The Chicago Hotel Collection River North

We checked in shortly after 2:00 PM, got to our room 209, and noticed it felt oddly warm. Turned on the AC; set it to cool. Left to go about our day and came back around 8:30. Well, we walked in, and it was still absurdly warm. We could hear the AC blowing, but it certainly wasn’t cooling anything off. The thermostat had a nifty mode to let you see the set temperature, the temperature of the room, and the temperature outside. The set temperature? 64. The temperature of the room? 79. The outdoor temperature? 165. Yep. The AC was clearly broken. No worries. Should be an easy fix, right? This room doesn’t work, so let’s just move to another, right? Nope. We go down to the desk and tell the person at the counter. She tells us she’ll go check it right now and meet us up there. We go back to the room. Thirty minutes pass, and we haven’t seen her. I go downstairs to find her. About ten minutes later, she comes down and says she just fixed it. Give it ten to fifteen minutes to start working. My companion in the room tried to point out to her how the thermostat showed the AC was clearly broken, but she just “reset” it and said it would work now. 20ish minutes pass. Guess what? It’s not working. Still warm. The thermostat shows the same readings, including 165 degrees outside - an obvious sign this is broken. We go down to the check in desk. Again. We tell her again that we’ve waited. It’s not working. We’d like a different room. She says she’ll come check it now and fix it. The cycle continues. She comes up to the room with us, “resets” the AC, and assures us that it’s working. It will just take ten to fifteen minutes to start cooling the room down. To help, she brings us a box fan. Well, first she brings us a broken box fan, comedically emblematic of our current circumstances. She can, however, acknowledge that this is broken and brings us a working box fan. She insists this will spread the newly cold air around the room. Problem is there is no cold air to spread. “Just have to wait ten to fifteen minutes for it to work.” I say we’ve been waiting hours and nothing has changed. It’s 10:30. We want to go to sleep, not wait for AC to work. Can we get a new room? No, she says they’re sold out. She’s going to go check for cancellations. She’ll come back to check on us and let us know in ten to fifteen minutes. She never returned. The AC never worked. The thermostat still said 79 degrees in this room; 165 degrees outside. Two hours pleading that someone at least acknowledge that the AC is broken, our circumstances did not changed. The gaslighting continued. I opened Google reviews to see if anyone shared this experience. What caught my eye in the most recent comment posted merely one hour prior? 209. Our room number. “Watch out for room 209 - the AC was broken and they only offered box fans to help us out.” Despite all insistence our AC was working properly, she had fixed it, it just needed ten to fifteen minutes to really kick in, the infuriating truth became clear. They were aware the AC was broken when they gave us this room. The previous guest had alerted them. Their response to him, a box fan, the same response they offered us is enough proof that his story is accurate. They knew this AC was broken. That they did nothing to fix it. That they put us here and hoped we would accept their claims that it would soon be working. The staff member had no intention of returning to check on us. We were knowingly provided a faulty room. We were gaslit for hours and repeatedly told ten to fifteen minutes. At checkout, we wanted to raise the issue once more along with the review mentioning our room to show that this was not a new problem. Ask for a refund. At least to document that we asked even if they said no. But no one was there. A custodial worker told us desk staff did not arrive until at least 10:30, so we had to leave with our grievances unspoken. If you are considering coming here - don’t. If you get here and they give you room 209, you’re better off asking for a blanket and an eye mask and sleeping in the lobby.

The rooms were good and clean, which was the only real positive from our stay. The beds were comfortable, everything was modern and well-maintained. Unfortunately, the overall experience was heavily spoiled by two major problems. The lady working at the reception was incredibly unfriendly and unhelpful from the moment we arrived. There was zero warmth or basic customer service — she made us feel like we were an inconvenience rather than welcomed guests. Even worse, we were hit with $265 in extra fees that were never mentioned before booking. Had we known about these additional charges upfront, we would have absolutely chosen a different (and better) hotel. This felt very deceptive and left a really bad taste. I cannot recommend this hotel unless the extra fees are clearly disclosed in advance and you don’t mind a cold, unfriendly welcome. For the final price we paid, there are much better options available.

I pretty much never leave reviews, but I really want to look out for others that may find themselves in the same situation! Watch out for room 209 - the AC was broken and they only offered box fans to help us out. Sadly the hotel was booked out for us, but make sure you ask for a room change or you might be enjoying a free sauna every night. Management generally seems apathetic to most concerns and you’ll know where you stand with the staff pretty quickly if you have any complaints… this hotel will do a lot to shift blame or completely ignore you if there is any fear of them potentially having to take any accountability.

I rarely leave reviews, but I feel obligated to warn others. The room itself was okay and we couldn’t even get them to clean our room but the biggest issue was the lack of transparency regarding additional charges. What I did not expect was to be charged an additional $633.48 at the property for resort fees( who asked for that?!?), taxes, parking, and other charges that nearly equaled the cost of the room itself. By the end of the stay, a reservation that appeared to cost around $666 ended up costing over $1,300. To make matters worse, we spent weeks trying to understand the charges, speaking with the hotel, Hopper. Nobody could provide a straightforward explanation at checkout, and it took multiple calls and an investigation before we finally got answers. Guests deserve to know the true cost of their stay before arriving. If you’re considering staying here, make sure you ask for a complete breakdown of all fees, taxes, resort charges, and parking costs beforehand so there are no surprises. Disappointed with the lack of transparency and the overall handling of the situation.

Its a Scam. They will charge you additional 80$ per night without any benefit. They call it "club membership fee". On no website it is mentioned. So if you want to stay here plan some extra money. The Lady on the front desk was kind of unfriendly. The Room is overall good and clean but considering the extra fee not worth it.