Holiday Inn Chicago North-Evanston by IHG

Beware of front desk staff member, Cameron. He was rude to my partner & I on more than 1 occasion. Someone from front desk slid a “receipt” for a few bottles of water we had purchased at their mini store under our door during our stay, but we had visited the mini store several times after and never received receipts for those visits. And the waters weren’t event charged to our room, they were charged to a separate card… seemed passive aggressive and unorganized to be sending weird paperwork physically to the room.

Paper thin walls

No complaints.

Why I cancelled:
I had arrived early to enquire about the possibility of an early check in. I was told the computers were slow/offline and asked to wait a short while. That was fine. I made a call then went back.

Another person looked to see if I could check in early. She said I could arrive at 2pm, but would capture my details in the meantime.

I said I had made my booking on Booking.com and had paid. I asked her to confirm that the payment reflected. She said it did.

When I had made the booking, I clicked the button on Booking.com to request a receipt for the payment as this was a business trip and the nonprofit I represent needed a receipt. I received an email from the Holiday Inn Evanston that said they could only provide a receipt after I arrive.

I mentioned this to the lady who was checking me in and asked for a receipt for what I had paid via booking.com. She insisted that the Holiday Inn Evanston did not provide receipts for bookings made through 3rd party applications. She insisted that Booking.com is the only one that could provide a receipt and I must contact them.

I repeated that I had received an email from her hotel saying they would provide one.

She became more insistent that the hotel would and could not and disregarded what I had said. I chose to believe that she was not implying that I was lying, but she was not prepared to listen to what I said.

I could not risk not having a receipt.

Without one, I would need to refund the nonprofit i
I represent more than $700 and I can't afford that.

So, I decided to quietly leave, checked in at another hotel and canceled this booking.

I canceled this booking as it is easier for me to pay back a cancelation fee of $110, than the full amount... although I would still like a receipt for the $110 (which I paid, but not happily. I do feel that despite the very clear Ts and Cs, a cancelation fee in this case is not entirely fair).

Can’t think of anything not to like

If you stay on the west side of the hotel you can hear the trains quite clearly, if that bothers you. There were no charging ports in the room, so be sure to bring plugs for your phone. On site parking was $18/night. Most likely cheaper than in the city, but who likes to pay extra for parking?

Parking ramp is falling apart

Wish the parking was free!

The parking garage looks like it’s about to fall. There is ALWAYS a smell of cannabis in the elevator.