The place was great - clean rooms and excellent location. I am a light sleeper, though, and we had two major problems. Large garbage cans were dragged down the alley on both Monday and Friday morning at 6.30am that were VERY loud and the people dragging them were equally loud. In addition, there was a loud clicking noise in the alley facing south that did not allow us to sleep very well. it went on and off all night. If you are a light sleeper, don't stay here.

We travel a lot (all 7 continents and 73 countries in the last 10 years) and generally prefer to stay in deluxe hotels, Four Seasons, Mandarins, Ritz-Carltons, and the like. For personal reasons, this trip we needed to stay in the Lakeview area of Chicago. There aren't many hotels in that part of town to choose from and, more or less blindly, we selected the Hawthorne Terrace. From the moment we arrived we were impressed. The welcome from the front desk was friendly and efficient. The room, while on the small side, was way more than adequate. The bed and the linens were amazing for a hotel in this price range. The bathroom was totally new, with good water pressure, terrific lighting and plenty of counter space. Two bottles of water were provided each night, complentary, and the internet was complimentary too. It wasn't opulent luxury like a Four Seasons, but the bed, the bottled water (for which Four Seasons charges $5-8), the internet service (for which we've paid $12-15 per night),and the bathroom amenities made us wonder why we stay at Four Seasons properties for 4 times more (at least).
We checked out to drive up to Wisconsin for a family reunion. Two days later, as we were planning to fly out of O'Hare to go home, all flights were cancelled due to a pending blizzard. Rather than stay at the airport, we chose to go back to the Hawthorne Terrace. They remembered us, felt sorry for us in our plight, and gave us the same rate we had had over the weekend and upgraded us to a lovely suite, complete with kitchen, dual sink vanity in the bathroom, and a spacious walk-in shower. We had another great bed with quality linens and toughed out the storm. Two days later we were able to fly out and, as much as we were anxious to return home, we were actually sorry to be leaving such a terrific find. The location was great, with plenty of restaurants, clubs, and fun shops within walking distance. I would give this place an A+ in just about every aspect. I honestly don't know how they can provide such a tremendous product for such a reasonable price.

I was a guest at this hotel for almost a month and a half due to my condo being severly damaged from a neighbors broken water pipe. I stayed in two different rooms, one the junior suite and the other a two bed full suite in what they call their annex--two king beds, living room, huge shower, free internet, hardwood floors, full kitchen, etc. I was very pleased with the accomodations in an excellent location! There isn't room service but with the many restaurants in the neighboorhood it wasn't needed--they also serve a free continental breakfast each morning. I would definatley stay here again if needed or recommend others.

We were in town for New Years. I last stayed here more than 6 years ago and was surprised by the changes. While the bricked outdoor terrace and small lobby seemed to be almost the same as I remembered from our last stay, the rooms had obviously been renovated. Our room was on the 3th floor near the elevators but hardly ever heard any noise. Gone were the old fashion looking wallpaper, beige everywhere, with cheap looking curtains, fake pressboard furniture, the typical polyester comforters and circa-1990s TV. Instead, the room was in warm browns, the curtain was replaced by plantation shutters, there was a 42in flat panel LCD, nice wood furniture with actual headboard, and nice plush bedding with duvet. The room also had a small refrigerator with separate freezer, two complementary daily bottles of water, as well as a microwave and a Kurig single-serving coffee maker with various flavors. The bath was also renovated with matching tiled floor and tub/shower surround, rainshower, and even a nice, large back-lit mirror. I wish I had taken pictures of the hotel to upload so you could see all the improvements! I didn't get a chance to see what the continental breakfast looked like, nor the fitness room with jacuzzi, but we were busy having fun taking in the neighborhood with unique shops, a variety of restaurants, and the nightlife of "Boystown."

Not to say that everything was all great. It's still a small hotel with limited in-house amenities. They couldn't see my reservation because it was not booked on the Best Western website (just showed the front desk person the e-mail confirmation on my phone and it was all good), and the tub drained pretty slow, but what can I expect from a building that's probably 100yrs old. The room rate was somewhat more than the below $100/nt deals I could have gotten for similar or even nicer hotels in the Loop or Michigan Ave, but the location was ideal for our purposes of nightlife and restaurants as we walked to everything and probably saved a small fortune on cabs. This is Chicago after all, and parking is scarce and once you park, you almost never want to move your car. Fortunately, parking was only $22/nt (it was valet parking in the garage was next to hotel with in-and-out privileges) compared to $40+ at downtown hotels. There are two red-line train stations, each a 5-10min walk if you want to brave the winter weather, which we did.

There are many good restaurants in the area. Don't miss Ann Sathers across the street for a good breakfast place. Down the street is Joy's Noodle and Rice Restaurant for Thai. PingPong was also down the street--very popular contemporary Asian restaurant populated by the mostly younger and trendy crowd, waits for a table even during the week may be long without reservations, and somewhat loud with the blaring music. There are a host of other restaurants (Continental, Mexican, Diner, Contemporary American, etc) along Broadway and several blocks west on Halsted.