After all the hype and great reviews, I was extremely disappointed in this b and b. The rooms were nice and large but need updating badly. Our apartment had a big hole in the wall where the cable should have been, the bath tub was cracked with dirt coming out when the jacuzzi was turned on and things were just not what they should be. On the positive side, the linens were great and the bed very comfortable. Parking was a nightmare. Street parking was permit only and the lots were very expensive. The location was ok but not great. It was nice to have a full kitchen and the market was a short block away.
The breakfasts were nice, not spectacular, and the owner felt very rushed when she checked me in.

We just returned from a fantastic trip to Chicago and a fabulous stay at the Windy City Urban Inn. We booked our plane tickets before checking on hotel prices only to discover that we had chosen Marathon weekend as our weekend to visit Chicago! The WCUI was the only reasonably priced accommodations we were able to find and we were not disappointed in the least.

We stayed in the Carl Sandburg room, which has one queen bed and its own private bathroom attached. The room is large enough to fit a twin size air mattress on the floor with no problems. The inn is very clean and located on a quiet street that is very close to Chicago's public transportation. A tasty and filling breakfast is served every morning and the innkeepers are willing and able to give suggestions of places to go and things to see while in Chicago. The extra lengths that the staff go to to make the stay enjoyable, from allowing for early check in and late check out if possible to providing ear plugs at the bedside (not that you'll need them since it's so quiet!), will be greatly appreciated and will make you feel like you're at home.

In addition to the guest rooms, each floor of the inn has a large sitting area full of books and magazines, and on the third floor there is a fully equipped kitchen if you want to prepare a meal or store your leftovers.

I highly recommend the WCUI and would happily stay there again on another trip to Chicago!

Stayed their on business while attending a trade show at McCormick place. We had two rooms which both were lovely. Breakfast was self service and a good variety. There was one room without a private bath so make sure if that is important book accordingly.

The Inn is a short walk to a bounty of restaurants and shops, approx less that 1 block, on a very quite and shady street.

Overall much better than staying in a hotel.

We spent three nights here in June, and were in general pleased, although not overwhelmed. Unfortunately, the owners were not there, and the atmosphere was therefore not so personal as you expect from a guesthouse.

A few mistakes were also made, especially a rather brutal check-out, which turned down the overall impression. The housekeeper had other guests arriving 11 AM, so she rushed us to get out of our room already at breakfast, complaining about her workload... It might seem like a minor detail, but it is exactly those details that make you feel welcome or not. In this case the feeling was: “they want us to pay and then get rid of us” - which is not a feeling I expect from a guesthouse!

However, a lot of other things were good. The room was charming, the neighborhood absolutely great, and the breakfast buffet OK. We do not drive, so we relied completely on Chicago's public transportation, which turned out to be great! Among the good things were also the very good descriptions we got from the guesthouse, which made it easy to go by train and bus from the airport. That is something all hotels/guesthouses/hostels and other should have!

The location was also fabulous, in a charming, residential neighborhood, extremely convenient for exploring Chicago! We loved the closeness to the park and the nice little restaurant North Pond, built in Frank Lloyd Wright-style. But there were also lots of other great restaurants right around the corner, as well as several food-markets, bookstore, theatres, and other things you need to feel at home.

Being Europeans, we walked downtown every day (although they told us at the guesthouse that it was not possible, it only took an hour or so and it was a nice walk). However, for those who don't like walking as much as we do, there are both buses and the lovely metro, the Loop, more or less around the corner. The neighborhood therefore receives a 5.0, and perhaps we would give the guesthouse another try, if we knew the owners were there.