1-312-427-3800
-
Hotel Size:
871 Rooms , 14 Floors
Make reservations
Amenities
- Family Rooms
- Room service
- Fitness center
- Business center
- Restaurant
- Meeting rooms
- Non-smoking rooms
- Data port
- Dry cleaning/laundry
This historic hotel offers traditional interiors and moderately priced rooms across from Chicago's Grant Park and offers views of Lake Michigan from many rooms. Centrally located, this grand old hotel offers guests easy access to the Art Institute of Chicago, Symphony Center, and Sears Tower. Chicago's O'Hare airport is just 20 miles away and Midway just 10 miles away. The Congress Plaza Hotel is a historic Chicago fixture. Built in 1893, this hotel has housed US presidents and hosted historic events like the National American Women Suffrage Association's celebration of the 19th amendment's ratification in 1920. The hotel has many amenities, including The Gazebo Restaurant (a casual, convenient destination for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and The Tavern Tap Pub (an evening retreat for draught beers, cocktails, and more). Off of the newly-renovated lobby, the new Rafael Steakhouse is open from 11am to 10:30pm. Weather-permitting, guests may dine on an outdoor cafe. Room service is available from 6:30am-10pm each day. To suit guests' varied needs, the hotel has a 24-hour fitness room, 23 meeting rooms, the famous Gold Room banquet hall, a gift shop, same-day dry cleaning valet, and overnight shoeshine. Valet Parking is 33/night and 28/night for self-park. There are 852 rooms, including 50 suites on 14 floors. Children 16 and under stay free in parent's room. All rooms include a coffeemaker, hairdryer, telephone, and television with 55 channels, including Showtime, and Movies On Demand. High Speed Internet is available for a daily fee of 9.
Latest Reviews (from TravelMuse and around the web)
-
Leave Review
- E-mail*
- Password*
- Title *
- By clicking submit you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
- Submit
-
Review Options
Enter your personal information to the left, or sign in with your Facebook account by clicking the button below.
Trip Advisor Reviews
( 100+ Reviews see all
)
Top 
Our Favorite Chicago Hotel
Our annual January weekend in Chicago is a combination of business and pleasure, the pleasure being our stay at the Congress. We've been doing ...
Hated It!!
First of all, the only reason I stayed at this Hotel is because the person I was traveling with recommended it. In order for me to travel I mus...
This place is a little bizarre
This is one strange hotel. If I had to pick two words, I'd say "dated" and "quirky". It's definitely a long way from the major corporate busine...
Perfect Location
You can't beat this hotel for the price and location. We got upgraded to a lake view room and it was BEAUTIFUL. My friend and I spent time just...
Good value for the price
I booked a couple of rooms at the Congress Plaza Hotel for friends and I was very satisfied......the price was actually quite low for a Michiga...
Worst Hotel ever....Never Again
well first off i booked this hotel because i needed a cheap place to stay for my sister, husband, and me . the night before she had her surgery...
Yahoo Travel Reviews
( 95 Reviews see all
)
Top
Piece of garbage!
This hotel is filthy! The first room we were put into had a rotten wood door with the old lead paint chipping off on the floor that lead to the...
i wouldn't stay here again
the room wasn't cleaned. nothing seemed to work. the bartender was rude. had peeling wallpaper. baseboards were bad too. bathroom wasn't cleane...
Never stay at this hotel
Horrible service, booked non-smoking suite months in advance, was given a regular smoking room. Cigarette holes in bedspreads and carpets. Ma...
ROACHES, BAD ODOR, BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE !
THERE WAS A LARGE ROACH IN MY ROOM WE TOOK PICTURES THE DESK CLERK SAID THEY WERE WORKING ON THE PLUMBING SO THEY WERE RUNNING AROUND SHE GAVE ...
Worst Parking Situation EVER!
The location was great. The room was just a room, nothing to brag about, but it was fine. THE PARKING...SUCKS!First, it costs 27-32 dollars ex...
Do Not Attempt
This is the WORST hotel that I have ever stayed in. Upon arrival, in the hallway leading to our room, vomit was sprayed on the wall and the flo...
Travelocity Reviews
( 54 Reviews see all
)
Top
My girlfriend and I came in from NYC and stayed here for Lollapalooza '08. Great location, great service, great staff. We've stayed at classier places and worse places, but generally aren't to picky. This is an older hotel, but our room was huge (definitly worth the lake view upgrade), the bar was big, room service was great and overall we had a great stay and will probably be back for Lolla next year.
A FINE OLDER BUILDING FROM THE EARLIER 20TH CENTURY WITH MARVELOUS DETAIL THAT IS DESERVING OF TOP NOTCH ROOM RENOVATIONS. CURRENT FURNISHINGS SEEM TO HAVE COME FROM A SECOND HAND STORE, THE WINDOW TREATMENTS ARE SERIOUSLY OUTDATED, AND THE BATHROOM "UPGRADES" WERE AT BEST A SECOND RATE EFFORT. ON THE PLUS SIDE, THE UPPER FLOORS ON THE FRONT SIDE OF THE BUILDING YIELD A THOROUGHLY SATISFIYING VIEW OVERLOOKING GRANT PARK AND OUT INTO THE LAKE.
All other reviews pretty much sum up the look of the rooms, aged but still functional. I was on the top floor (14th) and the A/C worked fine. My view of Buckingham fountain was EXCELLENT. Make sure if your there on a weekend if any events going on late at night in the park may interrupt your sleep, still worth the view though. Check-in/out was efficient. The inside door staff were helpful and there was a useful baggage check if you had to check out but wanted to hang around a bit and a more secure check for expensive items like laptops with security. The outdoor staff were not helpful, I pulled up in my car and they basically told me to get my car out of there, no information on how to check in. The staff in the parking area around back were less helpful. they were practically yelling at me because of where I pulled my car in because of their terrible directions. And then on top of that, the hotel charges 27 per day to park at their hotel. Too steep. Another fee that shouldn't be charged is internet access, a cheap service for 10 per day.
The hotel is very dated nice for a older hotel. But no real extras the food was very costly. for 15 min of internet.
We stayed here just for one night, to catch an early flight. It was ok for one night, but I would not stay here for vacation. The beds were bad, felt like they were very old. There is also no pool and nothing for children to do. It is a beautiful hotel and it was nice to see what hotels were like a 100 years ago, but it does need some updating and up keep. Over all a nice place to just sleep and check out great architecture, but if looking for more than that you should stay somewhere else.
First of all, I read all the reviews before booking my room here, but considering the location and the price it was worth the risk. I was pleasantly surprised. The room (Lake View King) was not a huge room, but it made it up in historic character. First thing I noticed was that they had not ripped out all the beautiful mouldings and built in features to make this a indistinguishable hotel from all the cheap chain hotels. The view from the room was absolutely fabulous - overlooking Buckingham Fountain and couldn't have paid for a better place to watch fireworks over the Lake. The bed was comfortable and the bathroom was adequate. For the price, you would expect a lot less, but I felt like I got a terrific value.
CitySearch Reviews
( 18 Reviews see all
)
Top
Charming hotel in the middle of everything!
My family just returned from Chicago and I was perfectly pleased with this hotel. I can only think the bad reviews are, by now, outdated or th...
Cheap and interesting.
I read the reviews on this page before booking the hotel, and most people who have complained about this particular hotel have no grounds from ...
Terrible, Terrible.... DO NOT STAY HERE!!!!!
DO NOT STAY HERE!!!!! After we checked in.. They gave us the wrong directions to our room & we got lost finding what we thought was our roo...
YUCK!!! YUCK!!! YUCK!!!!
If you're looking for a dump at which to stay in Chicago... may I recommend the Congress Plaza. This hotel will certainly grant your every wish...
Not worth the money I supposedly "saved" on this "bargain"
I travel a lot for business and don't consider myself a complainer by any means. I chose the Congress Plaza because I needed a location conveni...
Few hotels in Chicago can boast the historical cachet of this one.
The SceneSince its construction in 1893 to house visitors to the World's Columbian Exposition, the Congress has hosted everyone from presid
restaurants near Congress Plaza Hotel
- How to Plan FAQs TravelMusings Blog About TravelMuse Site Map Join us on:
TravelMuse Reviews Top