel is located in Chinatown. It has restaurants open late and there is dim sum in the restaurants on the weekends. There are panhandlers, but that's a fact of Chinatown and Chicago, not the fault of the hotel. They do lock the hotel at night for security purposes, but there is a guy working the counter and he'll let you in. The hotel is two blocks from the metro station and those two blocks are no worse (and no better) than any downtown Chicago block at 2am. The place is a great value for its location. Sure, you could have all the amenities of a fancy hotel, if you can afford it. Sure you could have a slightly better hotel, Holiday Inn, say, at about $150 a night, if you're willing to commute in from the subburbs or the airport each day. But this place is designed for, and probably run by, the kind of people like my parents: old-school Chinese immigrants who just want the necessities. Why does each room need it's own hair dryer and ironing board and terrace and wet bar and whatnot? What a waste, they would say. We should just share those things. And you can get all of those things (kitchen stuff, hair dryer, ironing board) from the front desk. It's the kind of simple life that this hotel caters to. And hey, isn't it time we stopped buying magazines telling us how to live a simple life and actually started living one?

Benefits: cheap and near the center of town (but still required taxi mostly) Staff generally friendly but communication limited by poor english generally Negatives: NO ELEVATOR, NO BAGGAGE SERVICE, NO HANDICAPED OR WHEELCHAIR SERVICES and despite extensive conversation with hotel clerk doing booking NO ONE INFORMED ME OF ANY OF THESE THINGS and there is NO MENTION of these lacks in the published or website information. You have to wait until you get there to find out all rooms are on the four upper floors and there is no baggage service. The place has been recently painted (crudely) I suspect by non professionals and the rooms are small. The floor was so discolored I didn't even want to walk on it with out shoes. It is really false advertising to call it a hotel since it fails to meet so many US standards of care, but it would be accurate to call it a Youth Hostel in the grundy european tradition. All US based hotels are required to provide quarters for the handicaped so I have no idea how they were allowed to skip this but they do. If you are a young sturdy adventurious student you may find the price worth the limitations and have an adventure in Chinatown with its excellent restaurants and shops right next door and across the street. And if you can walk a few blocks you can reach the Navy Pier, the Field Museum with Sally the world's best preserved tyranosaur, and the Mc Cormick Convention Center. Just be careful about where you walk because some really bad crime ridden public housing lies in the opposite direction. If you are a family or otherwise limited I would council NO! Otherwise, no! I would rate it as at best a 1.5 as a hotel (individual bathrooms but no elevator with 4 floors and no ground floor rooms) On the other hand if I were rating it as a Youth Hostel and the management mentioned the lack of an elevator, I would probably give it a 2.5 or 3.0, but complain that the price is too high for a hostel. Since I am handicaped I don't expect to be able to return which is a shame because in my Navy days I think I would have enjoyed the novelty and overlooked the limitations.

Wouldn't let sign in without signing a blank Charge agreement Stated basically they could charge whatever. Wants to charge card $1 to verify card refused to call 800NumberOnBack. Was paid in full travelocity.No elevator,rooms dirty, uncoooperative, Spent hours in waiting room. No Parking-pay excess $30 night. Save yourself and go to regular hotel pay a few dollars more-I did not stay there-left and went to Hilton for comp money.

A wedding band was left and I had called left message with clerk left phone number. Their are honest people in the work...but not there. I will not return to the hotel.

I went with this place because I couldn't find anything reasonable on a weekend that I was scheduled to run a race. I, did not have any issues with the place, sure it was small, and in a different location than what we normally stay, but it was cheap and the hotel staff were just fine. My girlfriend, however, was not very happy with the situation. These are her complaints(which I still continue to hear about): the alley view was phenomenal esp. the blinding light along with the people digging through the trash bins during the day, trash pick-up on Monday morning was a great wake up call (no need for alarms at this hotel, although, I don't think they even had an alarm available), the whole area smelled like day old take out food, God forbid you smoke in the room (it smelled like an ash tray), and the lock on the door was questionable-looked like a dog-tag. I would stay again, but I am quite sure WE will never stay there again!!!!