When i booked a reservation at the Palmer House I was expecting a luxurious, memorable experience. The lobby of the Palmer House is absolutely beautiful. The location is great. L stations are within a block of the hotel. The rooms and amenities were not so great. The room was beautifully decorated and clean but that's where the appeal of the room ends. There was no WIFI and the TV had about 40 channels. At a four star hotel I would expect over a hundred channels and WIFI. I didn't travel to Chicago to watch TV and surf the internet so that wasn't that big of a deal. The mattresses and sheets were comfy but there was only one very thin comforter on the bed. I woke up in the middle of the night freezing and couldn't find any additional bedding in the room.
The walls of the hotel are also paper thin. The term paper thin may be generous. There was absolutely no sound proofing in the walls. I could hear everything from the occupants of the room next door taking showers, turning on and off the sink, talking, and I'm pretty sure I heard someone snoring. Also, anytime someone walked by in the hallway, you knew about it. God forbid you should have little kids staying in the vicinity of your room. At one point in the night, I was awoken by the sound of someone talking and the voice was so loud and clear I thought someone was in my room. Its not like these people were having a screaming match outside of my hotel room. They were talking at a normal voice level but due to the paper thin wells I could hear it clearly. This shouldn't be happening at a four star Hilton hotel. I've stayed at two star hotels where the rooms were better insulated from outside noise. If you enjoy a goods night sleep steer clear of here.
My experience was not terrible but it was far from great. Its not like there were blood stains in the bathtubs or dead cockroaches. However, at a four star hotel of the Hilton brand, I shouldn't be able to hear people in other rooms snoring and I shouldn't be able to clearly hear people in the hallway. Its not like the guests in the rooms around mine were having some loud party.
I don't know if all of the rooms in the hotel are like this. I was in a standard room on I believe the 20th or 22nd floor. This hotel was recommended to me by my mother. My mother also had to deal with a noise issue. Her room was next to a loud generator or some sort of machinery that kept her up all night. She also payed extra to stay on the executive level. Again, this is unacceptable for a four star hotel.
If you plan on barhopping and coming back to the hotel and passing out cold, I would recommend this place. However if you plan on staying conscious and going to sleep sober I would steer clear of this place. If you do end up here bring some earplugs and strong sleeping pills. My experience is something I would expect from a two or three star hotel, not a "famous and historic" four star Hilton hotel.
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