Le Méridien Essex Chicago

Everyone that worked at the hotel was helpful and kind. Nowadays you find that in maybe 1 or 2 the others are often too busy looking at their phones to see you standing in front of them NOT HERE, at Le Méridien Essex everyone we encountered that worked there went out of their way to see how they could help you. Here are the pros and cons

+++ people working at the hotel
+ The view from our room was good, can see Grant Park.
+ Easy walk to many places
+ Rooms seemed cleaned and updated
+ Close to many attractions and Union Station
Food from Bistro was ok.
- Rooms were a little tiny
- Fees for everything-taxes, resort fee, etc. -BUT that is everywhere in Chicago that we have visited/seen

I just finished a 3-night stay at Le Méridien Essex. While the location is great, the hotel itself is pretty basic. Definitely don't book this place if you are expecting a nice, near-luxury experience.
The room was on the smaller side of average. One issue was the walk-in shower, which is so poorly designed and cramped that the shower curtain constantly clings to you the entire time.
For the most part, the staff were average, but the checkout experience was a total vibe killer. The front desk agent treated me like I was in boot camp. Instead of "good morning," or “how was your stay” they just barked one-word questions at me: Room? Name? Receipt printed or email? It was completely unprofessional, rude and left a really bad final impression.
Bottom line: Only stay here if the price is on the low end. If you want a upgraded, welcoming stay, look elsewhere.

Room was nice and the tv had media in functioning and Ethernet.

Close to the park and the stadium.

Cleanness of rooms the space in restrooms and all the amenities that are available for you while you stay!

Beautiful hotel with an awesome and friendly staff. Leah helped with ideas for date night with my wife. Helped me knock it out the park

Good location

Just checked in for my 3 night stay. Sam who was working the front desk and checked me in was extremely unfriendly and borderline rude. There is a reason first impressions count and mine left a lot to be desired. There is a reason customer facing employees should be friendly and customer service oriented. Unfortunately, that was not the case for me. Left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Propre, l’emplacement est parfait. Très proche du centre-ville.

I loved the lobby the way it looked, had to stay an extra night and they honored the price I paid for the night before and excellent staff

A real treat after driving hundreds of miles. Good restaurant in the hotel. Lovely rooms, robes and great location.

We stayed here for the weekend to attend a World Cup sendoff match at soldier Field. We loved the location because we were able to walk to the stadium. The views of Lake Michigan were fantastic and the proximity to all of the best museums Chicago has to offer was excellent. We also had a small problem with our booking that was my mistake and the front desk manager named Leah was absolutely incredible! She was professional and kind and she went above and beyond to help us remedy the mixup. I can’t say enough about how great she is.

Here is my breakdown of this property.
Pros: Location is perfect to museums and sporting events, great view of the lake, good restaurant/bar in lobby with outdoor seating, nice decor, friendly staff, cute sitting area in lobby, comfy bed.

Cons: Noise along Michigan avenue is problematic. We were not able to get a lot of sleep on Saturday night because of motorcycle drag racing going on until about 2 AM just outside of our hotel. We spoke to the desk agent who was incredibly apologetic and had informed us that they called the police several times, but unfortunately the police were not able to get to it. Definitely not the fault of the hotel.
Also, there are some weird quirks about the room. For example, there’s one switch that controls the lights on both nightstands on either side of the bed. In other words, both lights are on or both lights or are off. The bathroom light has a motion sensor so if you want to use the bathroom in the middle of the night without turning on the light and waking your partner up, you basically can’t. As soon as you open the door the bright bathroom light comes on. It’s a bit jarring.

In general, I would recommend this hotel because of its great location.

Amazing service and great people working here. Especially kiera. She help us out alot.

Kiera at the front desk was amazingly helpful- great location and 5 star experience.

I recently stayed at Le Méridien Essex Chicago during the NRA Show, and unfortunately, my experience was very disappointing.

I rated my likelihood to recommend the hotel as a 3 out of 10 because the room condition and the way the issues were handled made my stay stressful and uncomfortable. The first room I was assigned did not appear to have been cleaned properly. The floor was not vacuumed well, and I noticed food crumbs in multiple areas, including under the chair by the window, under the desk, and by the bed. There were also very visible food crumbs on the chair by the window and in the gap between the armrest and the seat. I also found a hair on the bed. When I called the front desk, Sara told me that the only room available for me to switch to was on the 4th floor. I am personally very superstitious about the number 4, so I was not comfortable moving there. It was also a lower-level floor, which I expected would be noisier. Sara also told me that housekeeping could clean the “one area” I had mentioned at first — the chair and surrounding area — but not mop or clean the entire floor. That did not make sense to me, because the cleanliness issue was not limited to one small area. At first, I was told all rooms were booked due to events in the city. Sara later found me a room on the top floor, which was an ADA room. While it was better than the last room, it still had issues. I still noticed a few crumbs, although not as many as the first room, so I cleaned them myself. However, I then noticed two ants in the room. I dealt with those myself as well, but I was concerned they might come back. After I went out to explore the nearby park and returned, I found more ants — around five or six — by the side of the bed near the window. The floor in the second room also did not seem to have been mopped well. When I used tissue paper to clean the ants from the floor, the tissue became dark immediately, which made me question how clean the floor actually was. I was told housekeeping had already gone home for the day, so no one was available to mop the floor. Eventually, I asked for extra towels to place on the floor. There was also a privacy concern in the bathroom. The curtain left a gap, and it felt possible that someone from the building across could potentially get a glimpse inside the bathroom. Even if visibility was limited, it did not provide the level of privacy and security I would expect from a hotel room. Sara later sent the maintenance staff member, David, to address the ants. David came up with a bottle of RAID, but I told him I was concerned that the room would smell and that it could be toxic. He agreed and did not spray it. I suggested that he come back with diluted bleach to sanitize the area where the ants were found, and he did that. I appreciated that David listened and tried to help. Another major issue with the second room was the large TV placed on the desk. It took up so much desk space that I could not open my laptop screen properly, and the TV also blocked the outlet, so I could not plug in my laptop. Since I had an online meeting that evening, this was a serious inconvenience. Fortunately, David helped free up an outlet by unplugging another appliance in the room. As you can imagine, all of this took a lot of time. I was not able to shower before my online meeting because I was dealing with the room issues. I had to attend the meeting first and shower afterward, which left me with very little time to sleep. The next morning, the front desk manager called around 10 a.m. because she had been told I had issues with my stay. I was on the bus at the time and asked her to call me back in five minutes. She never called back. That made me feel like the hotel did not take the situation seriously.
That said, there were some positive parts of my stay. Before my room was ready for check-in, I was offered a toothbrush and toothpaste so I could freshen up in the restroom on the second floor, which I appreciated. The bellman was also professional, helpful, and always had a big smile on his face. I think the bellman was probably the best thing out of this hotel and I hope he gets a bonus. The location is excellent, right next to Grant Park and close to Lake Michigan. I enjoyed biking in the park and visiting nearby landmarks. Overall, while I appreciated the location and a few helpful staff members, the cleanliness issues, ants, lack of proper housekeeping support, privacy concerns, and the amount of time I had to spend resolving problems made the stay very disappointing. I expected a much higher standard from a Le Méridien and Marriott-affiliated property.

We are so happy to be staying at Le Méridien Essex Chicago. We were welcomed with excellent customer service by Sam at the front desk. Sam was professional, friendly, and attentive to our needs and he helped us quickly get settled in. The hotel lobby, its amenities, and the room are clean, tasteful, and spacious. Le Meridien’s close proximity to Grant Park makes it a great hotel destination for anyone wanting to explore Chicago!!