We stayed at The James for a weekend getaway. My partner had stayed here on two previous occasions for business and liked the property. The location is ideal if you like to wander Michigan Ave. Rooms are comfortably appointed and clean. We had a King Suite which provided ample room if a bit oddly shaped. Bed and pillows are top-notch. The bar is comfortable but a bit small for a hotel of this size as we had a hard time getting a seat on both Friday and Saturday nights for a pre-dinner drink. Gym is very nice and spacious with high quality equipment. Staff is friendly and accommodating.

I have only two complaints. We spent most of Saturday shopping and returned to our room to drop off bags at about 1 pm. The room had not been refreshed. I notified the front desk and was told someone would clean it immediately. We went back out for about 2 hours and returned to a still-dirty room. I called the front desk again. This time someone was sent to clean the room albeit while we were still in it.

The night before our early-morning departure, we placed a breakfast order and requested delivery between 6 and 6:30 am. As we had to leave the hotel by 6:50 am, we had little time to spare. When breakfast did not arrive by 6:35 am, I placed multiple calls to room service (no answer) and the front desk. I was assured that breakfast was on its way. It finally did arrive but we had less than 10 minutes to eat. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant $45 meal (with taxes & service charge). I mentioned this at the front desk upon check-out and believed the hotel would waive the cost--it didn't.

All in all, not enough negatives to dissuade me from staying here again but certainly not yet a top-of-the-line hotel in terms of service.

I just returned from a 5 night stay at The James. This is going to be my hotel for all my trips to Chicago. I loved it!

The hotel is perfectly located. It is in the heart of Chicago, one block from the Magnificent Mile. I walked everywhere from the Art Institute to the Gold Coast.

The room adds to the hotel's charm. I had a studio loft that was like a little apartment. There was a stylish sitting area, a fully stocked bar, and a comfortable bed.

The hotel has all the amenities of a luxury hotel for half the cost. There was a spa, restaurant, 24 hour room service, turn-down service with cookies on your bed every night.

I truly enjoyed my stay, and look forward to returning soon!

I chose this hotel on the basis of its location and all the positive reviews for it. I found the location fantastic - close to where I wanted to be, close to Metro and good food. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. When the tv remote needed to be fixed, they were there in mere minutes with battery replacement. When I needed a cab, it was quick and easy.

My issue was with the room itself which had a distinct negative odor to it. They quickly and switched me out with a different floor and room, but sadly a lesser version of the odor followed. Something travelling through the vents? I don't know, but it was enough to make me not want to stay there again.

Landed right on a wedding party floor. Crazy loud up until 4am. My fault for not complaining, but it was certainly the talk of the hotel in the morning. And not the good J Bar kind of talk.

Perhaps the James is a little classy for me, but next time I'll take one of the major chains in the area.

The James Hotel is excellent. No doubting that. Great loctaion, great rooms and a bit of boutique spunk to go with that. It definately beats a boring "chain brand" experience any day of the week. My main issue is that the service was just OK and it's marketers make it out to be more than it is. nothing infuriates me more than when I can get a cheaper rate online than with their reception. I even gave them a 2nd chance to match the rate and told the lady at Reception they would not have to pay a commission and make more $ of that (response - "out of my hands, I wouldn't know anything about that"). That and the rest of the service was pretty good, but not really excellent.

To be claer, I'd definately stay here again when in Chicago but these guys should take a few tips from Boutique Hotel operators such as Firmdale in the UK to live up to their hype of one of the worlds best boutique hotels