I was a little worried when I had read some more recent negative reviews on the Sutton Place, but it had been recommended to me by a friend so I decided not to change my booking. I arrived in Chicago early in the morning, and got to the hotel way before any check in time, expecting to need to leave my bags and come back, but the staff were extremely helpful, knew that I had just come off a London flight and found a room to check me into straight away. The rooms themselves look a little tired (still a bit stuck in the 90's I guess) but nevertheless are extremely clean, and the bed was the most comfortable I have slept on in some years! The addition of a CD/DVD players is a useful feature, and makes a chnage from having a TV on in the background. I felt very safe in the area (lone female traveller) and the hotel is a short walk from the Clark/Division Red Line station. Its also perfectly placed on rush street with the buzzy nightlife (although you can't hear it in your room) and is a 5 minute walk from Oak Street beach and Michigan Avenue. Its a nice part of town. Having been pounding the streets of Chicago on a daily basis, I did take the opportunity to order room service a couple of times. The food and the level of service was great. Also over the road is the original pancake house - not to be missed for breakfast! Its worth the queueing if the there is one and has some great corned beef hash! All in all a fantastic stay, and I would stay at the Sutton Place again!

We were at this hotel with a group, and for some reason we were the unlucky ones to get a small room/small bathroom, and bathrooms are very important to me. We are members of their club, and still were given the smaller room. I would have complained but my husband does not like doing that, so we stuck with it. It was a decent room and bath, but seeing that others had soaking tubs and showers while we only had a "too narrow" tub, was upsetting. One would think their staff would know to give club members a better room, not a worse one, upon check in. Simply put, ask to see another room if you get this one (it was the smallest on that particular floor plan); most of their rooms are larger.

Upon check-in I realised I may have made a mistake. Having arrived from London I was tired and very miserable after a bad flight and less than hospitable welcome from US Immigration I was then subjected to a 45 minute check-in process as the computer had no booking for me even though I had booked direct with the hotel some 4 months previously. I eventually made it to the junior suite but was amazed at the smallness of the room which is really saying something coming from the UK and the standard size of hotel room here. The water pressure was non existant, the mini bar was well stocked but with basically vast quantities of the same product, the room stank of stale tobacco even though I had booked non smoking, the bedding was stained and dirty same with the carpet throughout the room, three lightbulbs had blown, the toilet continiously kept on filling, the cd player didn't work in all the room was a total disgrace. Having spoke to the GM I was advised that if I was unhappy maybe I should check out. Way to go with the great customer service!!!! I did exactly that although he seemed a little surprised when I also cancelled the 5 other suites I had booked for friends who were joining me in Chicago for the weekend. In a word don't wast your money here, the Ritz Carlton is much better!

My girlfriend and I arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 for her 30th birthday celebration night on the town. The hotel is conveniently located near Rush street downtown and was easy to find. Upon arrival, I opted for the onsite parking ($42/day) with valet service. Check-in went smooth and the room was nice although 10 floors lower than the one promised on the phone. The backside view was mainly of two buildings under construction but we could see the spires from the Sears Tower in the background which was nice. The room itself was luxurious and spacious and the bathroom was very nice... until you try to take a shower. The water pressure on our floor was trickling at best but I am glad I was able to take a good shower upon arriving before hitting the town. The next morning, we used the included continental breakfast voucher for room service which arrived in a timely manner. After breakfast, we were going to finish watching our movie, take showers, check out of the hotel and hit the art museum. Just as we were finishing the movie, the cable went out.. every channel. We waited a while and my girlfriend just got in the shower. She mentioned that there was not enough water pressure to make the shower work so after fiddling with it, we got it to work by starting on cold, activating the shower head and then gradually working it back to warm until it hit that sweet spot of luke-warm/showerhead turn-off. Little did I know she was lucky to get a shower to start with. When it came to my turn, there was no hot water at all (no water running through hot spigots in the shower or sink) and yellow water from the cold making us gag just looking at it. The toilet then started running continuously and filling with yellow water. A call down to the front desk at least a half hour into all of this indicated that a transformer was out down the street. I asked if there was anything they could do and they stated that it was out of their control and that there was absolutely nothing that could be done. I would have at least appreciated a call with an update or a late checkout or something - nothing was offered except a quick hang-up. I am not a rude traveler and I usually let the little things slide but not having water for a shower is a pretty big deal for me in a hotel. I am pretty sure I have never had that problem in other, less luxurious hotels - I HAVE had better service at almost ANY other hotel. So, if you are staying in Chicago for anything important and do not want to be at the mercy of excuses and poor customer service for problems "outside of the hotel's control", try out the Four Points by Sheraton downtown. I stayed there 2 years ago for a week and the service was impeccable. I was kicking myself mid-morning about not revisiting the Sheraton again this time.