HI Chicago

This hostel was a great stay. I was in an 8 bed dorm and the room was big enough that it didnt feel like you were stepping on anyone's toes. The beds were super comfy and I liked how the room had a toilet and shower within the room. The location of the hostel is super close to pretty much everything. Grant park is just around the corner and there are plenty of restaurants around to choose from. The staff were super helpful everytime I'd let me key card too close to my phone causing it to stop working. The common areas were very nice, lots of seating which was cool.

Super dirty

Of course, this is a hostel, and it is extremely cheap compared to downtown Chicago hotels. However, when we read "detached private bathroom and shower" we understood we wouldn't be sharing them. But of course we were, bathroom and shower were shared with many adjoining units and so cleanliness left a lot to be desired. We found hairs on the pillows, the rug didn't look like it had been cleaned for a while... all of that would have been acceptable given the price (except the advertised "private" bathroom, but what wasn't was the VERY NOISY ELEVATED TRAIN going by every few seconds, late at night and early in the morning (not during the night thankfully). BRING EARPLUGS! Also, no temperature control in our room, it was controlled from another unit we didn't have access to. Otherwise staff at front desk was very nice; the contribution of $4/person/night for non-members of Hostels International was unexpected, even though it was mentioned by Hotels.com somewhere. Location is very good, very central.

Bed bugs.