Several pros and cons about my stay at the Affinia.
PROS:
- Customer service is outstanding! Front desk staff, doormen, housekeeping, even random employees met in the elevators... all extremely friendly and helpful.
- Comfortable bed with lots of pillow options, from buckwheat to 'sound' pillows with built-in iPod speakers! I tried the memory foam, which took some time to get used to, but it was fun to try.
- Very clean and seemingly well maintained (with one exception... see cons). Cleaning crew came through at a good time in mid-morning and did a good job, and also seemed to abide by the towel-reuse program.
- Good geographic location, one block from Michigan Ave, with a Corner Bakery, Gino's Pizza, and Elephant & Castle within a very short distance.
CONS:
- Elevators are being worked on, and only ONE is in service at a time right now. Anticipated completion is May '09 I believe. However, the desk staff did mention that if ever we needed immediate service, all we had to do was ask and we would be taken to the freight elevator. The wait for the elevator was, at times, up to 5 minutes but I don't believe it exceeded that.
- Price point was high next to comparable hotels nearby. (My trip was covered by my employer, otherwise I would not have been able to afford the rate.)
- The corner rooms have a two-level design, with a small flight of 3 stairs dividing the upper from the lower. Neither level had a lot of space to store my suitcase; I wound up blocking the mini-bar, which also partially blocked the bathroom door. The extra-large ottoman/bench on the lower level may have been an alternative place, however I didn't want to wrestle my suitcase on the stairs.
- THE NOISE. The windows are single-pane and not soundproof at all, and to the east of the hotel is a construction site, complete with jackhammers and trucks beeping during the day. In addition, there is a fire station within 2 blocks. CFD truck sirens seem abnormally loud at 3 a.m.! The walls were well-insulated though; only once was I disturbed by my neighbor and again the windows were to blame for that.
- The lighting. There is one overhead light by the entrance, one in the closet which I couldn't find the switch for, a nice pair of lighted mirrors in the bath; but the lights in the main room were inadequate to me. There are two table lamps and one floor lamp, and also 'reading lights' on the headboard which were LED's. I didn't like the amount of light these provided, and besides the headboard lights they were kind of inconvenient to reach. One more overhead light would have been nice.
- Lastly, there were no instructions for the wi-fi connection in the guest book. I had to guess which network to use and hope I was using the right one... I believe it is Wayport, which is $9.99 per 24-hour period.
I did not eat in the restaurant however my colleague did, and told me it was VERY overpriced ($7 for a plain bowl of oatmeal?!); he also got room service one night and told me it was a mistake as well... not just overpriced but poor selection and not good food either.
I mostly enjoyed my stay, however I cannot say I would recommend the Affinia to a friend mainly due to the price and the excessive outside noise.
hotel reviews