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We booked in at this hotel for 3 nights in May, they were very helpful, let us check in early. The room was very clean and the bed comfortable. The staff were helpful, and the location was great - we walked everywhere from there, up the Gold Coast, down the lakefront to the Shedd Aquarium, over the bridge to catch the architecture river tour... really I don't think we could have had a better location unless we wanted a small "neighbourhoody" type feel. If I was going again to Chicago, especially for a first time trip where you want to be close to the major attractions, I would not hesitate to stay here.

Every hotel is better, even much better, if you stay there often enough to figure out what you want from the hotel, and to communicate to the staff what you want. We treat the hotel like a luxury apartment building, and the staff treats us accordingly. We usually get the same room, so it feels like home. Everything is perfect, but nothing is intrusive. The location is great for shopping and for dining. With the Purple Pig directly across Michigan Avenue, we now treat that as the hotel dining room. There's a good bar downstairs, and a cute wine, cheese, and chocolate bar that my family used to frequent when our daughter was younger. Every hotel tries to give you what you pay for. The Intercontinental also tries to give you what you ask for. I originally reviewed the hotel in June of 2012. I came back again in May of 2013 for a 65th birthday party and, as always, the Guest Relations Staff was marvelous. Margaret was able to have the room stocked with a couple of cases of hard-to-find craft beer and a refrigerator, so my dinner party guests could wander back from the restaurants and drink and talk and think back over many decades of friendship. It felt like something out of a 1940s romance movie.

Fantastic staff always pleasant, helpful. Room is immaculate for all four days, all that one would expect from a 5 star hotel is easily pleased . Although there are countless restaurants surrounding me I chose to dine at their Michael Jordon resturant and the lunch menus was cooked perfectly. Another IC hotel that's up to their never ending persistence to quality superiority above the others. Thank You

I had a couple of days in Chicago as part of a mini vacation and decided to treat myself to a couple of nights in this hotel.As you might expect of a hotel that charges north of two hundred dollars a night for a room, the staff were professional, helpful and courteous. We had arrived a couple of hours early for check in and they still were able to put us in a room.The room was however, completely underwhelming. Especially since they had supposedly upgraded us for my status with IHG. The view was essentially of some buildings that were very close, and served to make the room seem dark and unappealing. There was nothing stand out about the room. So after a meal, I decided to complain about the room to the duty manager.He seemed fairly dismissive of my complaints and claimed that most of the rooms had a poor view. With a little more complaining he relented and upgraded me to a junior suite on one of the top three floors of the hotel. This was a much more impressive room with a fantastic view over the city and the water. It was a decent junior suite.What spoiled it for us though was that if you wanted glassware in the room (other than two glasses from the bathroom) you had to request them (and presumably tip the person who brought them up). And in addition there were TWO minibars each with no practical space to store personal drinks. The space was so small even a small 500ml bottle of water would not fit in it. There was also a sign that said if anything was removed from the minibar for more than 30 seconds it would be automatically billed to the account.I know high end hotels do this all the time, but really, in a suite, why not have a refrigerator AND a minibar? Who needs TWO minibars? I like a refreshing glass of water in the morning, but I certainly am not going to spend $8 on a small bottle of Evian from the minibar. They even had a sign that said you could have the minibar emptied for a fee of just $30!Pulling stunts like this is a little shady in my opinion, and is more likely to annoy me than make me spend money.Another odd choice for such an upscale hotel was the size of the TVs. According to the manager, they are all 38" which is practically a portable by today's standards. It's been a long time since I've watched any TV that's smaller than 42" and when mirroring movies off my iPad it barely seemed bigger than my iPad, and the image quality was worse!The small theme continued in the bathroom, where bath towels were not only in short supply but tiny. I've stayed in $99 hotels with considerably larger bath towels. No idea what was going on there.The bar downstairs featured average service, massively overpriced food, and bottles of wine that were easily three times market value. I purchased a $35 bottle of wine, which after tax and tip came to over $40. In the store the same bottle retails for $10. And better drink it all that night, because there's no refrigerator.Want some ice? If you're on one of the high floors, expect to wait a while for one of only two elevators, and then travel five or six floors just to find some ice, and then wait ages for one of the two elevators to take you back up.How about some WiFi? Well that's anywhere from fifteen to twenty bucks a night depending on download speed. Yet another example of completely unacceptable gouging. All in all, this was a disappointment. Given the quality of the upgraded room, I can only imagine what a standard room is like. It took a double upgrade to make me feel like I was having a good time, and even then there were some serious drawbacks.Some things the hotel can't fix. Obviously some guests are going to have bad views. But minibar nonsense, tiny towels and TVs, along with a slew of unnecessary charges (like how about the option of buying ambient music for the room?), charging to un-stock the minibar, massively overcharging for drinks and food, it all just leaves a bad taste in your mouth; at least it did in mine.This isn't my first rod

Stayed at the Intercontinental April 22-25 for business. Overall, not perfect, but a good stay. Upon check-in, had to go back to the front desk twice because the room key didn't work. On the 2nd failed attempt, I picked up the house phone in the hallway and called the front desk, and a security officer showed up within minutes with a new key and made sure it worked. An issue with the shower's water temperature was quickly addressed by maintenance. As for the room itself, it also had its good and bad points. The room was spacious and very clean, as was the bathroom, which featured a beautiful tub and glass shower. Lighting in the room was rather dim and I found it dark in the daytime even with the blinds open. Room service was efficient and the food was great, and delivered in a reasonable amount of time. The bed was very comfortable, and the wireless worked well. So in the end I recommend the IC Chicago. While there were minor issues, the staff rose to the occasion each time and quickly resolved the problem with a smile. I can't ask for more than that. Of course, the location of this hotel can't be beat. Plus Starbucks is attached the hotel, a nice bonus as you left the hotel each morning. If you want to be in the middle of it all in the Windy City, this fits the bill.