For this trip to the Hotel Monaco, I selected a River view King and was able to upgrade to a corner suite. What an amazing view from the 4 window seats! This room was clean, comfortable and quiet. It made for an excellent getaway, and the only thing I would change would be the bathrooms -- the shower was a bit small and outdated, but otherwise very functional.

Great stay from check in to check out. After check in we where greeted with a complimentary wine / hot toddy tasting. The staff was extremely friendly and genuinely concerned that everything was to our expectations. They exceeded it. The lobby is small but cozy and decorated nicely. Room and entire hotel was spotless. Great location between theater district, Millennium Park and Magnificent Mile. Late night action is north of the river. Easy walk to House of Blues and many other bars and clubs.
Pet friendly too.
Hotel restaurant is undergoing renovation and we heard the rest of the hotel might be also so check on that.

My wife, son and I stayed for 4 days over Christmas as a mini-vacation. We chose the Hotel Monaco because of on-line reviews and its central location.

Our arrival was perfect. Prompt, friendly check-in by the front desk. Good luggage service to the room. Great start.

We had booked a river view queen room with a chance to upgrade to a queen suite. Our good luck was with us and we got the upgrade. Beautiful room with river views from two of the four directions. Cool window seats were fun little cubbies in which to read or just watch the city life below. Bed was comfortable and my son said the sofa pullout was also very comfortable. The shower was fine. The bathtub was a huge jacuzzi tub. We didn't use it but you could have had 2 in there easily.

Free coffee, hot chocolate and a variety of newspapers made a nice morning routine of relaxing by the fire each morning in the lobby and having a coffee.

Workout room was nice; 3 treadmills, a couple of bikes and weights. Free water too.

Location was ideal; right on Wacker and Wabash. Michigan Ave and all the restaurants and shops are a 5 minute walk. Theaters are 5 minutes the other directions. Subway stop to the airport is 5 minutes away too. Amtrak station is a 7-8 minute cab ride ($10).

We had drinks and appetizers one night in the bar/restaurant (which, by the way, is being renovated for the New Year). Drinks were tasty and a good beer selection. Upper class bar food was just right for a snack. A special shout out to Stephanie our server. A total bundle of energy and super helpful and friendly. My wife loved the copper mug my drink came in and asked Stephanie if they sold them. She said she would check. Came back a few minutes later and said, "sorry, the manager said no." Oh well, thanks for trying. Ten minutes later Stephanie stops by again and says the manger changed his mind! $10 and you made us a super fan. Stephanie remembered us the next night when we stopped back and made us feel welcome again. She's a star.

Downsides? The restaurant and bar closed on 12/24 and 12/25 for remodeling. Not a negative at all because I understand that to refresh you have to close sometime, but we did miss stopping down for more drinks and friendly cheer.

We really enjoyed our visit. Nice hotel, nice people, great location.

We had a great experience at the Hotel Monaco. We had stayed at the Hotel Monaco in Portland, so we were interested in this hotel for our Chicago visit. Initially, I looked a reviews for a few others and then came back to Monaco. Almost all of the downtown Chicago hotels received reviews about noise from either the traffic or the L, so I called several times to the Hotel Monaco to make sure we would get a quiet room. It was the quietest room room I've ever stayed in. The window seats were a huge hit with the kids. There were 2 (one for each of my children), and they played in them every minute we were in the hotel. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. They delivered a gold fish to our room the first day. Then, they delivered stuffed animal gold fish the second day. We enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate in the lobby each morning while watching "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (set in Chicago). Everytime we needed something, everyone was very helpful and friendly from the doorman to the bellman to the front desk to room service. The hotel itself looks a little old, but that really didn't bother me. The hotel was centrally located between the shopping (to the North) and museums (to the South). And by the way, the Art Institute of Chicago is the best art museum I've ever visited.