This hostel has a number of fundamental problems which management should consider if ever they are going to continue as an attractive place to stay.
The hostel is actually split into two completely separate buildings - so you have a 50/50 chance of being sent 300m down the road to another building which has no communal facilities at all. This should be made clearer on the website (1).
Finding the place to start with is also a nightmare. The hostel reception building is tucked away on an upper floor of an office building - in one of the most complex highway junctions in the City of Chicago! This means when you first step out of the nearby Damen CTA metro station, you have 6 options to choose - so that's a 5 in 6 chance of going the wrong way!
For your help, I'll tell you what you need to do. (2) when you leave the CTA station, turn left and head to the busy cross-roads junction. You need to head in the 12'0' clock direction which means crossing the road to your left, then crossing the next road, and then you head down for what is essentially the '3rd left' - look out for a Caribou Coffee shop which is pretty much opposite the hostel reception building. Why can't the website tell you this?
I had a private room which isn't exactly what it turned out to be - someone even opened my door when I was asleep in bed - I think he thought it was just another toilet block - I then had to make sure that my door was always locked from the inside!
As for the 'free coffee', well there was no machine for the 4 days I stayed there as apparently someone had stolen it - fine, but I did overhear one unsuspecting new arrival being told by a staff member that coffee was free and would be available every morning - (3) why do the staff choose to lie?
Finally, the rooms are all cheaply built from stud-walling and every space in both buildings has been used to squeeze in as much rooms as possible. This means that all the communal facilities (kitchen, common room, toilets, and showers) are surrounded by dorm and private room - meaning you won't get any sleep at all as most hostel travellers are likely to not care too much about any 'noise'. (4) To make things worse, in the second building mentioned above, there is no 'common room' at all so all the 'noise-makers' just hang out in the hallways through the night.
So in summary, the management need to address some issues seriously - I have listed these below just in case they bother to read this review and take heed :
(1) Explain that customers may be housed in a separate building with no 'common room'
(2) Put better directions on your website for first arrivals
(3) Buy a coffee maker!
(4) Install a common room in the second building, away from the rooms - so that people can actually sleep without being disturbed.
I have stayed in Hostels all over the world for over 20 years - this is the worst I have ever stayed in for the basic right of being able to get an undisturbed night's sleep.
Value wise, the prices were over 100 Euros per night due to Lollapalooza - what a rip-off!
