The Congress Plaza Hotel & Convention Center

The last week of September my wife and I began a 3 week vacation that took us around Lake Superior and involved 15 lodging locations. Of these the Congress Plaza was one of the ones I most looked forward to and was easily the most disappointing. It began the moment I approached the counter to check in. The two clerks were in the process of criticizing the previous guest. Not a great first impression. Then, as one approached to assist me she finished her end of the conversation by dropping an F-bomb. Amazingly she showed no awareness of this. Next we went to our room and found that, instead of the queen room that we had reserved we had been given one with 2 double beds. After a long day of driving it was a battle I chose not to fight. My wife and I can still sleep comfortably in a double. Still a reservation means just that--a certain type of room is reserved for my use and I expect it to be available. And finally when we returned to our room at the end of the first of our two day stay our passkey didn't work. Meaning a trip to the front desk, where I was told I only had a one night reservation. Originally that was correct but I modified the reservation later to two nights. The clerk offered to extend us another night--for an additional $50. Fortunately I had the documentation in my room. To her credit she corrected the information promptly and cheerfully. Still, an unnecessary, and stressful, inconvenience. To end on a positive note I can't say enough about the driveway staff. They were, without exception, friendly and helpful. One saved me a bit of money on parking and another had a great breakfast recommendation. Another ( I believe his name was Omar) made a call on our behalf to a tour company to ask them to wait a few minutes because we were running late.

I have to compliment the property and the staff. They were friendly, starting with their willingness to accept shipments. Perfectly clean, room with a view. Close to downtown, in the heart of Chicago. I'll be back.

I booked a Queen Room, Interior View for one night at the Congress Plaza Hotel — but what I got was far beyond what I expected: a spacious room with a King-size bed and a stunning view of Grant Park and the skyline. As a solo traveler, I don’t really care about bed size, but it was still a delightful surprise. The high ceilings and huge windows (that actually opened — rare in the U.S.) gave the room a classic, airy feel. Despite facing Michigan Avenue, it was perfectly quiet. At about $138 a night, it honestly felt like a steal. The hotel itself is a late-19th-century time capsule: walk into the lobby or the ballrooms and it feels like you’ve stepped into a Kubrick movie (The Shining immediately came to mind, elevators included). Yet the place isn’t just frozen in time — there was even an in-room tablet for hotel info and room service, a quirky modern touch. And while the hotel has a reputation for being haunted, the only spirits I encountered were those of a great night’s sleep on a very comfortable bed. The location is unbeatable. Step outside and you’re in the heart of Chicago: Grant Park and Millennium Park right across the street, Buckingham Fountain just a short walk away (a must for Married with Children fans), and the Art Institute of Chicago practically around the corner — one of the most impressive museums in the world. From there you can stroll to the river and the Magnificent Mile, or, if you’d rather rest your legs, hop on one of the many buses that stop right under the hotel (some even start and end at “Hotel Congress Plaza” itself). Getting here from O’Hare was also a breeze. I took the Blue Line to Jackson Station, and from there it’s only a short, straightforward walk along well-lit, wide avenues — no need for a taxi or rideshare, even at night. With a Ventra pass, the whole trip was simple and cheap. One of the best things about Ventra is that your pass runs for the full time you purchase (24, 48, 72 hours, etc.) from the moment you first validate it — not until midnight like in many other cities. That meant my 24-hour pass covered both my airport transfer and all my rides around the city, including my trip back the next morning. Even going out to the United Center for a concert was effortless. Chicago’s public transit genuinely reminded me more of a modern European city than of a typical American metropolis — efficient, accessible, and perfectly connected to this hotel. If Lollapalooza had been happening, I probably could have heard Billie Eilish or Chappell Roan from my room. Maybe not for everyone, but it just shows how central this hotel really is. The rooms are obviously very old and would certainly benefit from renovation. There’s even a door chain that looks like it belongs to the 1890s — I personally haven’t seen one like it in over forty years. The paint chips on the carpet also show the building’s age. But here’s the thing: the moment these rooms are fully renovated, the price will probably double or triple. Personally, I’d much rather sleep in an old (but not rotten) room like this, at this price, in this location. I came here looking for a room for one night, but I left wishing I’d stayed longer — both at the hotel and in Chicago. Bottom line: The Congress Plaza isn’t glossy modern luxury — it’s history, character, space, comfort, and a location that puts Chicago right at your doorstep. For me, it was five stars all the way.

This hotel really needs to be purchased by a major chain as it is in need a major,. major renovation plus it needs new management. We live locally in the Chicago area and this was our 3rd stay here. Our other 2 stays here a number of years ago were satisfactory and the location is great. This time we were spending one night here as we were doing a 20 mile training run the next morning along the lakefront with our training group in preparation to run the Chicago Marathon in 3 weeks. Every year our running club reserves one of the banquet rooms at the hotel for the runners to use as a staging area before and after the Chicago Marathon. This year it was going to be the Shelby Room on the 3rd floor. Once my husband and I got checked into our room prior to dinner we decided to stop down on the 3rd floor to see where the Shelby Room was located so we would not need to search for the location in 3 weeks on race morning. We made it to the 3rd floor and located the room. We did not enter room (it was locked). We then proceeded to walk to the opposite end of the floor to locate the stairs to exit. As we were walking down the stairs a security guard appeared and began shouting at us. He said he wanted to show us a sign that said the 3rd floor was closed. We did not see a sign when we entered the floor. I can think of countless times I've stayed at a hotel looking for a pool or fitness center and have freely walked through a hotel's open spaces where meeting or banquet rooms are. The security guard then berated us for not following the rules. He said we were making his job more difficult and that he could have us arrested for trespassing. We told him the reason we were there (just to locate the room our club would be using in 3 weeks) and that we were guests staying at the hotel. He continued to yell at us and insisted on showing us where the sign was that said the floor was closed. He went on to say there was a right way of doing things and we did things the wrong way. He also said we were making is job more difficult. We really felt like he was treating us like criminals and was making way more out of the situation than was necessary. After we politely apologized and tried to defuse the situation he continued to follow us down the stairs to the lobby. He was still yelling at us once we made it to the lobby. When then ended up speaking with the manager on duty named Nicole. She was apologetic for him coming on "too strong". I suggested to her that if they wanted to close off a section of the hotel why not put up stanchions and rope so it is clear an area is clearly meant to be closed off instead of hoping people happen to notice a sign. Also when you enter the elevator you do not need your room key to access the floors. So there is all this focus about people not going on a floor with meeting rooms yet anyone can just walk in off the street and access all of the guest floors at any point in time! Upon check-in we let the front desk person know that we would need to check out at 5am and check our bags since we were doing the early morning run even the next morning. She said to go to the bell desk in the morning and they could check our bags. The next morning there was no one at the bell desk. The front desk person then said to go down the hall to the security office. When we got there the security office the guy tried to unsucessfully page a bellman for several minutes. He then in frustration took our bags himself and gave us claim checks. What a waste of time when we were also in a hurry. We had a lakefront suite. The only complaints about our room were was there was no way to control the temperature of the room, only a dial to control fan speed or fan on and off. Also our room was right next to the elevator and in the bathroom you could hear the elevator running. The hotel overall is very run down with some holes in the walls and old carpeting that is worn and ripped in spots. Definitely do not stay at this hotel unless they get bought out, get new management and an entire renovation.

The hotel was a very last minute booking due to an error in dates at the original hotel I booked. The room was clean and the floor looks to be brand new. No carpeting, LVF in the rooms. The hotel is in renovation so the hallways had some sheet rock dust footprints otherwise clean. I am surprised to read reviews about noise. The hallways and our room were silent. We absolutely did not know that this hotel is known for being haunted. All three nights, we had experiences that could be described as paranormal. My sister saw the sheets to her bed being pulled off of her. She basically played a game of tugawar with the sheets 2 nights in a row! Then 2 out 3 people in the room were woken up by a sound that could not be explained. We, of course, immediately googled after the first night, and the sheet pulling seems to be a thing guests have reported. The hotel itself was a great location. Close to Millennium parking. We arrived at 3 am walked from the parking garage to the hotel and felt very safe. If you like ghost adventures this could be a fun place for you.