Hotel Monaco Chicago: Playing room roulette

December 6, 2004 at 7:00 AM | by mrgate3 | 0 Comments

When booking a room at the Hotel Monaco in Chicago, a little local knowledge is helpful.

The Hotel Monaco website gives the impression that they have two, and only two, types of rooms: regular and suite. As the accompanying photograph shows (click photo for giant version), the rooms actually come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. When checking in, we didn't make any specific request, so we ended up in the smallest room (see the dot), with a breathtaking view of the back alley. I'm not going to knock Monaco for doing that, we didn't ask for anything better. But HotelChatter readers can learn from our experience. Specifically ask for a big room, and a river view, or at least a view out on to Wabash Avenue. Here are three other comments:

Definitely take them up on their offer of a free pass at the gym down the street, the exercise "room" is more like a closet.
The wine reception is nice, but they don't offer anything to munch on. I can't drink wine without eating something at the same time. Is that weird?
The curb in front of the hotel gets crowded, so dropping off luggage can be an adventure. The bellhops are helpful, but someone directing traffic would be better.

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