I would say 5 STARS! Our room was very moder looking. The bathroom with dimming lights for a relaxing shower, bright lights for make-up. Just perfect. The beds and pillows are what I call heaven on earth. The service, wonderful. The food, could not get enough of. In the heart of where we needed to be in all different directions. Perfect location. Catered to. Exceptional! The view was very pretty, amazingly did not expect it.

Nice modern rooms with good work desk, plasma tv, sound machine. Hotel on the edge of Greektown above the freeway with a Dominick's & Walgreen's across the street. Good business hotel, but if you want to be in the middle of the loop, be prepared to walk several blocks to shopping, sights and restaurants other than Greek. Business center conveniently located adjacent to front desk to print boarding passes for flights after check out.

I visited Chicago for the first time this July 4th weekend. It was SOOOO hard trying to decide which hotel location was the best. I was most interested in location rather than price or hotel chain. The Crowne Plaza Metro is wonderfully located for a tourist who wants an all-around experience without leaving the downtown area. It is located on the main "Greektown" street which primarily is several blocks of Greek restaurants (sit-down dining and fast food) and residences. On one side of the hotel is a Walgreens and the other side is Dominick's grocery store (subsidiary of Safeway). Sears Tower is about four short blocks away from the hotel in which you cross the Interstate and Chicago River.

The hotel parking was $35/night but I parked across the street (west) and paid $20/night. At first, I thought "Why did I rent a car when I could just take public transportation?" but then there were a few times I'm glad I had the car to zip around the outskirts. Truly, though, there is no need for a car. The train is very inexpensive from O'Hare to downtown and the bus (Route 20) stops at the entrance of Dominick's and goes all the way to Millennium Park (the huge park next to the lake).

One or two blocks south of the hotel Route 124 (or 126?) can also take you to generally the same block over by the park. I made the mistake of driving my car to the Sears Tower and parking in their parking facility. I was slapped with a $31 charge just to park for about 2 hours. Parking everywhere downtown (except for sparsely-available meters) was VERY expensive. It was the only negative about my whole trip.

This hotel is clean and new and modern looking even though it's a renovated old structure. It's right next to the Interstate but well insulated so you can't hear noise. Also, there really isn't a perfectly-located room because you're going to see the John Hancock building on one side of the hotel and Sears Tower on the other no matter which room you choose. Every room has a balcony.

It's best to go to the Sears Tower Observatory in the late afternoon because of where the sun shines on the buildings, and go in the morning to the John Hancock Observatory because of the same reason. Both observatories give you a different view and perspective. I was glad I took the "Skyline Cruise" from Navy Pier because the distant, all-incompassing view of the skyline was really neat. For the river cruise, I simply paid the water taxi price and used that trip to bring my from the Navy Pier back to Union Station where I got off and walked two blocks to the hotel. The river cruise was $30 which was basically narrated, but the one-way water taxi was only $6 for the same route and distance.

Lastly, if I return I now know the Hotel Monaco, Hotel 71, or Holiday Inn or Westin right on the Chicago River would be the four I would choose based on price at the time. All four of those hotels seemed like THE BEST location for a second trip. But, the Crowne Plaza was the best for a first trip because I felt right outside of the skyscrapers but only steps away.

Nothing special. What we like about the hotel 1) Nice location 2) Clean rooms 3) Small extras in room were nice. ( Ex. Dream machine and plasma TV) Cons 1) Small hotel with no extras 2) Hostess at restaurant very rude 3) Car was parked 2 blocks from hotel 4) Staff rushed and unprofessional. They often made numerous comments they had booked 2 wedding receptions and were to busy to accommodate their guests.