I stayed at Holiday Inn Downtown in June 2005. The location was terrible as it is located at a dangerous part of Chicago. Cabs did come to the hotel but I had some cab drivers who warned me not to wander around as it was reknowned to be 'not safe'.

The room was very comfortable & the housekeeping staff did an excellent job each and every time they cleaned my room. Great job!

No shops close by. There is only a Dominicks & Walgreens about 4 blocks away. Not a good idea to walk all the way bearing fruits/groceries. Especially when no cabs will stop for you there.

First time in the Windy City, I was a little bit worried but this was a nice hotel. Everything was clean and the staff were helpful. The little pizzeria/breakfast diner was good downstairs. We couldnt have wished for better for the price.

We took Amtrak to Chicago and this hotel was in walking distance from Union Station. We also chose this hotel because it was near the blue line stop on the "L" subway train.

The Holiday Inn room was purchased for $117 on the Holiday Inn web site. This was a Friday and Saturday night stay in July. We felt safe at this hotel and the Clinton stop of the blue line train was at the corner of their parking lot. The room was nice and clean and we had no complaints. They have a roof top pool, but it was too cold that weekend to swim.

We arived a couple of hours before check in and they held our bags in secure room. There is not much around this area, but we were hardly in the room for anything but sleep. Chicago is a fun city so there is not much reason to stay in the hotel for the entire week or weekend.

Last time we were in Chicago, we stayed downtown but it always seamed like we were walking 5 blocks to get to the subway. With this hotel, the subway stop was right by the hotel.
Most of the places we visited was on the red line, and you do have to do a free transfer and walk a block through a tunnel to get to the red line train.

We would stay here again because of the convenience of the subway and its price.
Also, buy a 3 or 4 day subway pass.

Jeff

This is the most unenjoyable hotel experience I have ever had. After arriving at this hotel in late May and discovering it was "on the wrong side of the tracks", we were a bit skeptical. I felt very out of place here, as the hotel is not nice and is in a very trashy part of town. However, we decided to give it a chance, since we had gotten a decent rate and it was pretty close to the Sears Tower. My husband left for his business meeting there and I decided to wait for our room to be ready, since we had arrived early. Before he left for the meeting, we were told we could indeed check in early and would only have to wait 30 minutes or so in the lobby. So, I told him to go on to his meeting and I would wait. How nice, I though, an early check in....7 hours later, I was STILL IN THE LOBBY! Their computer system crashed, then there was a "problem" with our reservation. The list of excuses went on and on. So, I had the pleasure of watching noisy school groups come and go and found out that our "suite" hotel plays host to traffic school! Dozens upon dozens of angry drivers filled the lobby waiting for their classes to start and stood around swapping horror stories in amongst guests trying to check in. I was not impressed! Finally, my husband and his associates finished their meeting, but we never made it to our room! We checked out without ever checking in and made our way to a nicer part of town! Don't let the pictures fool you. It isn't that close to the Sears Tower. My husband said they walked quite a while, through the bad neighborhood we were in to get there. The W Chicago City Center is a lot closer to the tower and a lot nicer. One last tip, stay on the opposite side of the canal/river that is behind the hotel. This seems to be the dividing line between the trashy/classy sides of Chicago. Enjoy your stay in the Windy City-Just enjoy it somewhere else!