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IL Chicago Hotel Felix NMA-River North


srock
By srock,
in

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While there have been some reviews/comments about Hotel Felix on the bidding pages, nothing has been posted here in the Hotel Review section. I stayed there for one night in December 2009 reserving two rooms. I was pleasantly surprised. Some of the comments from the bidding forum raised concerns about small rooms. I felt that the rooms were adequately sized and not at all claustrophobic. The front desk was friendly and helpful. Pop and ice machines are on the even number floors, so if their noise is an issue, request a room on an odd number floor. There are no coffee machines in the room; instead there is free coffee and tea in the lobby.

The rooms were very modern and clean. The bathroom is large but did not have much shelf space. No closet to speak of, just a bar hung about three feet off the ground. There are storage drawers under the bed. There is a safe in the room. Bed was nice. Pillows were rather hard; I called to see if they had any feather pillows, and they had exactly one available. I couldn't figure out how to set the alarm on the clock, but set a wake-up call using the phone. The other couple did the same, but left their phone on and off the hook (oops) and missed their wake up call.

As noted on the bidding forum, there is a GREAT breakfast restaurant just two blocks west and 1.5 blocks north of the hotel called "Yolk". They have just about anything you might want. They open at 8 am on Sunday and by 9:30 there was a growing number waiting for a table. I believe they have a second location in the south loop.

There was no problem checking bags for the day or retrieving them. The CTA red line is two blocks east and two blocks north.

Whether this is a 4 star or a 3.5 star hotel can be debated, but it was a good deal on Priceline. I'd happily stay here again.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We stayed at Hotel Felix, Chicago river north and north Michigan Ave. The hotel had small rooms but they had been recently redone. The room was very clean. The bathroom was a nice size for an older hotel. The location was great for what we wanted. Parking was $42 per day extra (normal for Chicago downtown). We did not try the restaurant . We stayed December 24 and I got the room for a bid of $59 which is a great price for the location. I just bid two nights in January and got hotel Felix again, not disappointed. It is rated four star and I would say it is not as nice as other four stars in Chicago in the same area , only because of the size of the rooms. Employees were friendly and helpful.

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  • 11 months later...

Okay, so we stayed three nights in the Hotel Felix and here are what I think are the pros and cons.

1) Service was great (with the exception of the bartender - see below). Very friendly and accommodating and helpful. Gave us a 1:30 late checkout without a problem.

2) Free business center, which was never in use when I went there.

3) Free 24/7 fitness center, also seemingly always empty. Free weights in there, but I honestly can't recall if I saw a machine.

4) Good quality shampoos, soaps, etc. (so I was told - I'm fine with Dial and Prell).

5) Bed was very comfortable.

6) Room was very clean - and kept that way.

7) I know some people are sensitive to hotels mentioning priceline/hotwire (though I have no idea why - it's common for places to say it's prepaid and sometimes mention through what company). It was not mentioned when we checked in.

8) Good location.

9) On site spa services that aren't ridiculously expensive (not cheap mind you, but not ridiculous).

10) As mentioned earlier, Yolk is a great place to get a breakfast, but not if you are on a diet -- the portions are HUGE!

Cons

1) No pool. I really don't know how you can call something four-star w/o a pool and hot tub. But that's just me.

2) The room was small. Really small. I mean, so small we had to go outside to change our mind. For one person it would have been okay - provided I didn't have any actual work I needed to do while I was there. But we were stepping over each other a lot when we tried to get ready. On the other hand, if you're looking to be close to the person you're staying with, this room doesn't hurt :)

2b) No desk to speak of -- and no way you could use the item that was like a desk to do any work. No room for a desk.

2c) No dresser, no drawers --- no room.

2d) Closet is small (no door on closet).

2e) Shower stall only, no bathtub. But a good size shower stall ... you could fit two.

2f) Did I mention it was small?

CAVEAT: When we checked in, because it was a 3-day stay, we were initially offered a handicap accessible room as it has more space. We went for a room with a view (well, no real view in that room, let me tell you...) and were told when our bags were brought up that this was one of the smaller rooms. Nonetheless, it really was just too small and based on other reviews I've seen, I am not alone in this complaint.

3) Restaurant next door doesn't have any chocolate desserts!!!

4) Bartender one night was, well, not really interested in serving. We order drinks. THey don't have port, but the restaurant next door has it. She says she'll get it. Cool. Thank you very much! She eventually does get it, but not before playing on her crackberry for several minutes. (Really???!!!) Then she finally gets the drink. We order another drink. She gets one glass. Then proceeds to play on her crackberry for a few minutes before pouring the second glass. She spent much of the night playing on her crackberry, when she wasn't acting like a teenager with her friends who were at the bar. Hey, no problem with you having a good time with friends and the bar -- it makes for a lively atmosphere, which is great -- but don't forget your JOB is to serve customers. She wasn't too into that. Compared to, say, the treatment we got at the Palmer House lounge (which is a fantastic place to get a drink) we were amazed.

Sidenote: On another, we talked with a few people at the bar - different bartender who lacked a personality, but at least she wasn't rude - who had booked rooms thru Priceline. One person was stranded due to the storms and got $80 for one night. A couple got $75 for a couple nights. We didn't mention that we scored it for $70 for three nights as we didn't want to brag :) Just mentioned that we got it thu Priceline too.

Final Verdict: We enjoyed our stay and it suited our needs. For $70 a night, it was a good deal in downtown Chicago. If we ended up there again, we'd be fine with it. That said, this IS NOT a four-star hotel. I expect space and a place to do work in a four star hotel. Many people complain about the size of the rooms in the Palmer House, and I can understand that, but at least you can do work on a desk there.

Was I happy? Yes.

Would I stay again? Sure.

Is this a four-star? No. Should priceline survey me about my stay, I will make that point clear.

So, if you win this ... expect a good location, a clean room, and overall good service with good products. Just don't expect much space - and don't be afraid to ask for a bigger room. You might get it.

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  • 9 months later...
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