We stayed at this hotel for 4 nights on a recent trip to Chicago.
In general, we were very pleased as we thought that as it was only rated 2 star that it would be only a 'budget' type place.
However, we were wrong as we were very pleasantly surprised!
The location is perfect for all Chicago's sight seeing trips etc. as it is centrally located to everything!
All of the hotels staff were very polite and also very helpful!
We had a standard room which was extremley clean, with everything in perfect working order.
The only 2 small issues that I would raise is.....
* No coffee in the lobby after 11am*
* No laundry on site. - This wasn't too bad for us as we were just on the start of our trip but if we we had been travelling around on business then it might have caused a problem *
The restaraunt next door serves really nice fayre, although I think generally a little overpriced. However, they do serve some excellent breakfasts there!
If we return to Chicago (which I'm sure we will) then we shall definately stay at the Best Western River North again!

We stayed here for four nights in March 2008. We chose this hotel because of reasonable rates, location and free parking. We weren't disappointed with any of those aspects. There were a few things we didn't like. The TV was on a dresser on the side of the bed instead of the foot of the bed which made it a little harder to lay on the bed and watch TV. Also the heater was noisy - made a lot of popping and crackling noise when it was on. After the first night, we would just heat up the room right before we went to bed and then turned it off. The restaurant at the hotel was nice and there's a lot of restaurants within walking distance. For lunch on our last day we ordered deep-dish pizza from our room and then went down to the restaurant to eat it. I would give this hotel another try.

We stayed here for 3 nights over March Spring Break week with two young children, ages 4 and 7. This was a nice, clean hotel in a busy downtown area with an indoor pool close to kid-friendly restauarants.

The hotel room was newly remodeled and very nice and clean. There was an in-room safe, coffee maker, 2 large double beds, closet area, and a small sized bath with shower/tub. Staff were very nice, cleaning staff were always seen around the hotel keeping things clean. Coffee, tea, and granola bars are available in the lobby, and we saw a concierge desk staffed during the day. The hotel restaurant is a pizza place/bar at night and serves breakfast in the morning. Food was fine there, but service was very slow all 3 times we went. Parking is free with unlimited in/out privileges, which was a huge selling point for us as parking is very expensive downtown.

The hotel is about 5 blocks walk from Michigan and the more touristy shopping district. It was about a 15-20 minute walk to American Girl Cafe. Directly across the street is a 50s-style McDonalds, on the corner is the Rainforest Cafe and Hard Rock Cafe. A 24-hour Walgreen's is 3 doors down, across from the Hard Rock, and this is a great place to get any toiletries you may have forgotten to pack or drinks, food, or snacks for your room. We stocked up on bottled water each morning there before treking off to the museums.

As another reviewer explained below, the hotel is actually 2 buildings connected on one floor. To reach the pool, lobby, or restaurant from the one building, you have to take 2 elevators and walk a bit down a hall between them. Other than that slight inconvenience, this was a great hotel in a good location for a good price. We got a very good rate at the hotel's website, but noticed the rate doubled about a month later. The pool was very busy the first time we used it, but the second time it was completely empty.

Back in January 2006 my sister and I traveled to Chicago for her birthday to see Wicked. We wanted a hotel close to the theater as well as the shopping downtown. We found the Best Western River North and LOVED IT. It has become our favorite hotel in Chicago and the first hotel we look at when planning a trip. We recently stayed there in January 2008 and had a very pleasant stay. We love the location of it, it is close to all of the things we like about Chicago. The free parking is also great. Though I think the indoor pool on the 6th floor with a view of the city is probably my favorite part.. We has also been lucky to get some pretty spacious rooms. The noise from the street at times is a bit distracting, but what do you expect when you are in the heart of Chicago. We have never had any problems staying here. We have now stayed there 5 times and plan to do so again. It is a great hotel.