I stayed at the Hawthorne Terrace on a visit to Chicago to see some baseball and be a tourist. The location is excellent. The hotel is located about a 10-15 minute walk from Wrigley Field and is probably the closest hotel. It is located in the gay district of Chicago, though the gay bars are mostly on Halstead Street a short walk away. The Addision Street Red Line station is located next to Wrigley Field so it's reasonably close to public transportation. From O'Hare, I took the Blue Line and transferred to the 152 Addision bus, got off on Broadway, and walked a couple of blocks to the hotel. If you do drive be aware that it's $22/day to park in the lot next door. There are plenty of restaurants nearby and a Treasure Island gourmet grocery store next door and a Jewel-Osco a block away. Vegetarians should check out the Chicago Diner on Halstead and Roscoe.
When I arrived their computers were down and it took about 20 minutes before I could check in but it was fast once things came back up. If you arrive at the hotel after 11:00 pm you have to use the phone in the vestibule to call the front desk staffer, who can see you through the door, or show your key for them to let you in.
My room was a queen way at the back of the hotel (literally; my window looked into the courtyard of the apartment building behind the hotel) on the 4th floor. It was a small room but perfect for one person. The bathroom was big and bright and the bed had 5 pillows. There's a fridge, microwave, and coffee maker in the room and a safe that will fit a standard size laptop. My only complaint about the room setup is that it's not possible to watch TV from the bed because of where it's positioned. This may be unique to the queen rooms, though.
One piece of advice: I've never seen a hotel with slower housekeeping staff. I went to a Cubs game and got back at 4:00 pm and my room still wasn't made up. They were working on the room across the hall so I just gave them my trash since I didn't really need fresh towels after one night. On future mornings I put the "housekeeping please" sign on the doorknob and it was done before I came back. I did hear them working on rooms as late as 5:00 pm which seems rather slow when there were only 17 rooms on the floor.
The continental breakfast is another weakness. It was instant oatmeal, pastries, yogurt, and hard boiled eggs. I've stayed at many Best Westerns and other mid-price chains and this was probably the least substantial breakfast I've ever seen. There is also no dedicated breakfast room...you can eat in the lobby, on the patio, or back in your room.
Despite these minor complaints, I would certainly stay here again.
