I arrived here at about 8pm after a flight from California. I didn't know about the renovation when I made the reservations, but that didn't bother me very much. I was helped by a man at the front desk named Ben, who was friendly enough, but literally just handed me my room key and told me to have a nice stay. He gave me NO information about anything. I had no idea where breakfast was served, or even if there WAS breakfast. There was also an EXTREMELY unpleasant woman working behind the desk(she wasn't wearing a name tag but was African American, slim with short hair) who seemed to be actually radiating hostility. It made me very uncomfortable and needless to say, made me feel unwelcome. I actually felt like I was putting her out by staying in the hotel. I encountered her again the next morning when I had to go downstairs to ask a question and again tried to smile at her a bit, and again was met with utter disdain and rudeness. I also watched her interact with another guest and saw her act with the same rudeness and bad manners. No matter what may be going on in one's life, when you work in customer service you need to leave whatever is happening at the door and put on a smile. I was appalled by her demeanor. My room was alright, there was no clock which I found very odd. Since I came from a different time zone my computer and phone had 2 different times and I was constantly confused as to which one was correct, especially upon waking up in the morning. It would have been nice to have a clock. There was also no literature on local sites, maps, restaurant menus, or even anything with the hotel's name and address in the room. Also, the mattress was the absolute worst mattress I've ever slept on in my life. I woke up every morning with a sore back and neck. I've had better sleep on a hard, lumpy futon. It was absurd. Like another person posted, my tub did not drain either, and I was also shocked that there were no soda machines or ice machines to be found. Maybe they were around somewhere, but I wasn't made aware of it at check-in, and I didn't want to go downstairs and ask for fear of being treated like I was a burden to the employees. The hotel is in a good location and the rooms look nice upon first glance, but I absolutely would not stay here again. I've had more pleasant stays at a cheap chain hotel, which was a bummer because it was my first visit to Chicago and I had pretty high expectations.
