Aloft Chicago Downtown River North

Great hotel in the heart of river north. Awesome staff, great bar/restaurant in hotel and great location. Only reason for 4 star on rooms is they are a bit small but probably expected for being in the city. Parking is expensive but again expected being in the city (we valeted it was easiest). Overall, Was very pleased and would def stay there again.

The location was very walkable to all of the venues we planned to visit. Lots of good restaurants and convenience stores in the direct area. The hotel lobby is kind of weird the way that it's set up. It's also very dark and uninviting, unlike other Aloft hotels I've been to around the world. The restaurant, Beatrix is connected to the hotel. You can order room service from them. There's also a water refill station and ATM right behind the front desk. They put us on the 18th floor because my boyfriend is a titanium member. The room was pretty small and unremarkable. There are hardly any outlets to charge all of your devices. It would've been difficult if we wanted to work from the room. They do have a computer work area downstairs in the lobby but it's by the revolving door so there's a lot of traffic and a constant breeze coming through. There are some outlets by the bed. The only outlet in the vanity area was under the sink, behind the mini-fridge. Not really convenient if you need to curl or straighten your hair like I did. I will say that the shower was nice and clean, the bed was comfortable, and the view was decent. There was a lot of waiting when it came to the elevators--by employees and guests. They should have separate staff elevators. There were three, but only two ever seemed to be in operation. This hotel served its purpose and was indeed clean but I'd probably look at other Marriot options next time. The ambience needs work. It wasn't dark/sexy. It was more like a dark/sketchy vibe. Kind of just felt like a transfer station, to be honest.