Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile

I paid less than $300 for two nights in a spacious king room, and I liked the price. The bed was comfortable to me, breakfast was included, and the location is great, about a street from Mag Mile and Michigan Ave. It's a nice hotel overall, and I'd recommend it. I needed some important documents printed, and although I thought there was a business center with a printer, there isn't. Angela at the front desk kindly let me send the files to her so she could print them for me. The room loses a star for a toilet that kept having trouble flushing from the moment I checked in. The handle wasn't catching properly, like a problem I've seen in apartments before. Also, even with the thermostat set as low as it could go, 65F, the room still felt like 70. It wasn't blazing hot, thankfully, but I like to sleep in the cold and it was only just barely cool.

The location and friendly, pleasant staff were the only things I liked. Management should update this place. It's a shame they've let it get into such bad shape. The bed squeaked and felt old, cuts marked the carpet, and some breakfast-area chairs were worn out enough to need replacing or reupholstering. At 4pm, while we were getting ready for dinner, there was no hot water in the bathroom. One of the three elevators was out of order, with waits sometimes over 20 minutes. Other guests smoked weed in their rooms, leaving the hallways smelling disgusting. We barely slept our last night because someone played loud, bass-heavy music from 9pm until we left at 9am. Like many other reviews say, this Hampton doesn't meet the standard.

The breakfast was ridiculously bad, honestly the worst hotel breakfast I've had, lol. They should cancel it or charge for it and make it into a real restaurant or something. The location is really good, and parking is available, though expensive. Rooms were fine, clean and comfortable. The elevator took a while sometimes, but nothing too crazy.

The downtown location was good, and the gentleman serving in the breakfast area was kind. The rest of this two-night stay, when my family and I came into town for a funeral, was deeply disappointing. We've stayed at many Hampton Inns and usually had good experiences. The shower water was either completely freezing or boiling, with only about two seconds at a normal temperature while adjusting between the two. There was loud clanking, and the shower shook as the water changed. We told the front desk right away. They said maintenance would come, but no one did, so we had freezing cold showers throughout our stay in October. At checkout, we reported it again. They offered 10,000 rewards points, which are basically worthless, and said they'd tell the manager when they came in because managers often aren't there, and that we'd hear back. After a week with no response, I called. The manager still wasn't on duty, but they said they'd pass along the request. Another week passed with the same result. No follow-up, and no points had been added either, though those didn't really matter. After three weeks, I stopped expecting anything from the location and called corporate to share my feedback. They issued 20,000 points and opened a case with the location, hopefully to keep other travelers from dealing with the same problem. I've traveled a lot, and I was disappointed both during and after this stay. I'll keep staying at Hilton hotels, but not this one.