River Hotel Chicago, Downtown

Stayed at The River several years ago, always love it. This trip back was even better. The room was spacious and the staff was great. Love the water by the elevator.

The really good hotel with welcoming and smiling staff. The location is perfect for major sightseeing. The subway and bus connectivity is excellent. The rooms are spacious and well appointed. All the amenities are present and working. Don't look for any other option... Indian restaurants were nearby.

I stayed at River Hotel Chicago from June 12–17, and it was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had. On the very first night, while I was sleeping, someone aggressively tried to break into my room, shaking the handle and banging on the door. I was terrified. I contacted the hotel immediately through Booking.com in both English and Spanish—no one responded for over two hours. When I went down to the lobby to report the incident, I also informed the receptionist that the room had a horrible smell from rotting food left by the previous guest. I was told someone would be sent up to check and clean, but no one ever came. The next day, the manager offered to change my room, which I appreciated—but I had to move all my belongings myself. Later during my stay, at 1:40 AM on Sunday, I was making an important call in the lobby when a cleaning staff member began yelling at me, accusing me of not being a guest and telling me to leave. I calmly told him I was staying at the hotel, but he continued to harass me loudly in front of others. When I went to report the incident, the front desk staff told me flat out, “Our staff doesn’t yell, so that’s not true” and refused to escalate the issue. I was even told to “make the complaint publicly” because they have no internal process to handle guest complaints. Not only was my stay unsafe and uncomfortable, but the staff was disrespectful and dismissive, and the hotel has taken zero responsibility for any of this. I have contacted Booking.com multiple times, but the hotel continues to ignore their requests as well. I strongly advise anyone considering this place to stay elsewhere. If anything goes wrong during your stay, they will not help you, they will not respond, and they will not take accountability. Absolutely unacceptable experience.

We settled on this hotel because of the price they are all so expensive in Chicago. The location was great for the river walk and the Big Bus route. The hotel is old (as many are in Chicago) and therefore the room was small. We only had a very small frosted glass window to our room and couldn't see out at all but lets face it you are here to go sight-seeing not spend lots of time in the room. The room was clean, the bed was comfortable and we didn't hear any street noise or air conditioning noise so slept very well. There was free chilled water and ice machines available as the room didn't have a refrigerator.

Great location , almost right on the river , great clean rooms , the cheapest valet parking around at around $52.00 , 24 hours coffee not in the room but in a different area , Kiosk checking . The only bad thing is Google maps will take you to the lower level of Wacker dr, but you need to be on the upper level of Wacker drive and it is a big hastle to get to the upper level it is like driving in a tunnel maze , because the lower level is a tunnel.