This was a great hostel until the manager overstepped. When someone runs a hotel or hostel, it is…read moretheir job to take the customers' money and move on. The reason I am not leaving such a stellar review is that the "manager" of the establishment overstepped their job title. I have stayed at this hostel for a few weeks now and I was attempting to book another night when i was told that was not a possibility because I am too "aggressive." For context, I am Black American and the manager is White American. If by aggressive they mean I'm a Black American Woman with a set of issues that most people couldn't even fathom, then suuuuuuure. I myself have managed multi-million, and a couple of times, multi-billion dollar, grossing companies. If I were so aggressive, I don't think I would have gotten 100+ employees to follow my lead. I had no problem with the manager up until this point, but it is not fair to a paying customer that spends most of their day outside of the hostel to be labeled as aggressive and then be told they cannot pay to have a roof over their head because people simply can't be adults. Grow up! The world is full of people you don't get along with. I'd also like to mention that I seriously injured myself in the bathroom because no matter what you do, the shower floor(s) always get wet and do not properly drain. I did in fact slip and fall while heading to the shower and seriously injured my back in the process . I brought this incident up to the manager, along with another guest that states the same thing; that the bathroom is dangerous. However, there has been no follow through to ensure this does not happen to guest in the future as the manager PROMISED. I'm young and can recuperate, but there are older guests at this hostel that might end up in the hospital if they took such a tumble. I only stayed at this location so long because of the convenience and what I thought was the reasonableness of the manager, but I have noticed that said manager gets a little bit too personal with guests which is a business red flag.

A good place for a cheap trip in Chicago that has a lot to offer for a hostel. It also seems pretty…read moresafe. Parthenon is a hostel so it's not a fancy place but it's also not a dump like others that have bad horror stories and things. Cheap rates and plenty of entertainment and transportation is close. The staff is very friendly and helpful. It has a very good location in Greektown. Lots to do and see around here. The CTA has a station a few blocks away on Halsted at UIC. A lot of places to drink and eat. This is a pretty busy area so there's bad and good things about that. It can get noisy. There's music and traffic. Maybe you'll have trouble sleeping. Take preventive measures if you have to. Bring earplugs. The good thing about this busy location is that it's safe. Cheap rates. It's about $30 a night or so. The rooms have a few bunk beds and you can get lockers as well. Bathrooms are shared but these seem clean. They also have a common area you can use to put food in. Bring soap or things like that because they don't have these for free. It does have things including towels you can purchase. The good thing is the price of the rooms is a very big money saver.

A great place for a weekend stay in the city. Clean, comfy and convenient…read more The owner is nice and accommodating and it's more like you're staying at a good friends house than some big dirty hotel. You get a section of the house all to yourself. Includes a living room, bathroom and bedroom. I stayed here with my mom when she came to visit. The bed was SO comfortable. Theres also a fridge with free water bottles and snacks in the room. Free wifi. My only complaint about this was the bedroom and bathroom locks are old and don't actually lock. You have a section of the house to yourself but I'd still like a bathroom door that locks since its in the hallway. I'd stay here again. Close to the L train, shops and food. And is clean and comfy!

I loved staying here with my husband. It was private and we got a room with a beautiful view of…read morethe new DePaul music building. We used the guest house as a staycation in our own city, and it felt like we were in a whole new city. Amazing service and beautiful home!

We spent the long July 4th weekend visiting Chicago, and stayed in #3. The space worked very well…read morefor two couples. The unit was very clean and very quiet. The beds were comfortable and the linens nice. The kitchen and bath were tastefully done with granite and nice fixtures. All was in working order. The location was perfect. A short walk to the Brown Line, easy on street parking, lots of fun places to eat nearby. West Roscoe had an upscale family neighborhood vibe. We ate at the Turkish place and the Vietnamese place - both very good. A note to anyone who books #3. Make sure that you are comfortable with 2 flights of steep stairs. Make sure you know how to reboot a WIFI. And, ask about the A/C which must be on some sort of preprogrammed setting. We happened to be there when it was quite hot, so we had to often set the A/C to manual to cool off. This condo was a great home base for our 4 day weekend. It's always fun to be able to come "home" after a long day of sightseeing and relax and enjoy each others company in a comfortable space.

Five of us came to town for 5 days for our son's wedding, and stayed in one of the guesthouses…read more The location was convenient to all of our activities. The guesthouse was our "base of operations". The place was immaculate and had everything we seemed to need in the well appointed kitchen. I even put the backyard grill to good use one night. The beds were comfortable, bathrooms had plenty of hot water, parking was convenient, and lots of interesting restaurants within walking distance. The neighborhood was full of happy children, and we enjoyed a game of Frisbee in a nearby park. We go well acquainted with the #50 bus to get us anywhere in the city.The neighborhood was full of happy children, and we enjoyed a game of Frisbee in a nearby park. We go well acquainted with the #50 bus to get us anywhere in the city. Our "wired" set took full advantage of the fast wi-fi connection. I had wanted to stay in a hotel, but my wife thought this would be more "homey" and see was right, it was a great decision. The only downside to us was that the toaster seemed to be hard-wired to the smoke alarm, but once we figured out to turn the exhaust fan one before we did any cooking all was well.

Great 1 bedroom apartment. Clean. Spacious. Easy walk to the Red Line. Very comfortable bed and…read morecouch. Lovely bath towels. Fully equipped kitchen. Easy walk to groceries and restaurants. Great communication with hosts via email and phone. I hope to stay here again next time I visit Chicago.

Terrible customer service. Place was not clean, we cleaned the spiders, bathroom floor and mat. Had…read moreto pay in advance so you had no recourse (should have known better) Had to ask for more TP and then they left our door open, yes open for 5 hours! Patio was dirty and could not use. This place is run by kids with no clue as to what to do. Stay away!

Halfway through the stay - things may change but, given many negative reviews, I thought I'd offer…read moremy initial take. It's in a cool neighborhood with great food and right next to the blue line. The price is great. Place is older but they are trying and there aren't any real problems. Walls are thin, heat doesn't always make it to the end of the line but it's very safe, very comfortable, clean. It's nicer than, say, most Airbnb's I've stayed at. Not as nice as a hotel but I'm happy with it and don't see the problems some people posted about. It's a specific place for a specific purpose and I'd recommend it for that. I wouldn't recommend it as a cheap hotel alternative. I would recommend it as a solid Airbnb option or upper-end hostile. Staff is fine, they aren't trained four seasons customer service staff so they aren't going to do well with conflict you throw at them but if you're polite and respectful they are right back at you. I am happy to be here.

I'm always surprised whenever my friends are surprised by the fact that I choose to stay at hostels…read morewhen I travel, whether it's within the states or around the world. All the hostels I've ever stayed at have been clean, friendly, accommodating, and very affordable--Urban Holiday Lofts is no exception. My friend booked this place on hostelworld, which contains all the information you need to get to the hostel. For the phone addicts, it's also searchable on Google maps. This place awesomely reimburses you for the cost of your CTA ticket to the hostel (a heads up: it's $5 from the O'Hare International Airport). Also, true to the description, they charge an additional 16.4% tax when you arrive to pay for your stay. Jason, who is very sociable and has a good sense of humor, was at the front desk when I checked in. Whoever checks you in gives you a great list of eateries and bars in the area (along with a list of rules) and a short tour of the hostel. My bed was in the standard 6-room female dorm, which had 3 bunk beds and no A/C (they had a ceiling fan and a heating system). My floor had 4 bathrooms, which can be congested during the evenings when everyone wants to shower. There's washers and dryers on-site that will cost you $1.50 each, and you can purchase detergent from the front desk. Complimentary breakfast is from 8 - 10 AM, and it consists of bagels, cereal (Aldi's version of Frosted Flakes and Raisin Bran), bread, milk, coffee, and tea. Breakfast is hosted in the upstairs common space, which also has two computers for general use. Towels are provided, and lockers are available in the shared dorm rooms ($1 lock rental for your entire stay). And I should mention that the location of this hostel is bombdotcom. Though not in the heart of downtown, Wicker Park has great nightlife, and the CRT Blue Line, from which this hostel is 5 minutes away, runs 24/7. 24 frickin' 7. Oh, before you leave, drop by the nearby Aldi grocery store to pick up some awesomely named German chocolate at awesomely affordable prices. Just beware of the weight of all that chocolate in your bag and how that could detrimentally affect your back. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Loved the Biddle House, found this gem on Homeaway.com. We had 6 of us going to Chicago on a mini…read morevacation and to catch the Dodgers in town. We decided to rent a house for more room then a hotel. I'm glad we did, The Biddle House was perfect! Located in a cute tree lined neighborhood, walking distance from the Brown Line that takes you to downtown in minutes and just 2 stops away from another station where you can transfer to other lines. The Biddle House is walking distance to many restaurants, shops, Lincoln Park, Chicago History Museum and the lakefront etc. We walked to a local shop to buy groceries to make breakfast for the week since pots, pans etc was provided. We got to feel as if we lived in a Chicago neighborhood. We did however kept wondering why people always stopped in front on the house, especially when a group of tourists came and starred at us while we ate breakfast (we had blinds open), it turns out The Biddle House is a historic house owned by Joseph O'Connell a telephone pioneer. We then appreciated the house more and didn't mind the other tourists since we were tourists ourselves. There are 2 units available at the Biddle House. We stayed on the 1st floor which had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, dining room and living room with a pull out couch. We loved the AC units and fans thorough out the place, the beds were squeaky but after coming back so tired, once we fell asleep, it didn't matter. We loved that we were able to do our laundry down the basement but wished there were clean ones provided if we needed more instead of washing our own. Overall, I loved it, would stay and recommend others to experience it!

My family stayed on the top floor for 6 nights. The unit was cozy and comfortable. Both queen beds…read morewere quite comfortable, ceiling fans were great to have. Functional kitchen with everything you can think of. Air conditioning unit was a bit loud. Bathroom was fine, it could use a new TOTO toilet with a soft close seat!! Tree lined street, very good location, Two blocks to Old Town main street.

The Darst Center is a social justice educational retreat center. The building is set-up in a…read moreconverted convent and adds a lot of character.

Excellent! I may be finished with hotels in Chicago. We were traveling with small children. This…read moreplace was perfect. Two bed rooms, fully furnished, wonderfully decorated, and in a great location. It feels like you are tucked away in a quite neighborhood yet, you're only 0.3 miles to the subway. Kim, the owner, lived on the third floor and is very helpful. We walked through the neighborhood and was able to walk to quaint Roscoe Village, talk to neighbors, enjoy the tree line streets and relax. Kids or not - you'll love this place! Kim keeps it nice!

Upon recommendations from family members my husband and I choose the Roscoe Village Inn for our…read morelong weekend in Chicago. We couldn't have been more impressed. The apt. was spacious, well equipped and immaculate. We loved being able to walk to local shopping and restaurants, we felt completely safe. The security on the apt. is great, access to front, back and garage space was very secure. We hope to visit the Inn again soon.

I'm not trying to negate the other reviewer's experience - but mine was ABSOLUTELY the opposite!…read more NB (the owner) was fabulous! And because I rented it out, sight-unseen, from New Mexico and rolled into town the day I was meant to rent it out, I was so impressed at how the business end was tailored to accommodate my situation (I couldn't pay, or even give a deposit to the owner, until the day I arrived - as a dozen girls had to mail me their share of the cost). We arranged the Friday thru Sunday stay for my sister's bachelorette party and it was an incredibly pleasant experience. All the girls thought the house was to die for... It is a no-joke mansion. I suppose if you live in a castle somewhere you might think it's the usual thing, but it was jaw-droppingly beautiful to us. We spent much of our first day and a half there running into each others rooms and shrieking "DID YOU SEE THIS/THAT?" Everyone who has seen the photos is amazed at the place, and my extended family is thinking of renting it out for next year's family reunion since it's super close to Wrigley, and that's kind of our thing. :) *** N - thank you so much for a lovely weekend and all of your help. You really made it even more fabulous than I could have imagined for my little sister!

If you want: The…read moreowner to crash your gathering 3 different times, rent this place If you want your safety deposit to be cashed before your rental date, rent this place If you planned on hosting an event here plan on actually having the home for ONLY 3 hours as the owner on one of her unannounced "visits" will ask your guests to leave If you want to host your best friends 30th birthday here, have friends fly in form London and other far away places to enjoy the rental be sure to note the house sleeps 24 people at least (its 7,000 sq ft) and anything over that is considered a "rave" by the owner. If you like getting locked in a bathroom for 15 minutes because the door handle and other amenities are less than kept, rent this place. If you are in your 30's, a working professional and like to be berated and treated like a child, rent this place. Long and short this was the worst business transaction if I can even call it that as that would denote a level of professionalism and ethics that was clearly absent here. Rent at your own risk and please be mindful that what you see is not what you get.