We stayed at the Write Inn for one week, having previously stayed there for 2 or 3 nights a couple of years ago, so we knew what to expect and came back to stay voluntarily. Oak Park itself is wonderful and many people have already said this, so no need to go into further detail on this.
If you are used to swish hotels, the Write Inn is not for you. If on the other hand you are quite familiar with slightly grotty UK hotel rooms and B&Bs you will revel in the large air conditioned twin room with fridge, sink, microwave & coffee machine for around 100 dollars a night (our bathroom was clean). Living in the UK, that respresents good value at the current exchange rate and the double beds in our room were very comfy indeed. What I found a bit mean was that internet access is not free (it was 2 years ago).
Our room was to the side with no view, or rather, the grotty alley described by someone else, and, more importantly, two floors above the restaurants extraction ventilation system. During the day this is not very audible, especially with the air con on, but at night it sounded a lot louder and that is a drawback of the rooms around no. 313.
One night the air conditioning broke down after a heavy thunderstorm, and as that happened to be a night when I wasn't feeling great is was pretty awful as opening windows was not an option due to the sticky weather and the already mentioned noisy extractor fans below. The maintenance guy did turn up as promised but the in my view completely incompetent receptionist (both of them, friendliness alone doesn't really do it for me if they are useless) had garbled our fault report so he thought we were complaining about the noise the air con was making. Anyway, he fixed it and it was fine for the rest of the stay.
The non-working hair dryer which I reported on day one remained broken for the duration of my stay.
I had breakfast once in the bistro 2 years ago, didn't like it and it was extremely slow, so I knew straight away that I wasn't going to bother with the restaurant on this stay. Other people seem to be saying it is bad, and the fishy smell in the downstairs corridor is a fact, but it's just the way fish smells when you cook with it, I don't think it was actually rotten.
The night receptionist was nice and clueless, the day receptionist spent most of the time setting up long term apartment rentals over the phone with some guy she obviously knows. When I had the nerve to ask her for a sewing needle and thread (a button had come off my trousers) she told me the hotel didn't have any!?! This has to be the only hotel in the known universe that is unable or unwilling to provide you with this kind of thing. Too laid back for their own good.
So yes the decor is dated, not everything works (but the things that matter mostly do), don't go near the restaurant and don't expect any help from reception. But do buy in some food and coffee (Whole Foods is only a 10 minute walk away), shove it in the fridge and make your own breakfast in the mini kitchen. We did that all week and it was quick and easy. Enjoy the large comfy beds, go and eat in one of the 18 restaurants within 5 minutes' walking distance and have a quiet, calm retreat for when you're done sightseeing in downtown Chicago all day!!

Stayed here two nights on a business trip. Location is great. Lots of shopping close by. Parking is somewhat inconvenient...a couple blocks away. But it's FREE and located in a security ramp. And being so close to Chicago, that is a rarity. The problems we ran into...after checking in late, about 9:30 p.m., we were greeted at the door by several people we assumed were employees, as they were all wearing uniforms, standing around outside smoking. One of them was very attentive, offered to get our bags...dang near grabbed them out of our hands, actually! He was very curtious. In the rather shabby elevator, on the way up to our room, he informed us he was not an employee but rather a homeless man who was just looking for a little cash to buy some dinner. ???WHAT???!! Well, not sure how to react, I kept up the pleasantries and gave him three bucks. Waited a while before going down to park the car, then informed the staff of my recent experience with the homeless guy. They all just looked at each other and said, "Oh, really? Well. He left." No concern over the fact that a homeless guy is hanging out at their front door, carrying peoples bags into the hotel and 'posing' as an employee! After returning from parking, I went up to take a shower. Lots of long black hair all over the floor in the bathroom. Pretty gross. Worse yet, the carpeting smelled like stinky feet. The smell never went away. Elevator was filthy every time we used it. Hallway downstairs smelled like rotten fish every day, no matter the time. And the cleaning staff seemed to ride the elevators up and down most of the day, as a group. (Five of them in all!) Didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of cleaning. They were ALWAYS on the elevator! While the lady at the front desk was really nice, I don't think the stink and safety issues are worth it. I would pay more money to get a better hotel. It's rather run down inside. Not very clean. Could definitely use better management. While they seem to be constantly booked, I am sure it's the location they are getting paid for. It sure isn't for the upkeep of their hotel.

The hotel is groady but charming. There are strong disinfectant smells all about the place. It is a nice old building across from the Frank Lloyd Wright Museum. The neighborhood it resides in is surrounded by clone stores or independently owned stores which appear to be on the brink of bankruptcy. . .

The problem with the place is its beautiful restaurant. It's so pretty but the food is sooo bad. I ordered their dinner special, Beef Wellington. . .ugh. Very poor.

Further, I went in the following Sunday morning and did not wish to purchase their 22.00 buffet and they allowed me to order a breakfast entre'. As punishment for not ordering the buffet, however, I was treated to a cold plate of Eggs Benedict. The plate must have sat there cooling off for at least 15 minutes. The wait staff grudgingly gave me coffee refills.

I would recommend that the owner get rid of the restaurant management and perhaps pull up a few carpets in the hotel. It's such a beautiful building, and the guest rooms seemed full, so why not manage this place correctly?

When we got into our room it smelled of paint. We asked to move to another room. They gave us a larger room which was adequate but very dark. The lighting is horrible. It just has small lamps with 25 watt bulbs. The bed was also uncomfortable. The air conditioning was turned off so we could not cool the stuffy room off. We opened the 2 old windows but just faced a dirty alley. The elevator was extremely slow and scared us because the door took a long time to open We loved Oak Park but would not stay at this hotel again. The receptionist at the front desk was very helpful and nice she was the only saving grace of this hotel.