I stayed at the Seneca for a few nights at the end of a three week US tour. The hotel itself is in an excellent location next to the John Hancock Center, and although the decor is a little tired, it is clean. My room actually turned out to be a large suite with a living room and kitchen, so I was initially very pleased. However, the hotel loses a couple of stars because of some serious flaws.

The first might seem trivial, but if you need to stay in touch for business, it's a serious issue: the poor internet service. The hotel is equipped with wi-fi, but coverage is poor. Whether or not you'll get a usable signal is entirely hit or miss; I couldn't get one and asked if I could move to a room that had better service. Unfortunately they couldn't give me another room until the next day, and even then couldn't guarantee I'd be able to get a signal. In the end, I had to go to the lobby every time I need to send or receive email. This wouldn't have been so bad if not for how crowded the lobby can get, and the resulting lack of privacy, combined with the fact that even though there is a strong wi-fi signal there, the hotel's own network either drops out or chokes traffic (I couldn't be sure which). This might not be an issue to many people, but in this day and age, decent internet access is expected by anyone travelling on business. There's really no excuse for providing such a shoddy service, and two stars are deducted as a result.

The other drawback is the lack of a bar or restaurant at the hotel. Their website gives the impression that it has a total of three restaurants and bars, but the Saloon Steakhouse is a couple of blocks away, 200 East has closed down, and the Chestnut Street Cafe is simply a ruimentary cafe in the basement that closed after breafast. I was tired and hungry when I arrived at the hotel, and I was under the impression I could get a drink and some food without going far, but instead had to walk around in the rain trying to find somewhere decent.

My impression of the Seneca hotel was very good: staff was highly helpful, friendly and efficient, room was really big, with little kitchen, living room, 2 TVs, etc. the location, I don't think it can get any better! For shopping addicts, its in front of the Water Tower mall and seconds away from michigan avenue and all the other shops! Its also right next to the John Hancock observatory and close to many restaurants, such as the Cheesecake factory.

One major black point in my trip was that i had the bad idea to make 2 long distance phone calls of 11 and 14 minutes each. Bill was unpleasant: $195 ! i mean, come on! it was just 2 calls, how can it possibly be so expensive! therefore, if you don't make any calls, you will be fine

Wow - you really can't get much better of a value for the location, which is just off Michigan Ave. The room (suite) was clean, and the staff was helpful and nice. This is an old apartment building so it has a little different setup than your average hotel room.

Although the exterior and interior (hallways) could do with a "freshening up" it didn't bother me once Isaw how much you get for the location. One word of warning, it cost me $48 to park per day. save yourself a few bucks and park a block or two away

I had a great time as the Seneca. My room was more or less a suite, bedroom, bathroom and seperate lounge with a kitchen.
Kitchen came with fridge, coffee maker, microwave, hob and dishwasher. Only made use of the first three, but it made the place feel like home being able to make myself a coffee.
If you don't want to cook, theres a cafe in the basement which I used for breakfast (like the pancakes). Theres also a very good steak restaurant and bar.