We discovered the Whitehall Hotel in July 2007 and had a lovely stay. Went back in July 2008 and we had a TERRIBLE experience.
We arrived a bit early for check-in on a Thursday and our 2 rooms were not ready. Returned at the 3 pm check-in time and the rooms were still not ready. Waited another 30 minutes before we were given our keys. One of our rooms was tiny and across from the elevator and our other room was more spacious and down the hall away from the noise of the elevator. I went down to the front desk, explained the differences in our 2 rooms and asked to be put in a room comparable to the larger quieter room. We were told that would be an "upgrade" and would cost us $30 more per night. Since I couldn't imagine how that could be, as we booked and paid for identical rooms at the same time, we were told that was the case. I asked to speak with the manager but was told that the manager was in a meeting. Because we only had 60 minutes to get settled and ready for our evening reservations, I requested the larger room anyway and asked that the manager call us when the meeting was concluded.
Went to our "upgraded" more expensive room and found the following-
1) Fabric on the chair at the desk was worn to threads and the stuffing was showing.
2) Attempted to use the iron to touch up our clothes but the iron did not work. Called down to the front desk for a new iron. 30 minutes later- still no iron. After the 2nd call a new iron was delivered.
3) Closet doors were broken and we could only slide it to one side, which made access to the safe impossible.
4) Magnifying mirror in the bathroom was hanging loose from the wall.
The front desk mangager called our room 1 hour later and even after I explained everything to her she was NOT going to make any adjustment.
We arrived back from our evening activities to find a message from the hotel MANAGER telling us that as a "courtesy" they were reduciung the SURCHARGE FROM $30 PER NIGHT TO "$15" PER NIGHT. WOW, how generous of them!!
The Whitehall Hotel is an old converted apartment house and they seem to have missed adding those nice little details that other small boutique hotels offer. Fresh flowers are displayed in the lobby but are not refreshed and sat there wilted. The lobby and halls are not air conditioned and can get very uncomfortable on hot, muggy days.
The location of the hotel is great and other than the management, the staff is very nice.
Chicago is not lacking in hotels, so we won't be returning to the Whitehall next year.
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