Stayed there for the 2 nights in late March. I didn't find the neighbourhood to be all that scary. True it's not really close to anything but it's less than 10 minutes to walk to the Red Line station called Cermack/Chinatown and that gets you downtown easily or to any other connecting line you need. The room was large and very clean, excellent shower, average fridge and tv. Wasn't bothered by street noise at all. Overpriced breakfast at the onsite restaurant but pleasant service. Would happily stay there again.

I have stayed at this hotel twice, in March and November 2011. The rooms are very good, but not luxury.

The neighborhood and safety is a subject of many reviewers' comments. I walked to the convention center (15-20 minute walk), sometimes at night. As a middle-aged male, I was not terribly worried. Yet Chicago is a city which is similar to dozens of other US cities--you should always be careful. You will need to take a taxi from most hotels in the city to get to most destinations. Even if you drive to your destination in Chicago, parking is rather expensive. The free parking at Chicago South Loop Hotel is an infrequent amenity in Chicago.

The price of this hotel is considerably lower than other hotels within several miles! So, I see this hotel as a great find and value.

Room 541
This hotel is located in a terrible neighborhood, 10 minutes away from downtown, next to a subway.
There were fights below my window at the bus stop in the afternoon and at night when the bar let out.
The subway train went by my window every 5-10 minutes until 6-7pm and then every 30 minutes until midnight. It would start up again around 4:30am.
The street itself was very busy with buses and heavy traffic. Cop cars and fire trucks went blaring by every other hour or so all night and day.
The bed was alright but the sheets were scratchy and I needed to pile on the extra blanket to keep warm.
They do not replace the soaps at all. I understand not doing so for a 2 day stay but this is unacceptable for a 4 day stay.
No HBO or HDTV to soften the blow of staying here.
The "sports" bar was overpriced and the food was ok at best and took a long time to get to us. (I will say this, bartender Lamar was the one saving grace for this establishment, he made us feel welcome and profusely apologized for the delay, even though it wasn't his fault)

Bottom line : If you are going to attend a convention at the McCormick DO NOT STAY HERE!
Go somewhere else and pay the extra cab fare.

Well you get what you pay for we got the Spring Deal last year for 60 bucks a night which now you can't get anything close from this hotel under $150 bucks yes a $150 bucks GTFOFH! its OK for overnight stay but not for the prices... beware of the Birthday party's or any celebration here because if you'er driving and going out for the evening and need to park in FREE parking lot when you get back there won't be any parking spots for the REAL!!! hotel guess to park we had to park on the street and it was pretty far away from hotel good thing i had my husband to protect me :0) joking we were OK its not a really bad area just wish we were able to park in the FREE parking lot for the guess..