Ambassador East Hotel

The Ambassador East has been Ian Schragerized into The Public Chicago. I know it takes a big ego to carry any chain named after yourself but did they really need to change the name after 80+ years? Will be checking it out in a couple of weeks and will update the review.
Have to say, for years this was my favorite hotel in Chicago and I’m worried. Too bad that the word restoration isn’t more appreciated.

Well, got a good deal on Priceline or Hotwire, I forget. It’s going through construction right now and while there are some things I would like to look past, it’s kind of difficult. The rooms are insanely modern, which doesn’t match the overall feel of the beautiful, old building set in this particular area of Chicago. Our shower/​tub didn’t drain. The toilet is so close to the wall you almost have to sit sideways. The in-​room entertainment wasn’t yet working and there are NO soda machines, etc. anywhere to be found. No proper ice machines either, I believe my fiancé had to go to the front desk to get some ice. An elevator was down most of our visit. I’m just really overall disappointed with what they’re doing to the rooms. I’ve stayed in many chain hotels for well under $ 100/​night with more luxurious beds, linens and overall accommodations.
If money is tight and you’re looking to stay in this particular area, go ahead and book a deal through Priceline or Hotwire, do NOT pay full price for this place and just know what to expect.

The room looked like a country club prison cell. Flat paint on all walls, doors, trims, not especially clean. A platform bed and a long shelf/​desk with an iron chair. No amenities, no homey touches, nothing on the walls. No room service, no gym, no concierge. The air conditioner clunked off and on all night. On the plus side, the bedding was nice and there was a large screen TV. Don’t waste your money.

Stay Away! After generations as an old-​world, cozy and stately, if a bit tired oasis, the AE has been purchased by Ian Schrager and taken down so many notches it’s almost not functional. Allowing for the fact that the hotel is under renovation, the entrance is not handicapped accessible, and I saw several hotel guests with canes, casts, etc (including myself, recovering from foot surgery and in a cast, with a cane) struggling with the up and down outside stairs one has to navigate just to get into and out of the hotel. With luggage, it’s almost impossible. This is simply inexcusable.
I’ve been a customer of the Ambassador East for decades – but no more.
The hallways are so dark one can barely see. The rooms are stark white, which in and of itself, isn’t a particular problem, but it is jarring and almost painful as one’s eyes adjust from the dark hallways. The furniture – stark and scant – looks like something from an Ikea closeout. The bed is comfortable – what a relief – but only about 15 inches off of the floor, a real problem if you’re at all physically challenged, or even elderly and less flexible than you were in your salad days. The problems don’t end there.
My room had a horribly uncomfortable wire/​metal desk chair, and absolutely nowhere else to sit. No arm chair, no demi-​sofa, no ottoman. With a foot in a cast, it would have been nice to be able to sit comfortably, perhaps even with my leg elevated, while in the room. No way.
The bathroom has absolutely nowhere to put any of your toiletries. Not a shelf, a small table, a nook, or a medicine cabinet. If you want to put a razor, shaving cream, makeup (for women) or anything else down so that you can use them, you’re sh*t out of luck.
Repeated requests for a small table or some sort of chair went unmet. A borrowed umbrella from the front desk was broken and unusable, something I didn’t discover until caught in an expected downpour. I was tempted to throw it out, but remembered that they would charge me for it if I didn’t return it, in spite of its total lack of usefulness.
Refrigerator – forget it. Shampoo? For two days in a row, the housekeeper left several bottles of lotion, and no shampoo. Room service – not available. If you want breakfast, the front desk will sell you a small, pre-​wrapped, commercial grade muffin for $ 4.00 – something you can buy in any gas station for $ 1.00. No added value whatsoever.
The photos show a nice entrance, and a large lobby for which the AE has long been famous. Unfortunately, that lobby is closed off, under construction, and the temporary lobby is on the second floor, difficult, again, for handicapped access. Thermos-​bottled coffee and water for tea were stone cold, at 8 in the morning.
When confronted with these various misses, the front desk staff repeatedly shrugged their shoulders and said, «Yeah, we know, you’re not the first to tell us this stuff.» All this shows is that Schrager doesn’t even care to make an effort to make his guests comfortable, and that the staff is either too indifferent or too amateur to know the difference and even make an effort to get it right. It’s one thing to get a good price on a hotel room when it’s under renovation. It’s another thing altogether to get screwed in the bargain, particularly after booking a non-​refundable pre-​paid reservation.
Again, avoid this hotel like the plague.

When you’re standing in a craptastic excuse for a shower buttnaked and cold with soap in your hair because the water from the shower head has gone from a weak spray to a dribble to nothing coming out at all, nothing in the world will ever convince you to stay here again. The worst part is that the hotel knows this is a problem (they told me that it happens to the upper floors, and I wasn’t even staying on the highest floor!) as if that makes it ok.
I can look past the «rustic» décor of the room and take it for what it is — an inexpensive place to crash, but c’mon, a girl’s gotta shower.

I’m going with Unilocal on this one.
Classic Chicago Hotel. Word is it’s about to undergo a multi-​million-​dollar rehab from some famous hotellier. It needs it. The lobby is spectacular. Cozy and classic. The floors seemed fine, and our room was indeed a classic hotel room (small-​ish rooms, several coats of paint… looking like it has for years). However, everything looked pretty dinged up; someone had ‘partied’ the doors off the TV armiore. The entire floor reeked of smoke/​weed smoke. We visited friends in a suite, and someone had ‘partied’ a hole in the couch. That someone may have been the female employee who had a lot of difficulty checking us out and looked like she had stayed up all night and dragged herself to work. There are plenty other options in this area. I’d look elsewhere first.

Got this off of Priceline for $ 80/​night. It’s a historic hotel that could use remodeling, that’s for sure. The comforters and linens seemed kind of old, and the signs on the beds about being green and not washing the linens very often made me think that they didn’t wash them between customers either.
I also found a small bug on one of the beds and woke up w/​a red spot on my leg one night. I was fearful of bed bugs the rest of the time there. Ugh.
The location is pretty good and very walkable to shops, restaurants, bars on State St., and to the metro.
They could do better w/​offering local maps and info about the area, though.
Also, beware of the loud noise from the shower. It actually sounds like the water is struggling to move through the pipes and makes the most wrenching noise.
TV also sucks and the picture quality would sometimes go on the frizz.

As a first time visitor to Chicago, staying at a Pricelined hotel ($ 80/​nt.) in this area was great. Close to the train, safe neighborhood to walk at night, two blocks from the beach/​water/​lakefront trail.
But, the other reviewers are correct – the hotel is outdated, there is no free WiFi (they charge $ 10/​day), and if you don’t mind standing in your own junk in the shower (doesn’t drain well, so you’re standing in water) – then this place is fine. The place isn’t bad, it just isn’t fab.
I, too, would be pissed if I had paid more than $ 100/​nt. here. Plus, the bartender in their Pump Room seems to invent prices for drinks off the top of his head ($ 11 for Baileys on ice? Give me a break!) But, he told us that Ian Schrager is the new owner and they are going to start renovating the hotel around Feb. 2011.

Okay, so, I – like many other people writing reviews on here – booked this hotel through Priceline and got it for about 70/​night from ⁸⁄₂₂ — ⁸⁄₂₅. I was a little skeptical at first about this hotel, as so many people seemed to have such negative opinions (chipped tubs, dirty carpet, poor service, etc.), and I really did not enjoy the idea that I was going to rot in a hotel for three nights. Overall, LOVED the location, enjoyed the hotel.
Overall, I want to say that there is NOTHING that obscenely wrong with the hotel. The lobby is beautiful, the location is ideal (not far at all from the Clark/​Division red line stop), and the staff were all amazing and super helpful. The door men always held the door for me and offered their services in any way they could.
I have stayed in many hotels in Chicago, and all about the city (Hyatt Regency, Palmer House, Hard Rock, Best Western Hawthorne Terrace… pretty sure the list continues to go on). I would say, by historical default, Ambassador East is most similar to the Palmer House, in recognition with the notion that it retains its historical charm and glamour! Sure, there was literally like, one stain on the carpet (humanity is gross; let’s not go blame a hundred year hotel for one stain), and the television was not HD. Anyone who has recently stayed in any hotel, however, should know that just because a television is HD does not automatically imply the reception is going to be up to usual snuff. Honestly, the reception on the television here was far better than any reception I have received at other Chicago hotels.
Still, one should not spend even that much time watching the television. Utilize everything the area has to offer! To your south, there is a bunch of delicious restaurants and even an outdoor park vendor serving fresh squeezed orange juice and fruits. To your north (and within walking distance) are both the Museum of Surgical Science and the Chicago Historical Society. Check out these both! Lincoln Park is just adorable.
I would say, if anything, the only problem I had with this hotel in an entire three days was one little bump in with a seemingly affluent man in the elevator. He apparently thought he owned the elevator, and I was obviously intruding on that. I took comfort in the fact that he was probably paying 300/​night and I only paid pennies of that.

Well, 2.5 stars really. The boy and I stayed here this past weekend due to a power outage (ComEd, you’ll get yours… you just wait!). It is definitely an older hotel which appears to ride on it’s old reputation rather than the quality and value of its current accomodations and amenities. Everyone we encountered was friendly, but the room was small and the décor dated. Thankfully, the bed was comfortable and the shower equipped with hot water and a decent water pressure… can’t complain there.
We went through Priceline and got the hotel for $ 67/​night. At this price, the hotel was good. However, if I had to pay full price for this hotel, I would feel utterly ripped off and pissed. I can’t recommend it without a decent discount.

The Ambassador East is Classic with a capital C. Just a block off the lake in the Gold Coast neighborhood, you walk in the marble lobby and you think you’re in for a treat.
I’d Pricelined a room for me and 2 of my friends. I went to check in, presented the girl at the counter with my info. She looks up at me and my 2 friends and says, «Okay, you have a room with a king bed.» No problem, I think. You can always fix that. I ask her if we can get a room with 2 beds by any chance and she kinda smirks and simply says, «No.» No checking the computer, no apologies that they were completely booked, no explaining that I’d done something dumb when I reserved and her hands were tied. Nothing. Just a smirk and «No.» I ask if we can get a cot, she says, «They’re all taken.» Then, she looks up at the three of us and says, «You’re small. You’ll fit.»
What?!
Beyond that rough little intro to the hotel, our stay was pretty much hitch-​less. It’s a hotel in need of an update, everything just seemed worn — especially the carpet in our room, which we quickly decided nobody would be sleeping on. But it’s in a great location, and we loved walking around the neighborhood. It’s just a couple blocks from the Red line to get anywhere you want to go. We paid less than $ 100 a night, which is always welcome/​borderline required for me. The doormen were attentive and smiley without being creepy.
Oh yeah, all 3 of us slept in one bed. Good thing we’re small.

I lived in Chicago for 20 years and moved away 5 years ago; I know the city and its hotels very well. For years I stayed at the Ambassador East when I returned to Chicago for either business or pleasure and if you had asked me a year ago I would have told you it was my favorite hotel in the City. But everything has changed since its new owner, Ian Schrager, purchased the place.
My husband and I stayed at the Ambassador East this past weekend. We had one of the celebrity suites. Here is what things are like at this hotel now:
1. They fired all the long-​time employees (front desk, bellmen) who knew us by name and treated us like family. One of the doormen, in particular, Blue, had been with them for 14 years and was just let go so the new owners could replace him with younger staff.
2. No room service. this hotel used to have a wonderful room service menu and I always treated myself to at least one meal from room service. No more.
3. They have closed off about half of the famous Pump Room restaurant.
4. They have removed the mini-​refrigerators from the rooms — even the suites. I don’t care about the minibar… I just want a refrigerator for cold drinks and leftovers.
5. They have replaced formerly lovely bath products (Aveda, Crabtree & Evelyn) with crummy no-​brand lotion and shampoo that looks like it belongs at a Motel 6.
6. Facilities aren’t being maintained. In our 4-​room suite, the doorknob was falling off the bathroom door. Unbelievable.
7. As an IPrefer member of the hotel I was always given free Wi-​Fi access. No more.
I am so sad to see how this beautiful and historic hotel is being ruined by new owners who just don’t seem to care about its history. I have always thought that you could find a more comfortable hotel bed, nicer sheets, and better a/​c at other Chicago hotels but I always chose this hotel because I felt like I was visiting friends when I stayed there. The Ambassador East always stood out for me because of its amazing staff who made me feel like family, its great food, great location, and general ambiance.
This visit was disappointing and sad. I now need to find a new place to stay when I return to the city I love.

When I checked into the hotel, I noticed that all of the other guests looked homely and scared, like they’d been victims of an abduction. This should have been an omen of what was to come.
Check in was quite easy (except for the fact that, without warning $ 700 — double the amount of my reso — was held on my credit card. I hate it when hotels do this). I might update this review to 1 star when I check out, depending what happens.
My standard three pieces of criteria for a hotel are:
1. Under $ 100/​night
2. Safe
3. Clean
Ambassador East started out at a rating of 3 stars, adhering to my three standards: it’s in a convenient location, right off the red line and some surprisingly handy bus lines (#22 and 72 will take you to cool places). I felt safe walking home at night and there was nothing shady about the hotel or surrounding area. And I got a good rate ($ 75/​night). However, there were many cons of an unacceptable nature (even by my low maintenance lodging standards):
CONS:
1. You can only leverage the coolness factor of your hotel on the fact that «Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart used to hang out at the Pump Room» [downstairs] (which incidentally has the worst logo I’ve ever seen — terrible typeface that renders it mostly illegible) for so long. Do I care? Is Frank Sinatra’s one-​time heyday at this hotel going to change the fact that there are cigarette burns in my bedspread, the DNA of former hotel guests on my pillowcases (last time I checked my hair was blonde, not black and waist-​length — I had to ask for new sheets and it’s frightening that this isn’t standard practice between guests), and evidence of some small snacking visitors having also shared the room at some point? Or how about my non-​flushing toilet (three flushes for urine and standard amount of toilet paper) and clogged sink that was laden with dinner mints after every tooth brushing? Or chipped bathtub and the dubiously stained, musty carpet in my Queen Elizabeth II-​approved 1890s-​décor room? No.
2. Free «wi-​fi» = walking two blocks to the nearby Starbucks, which is open daily till 11pm (sweet!) and has free and reliable wi-​fi courtesy of AT&T. Wi-​fi isn’t included in all reservations (reminder: it’s now 2010) but mine was a «special rate» that alleged to include it. For reference, a 4 minute YouTube clip would take upwards of 10 minutes to load and buffer, and the «speed» was laughable. You also have to reconnect to it every time you close the lid on your laptop. I ended up doing a lot of surfing at the aforementioned Starbucks instead, so don’t dare come here on a business trip looking to accomplish work in your room. On day 3, wi-​fi stopped working entirely and couldn’t establish a connection. When I inquired about this at the front desk, the smug concierge told me that I had the wrong password, because of course, the password changes weekly on Wednesday. APPARENTLY I WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW THIS? I’m at Starbucks again as I write this review, but I’ll be sure to let you know if my internet comes back up.
3. Every morning from 7am-​11am, there was a piercing, high pitched screeching sound akin to raccoons fighting directly outside my door or an ungreased 1920s elevator shaft. It made me absolutely mental and forced me to wake up hours before I intended to. The source, I finally discovered, was this:
A goddamn vacuum cleaner. And every time housekeeping wheeled it by — or used it — it made that screeching sound. How can such a small appliance make such a loud sound? This beast needs to take a dip in the BP oil spill, STAT.
PROS:
* Synthetic bedding
* The king bed is actually quite comfortable
* Housekeeping obeyed my «do not disturb» sign on the door, however, they disturbed me in many other ways (see #3).
* Neighbourhood is quiet — you’ll sleep through the night
* Water pressure surprisingly good
FINAL TIPS:
* The entrance and address is actually on Goethe (I would love to hear a local pronounce this), not on N State Parkway as the map (and their directions) indicate. Also if you google N State Parkway you’ll get no results; it’s called N State Street.
* Soviet-​era toiletries (ie none) and no bathrobes. Thank god Bravco is only a few blocks away (
) .
* Parking nearby is in the realm of $ 30/​day so don’t park here.

I was very disappointed with the customer service at Ambassador East. The conceirge never returned our calls & the gentleman who checked us in was rude. Also, the room’s ‘private foyer’ as pictured & described when making the reservation online was a short hallway, not an additional room or additional living space.
There was no free WiFi, but that may be a norm for Chicago hotels, I’m not sure.
I wouldn’t stay there again. However, I would definitely recommend a stop to the Pump Room, the famous restaurant located inside the hotel! It’s amazing & has SO much history.

I expected a little more out of this hotel… and I wasn’t even paying for it. My boyfriend stayed here for about 10 days or something like that, and it was just alright. The bathroom was nice. A mirror that went all the way across with a nice full-​length mirror on the door. The step out of the tub was a little bit of a stretch, seeing as how I’m 5’3″ and all… but come to think of it, the sink was a push faucet/​handle one! Really? I can’t turn the water on and leave it running as I see fit?
The snacks in the room are way over-​priced. Not that we would have eaten them, but we couldn’t help but imagine the laziness of people who wouldn’t walk a long block to Walgreens for the same products but cheaper.
Anyhow. I loved the comforter, but the fitted sheet wasn’t so fitted as I’d frequently wake up touching the mattress. EWWW, and I wasn’t even tossing and turning in my sleep! The pillows were also small. Fluffy and soft, but small. We got a nice view of the Hancock and the sidewalks were shoveled which was nice because we were there during that slushy crap we just got, but I still expected more out of this hotel.
However, it’s about 3 blocks to the Red Line/​Jewel and 2 blocks to Walgreens and a bunch of bars I’d never step foot in *cough*Mother’s*cough*…but it was convenient enough to get around when I didn’t have my car. Come to think of it, I never had a problem finding (metered) parking a block away by the Hotel Indigo. That was pretty sweet considering there’s plenty of areas with no parking while the rest is permit-​only.

The preferred hotel for my client, it was suggested I stay here as they get a special rate. It’s pretty close (three blocks) from the Red Line station, so it wasn’t too much of a hassle to stay here instead of one of the hotels closer to the River. It’s in a nice neighborhood with plenty of restaurants within 5 or 6 blocks. I felt safe enough walking the streets in the evening as there is plenty of foot traffic.
The room was decorated nicely but only of an average size and without much of a view other than tall condos and a very narrow slice of the Lake. Mostly quiet, I could only hear the neighbors if I was perfectly quiet, such as without the TV on that I never watched anyway. The bed was comfortable, but with a flat bottom sheet that was almost big enough, it kept coming loose and leaving me on the mattress. Ick. Ever heard of fitted sheets, people?
Tons of in-​room food options, they leave a massive tray of goodies on the desk plus the mini-​bar over-​stuffed with booze. I was able to put all of this crap on a side table so I wasn’t tempted to spend $ 8 for a can of popcorn or salted cashews. There’s also a room service menu that’s not insanely expensive. I kept meaning to try their club sandwich (only $ 2.75 delivery charge plus 18%), but i wound up eating from many of the nearby restaurants instead.
Free wireless Internet worked only reasonably, getting very slow after 9 PM. Overall, a nice enough property. Since it’s not affiliated with Marriott/​Hilton/​Starwood, you’re not going to be accumulating any points with those.
If I’m back in Chicago for this client, obviously I’ll be here again. If I am in Chicago for another client, I’ll stay elsewhere.

We had our wedding guests stay at the Ambassador East. The Ambassador East is so easy to work with and incredibly responsive. The hotel is so charming and in such a nice area. Our guests loved the feel of the space. For many of them, it was their first trip to Chicago & they were very pleased with the hotel.
It was a great home away from home the weekend of my wedding. Highly recommend it.

I stayed here for business and I’m glad that I was able to relax and finish up my reports while I’m at the hotel.
It is a little far from the McCormick convention hall, but it was worth the taxi ride to see other parts of Chicago. McCormick area does have a lot of place to go, but if I would have stayed there, I would have never seen other parts of Chicago.
I like it that I was able to go run by Lake Michigan and it was not that crowded from where I was staying. There were a lot of sushi places near the hotel, just walking distance.
The bed was very comfortable, but they do need to update the design. The toilet space was puny and my shower tub at home is a lot better than what they had at the hotel.
Overall, it was a quiet place for a business traveler like me and I was able to see more of Chicago by staying at this place.

I was hesitant about the hotel after reading the 9 prior reviews, but I have to say I liked this hotel. It’s tucked away in the Gold Coast but it’s really close to Michigan Avenue, Division Street and La Salle. Immediately upon trying to park, the bell hop advised that he knew of a cheaper place to park (instead of paying the $ 41 daily!). So we parked a block away for $ 20 (still expensive but much better). The lobby is old school quaint. They even have a fireplace in one of their rooms. The concierge was super friendly, same with the check-​in counter and they even gave me a bandaid so I could run with my i-​walked-​too-​far-​in-​uncomfy-​shoes ankle.
The rooms were «ok». It’s old school, so the rooms and bathrooms are smaller. But everything was clean and it had all of the amenities one would need. I barely stayed in my room except to crash late at night and I was outta there early enough.
The bellhop and other people in the lobby told me and my friends that they loved having our company — I guess we provided entertainment value for them and to come back and forget all those other hotels (i.e., drake and omni) on Michigan.

I really enjoyed this place. The staff was SO friendly, helpful, and hospitable. The door man/​valet always greeted us with smiles and the lady at the front desk was just so nice. They felt like family by the end of the week.
We lucked out on the room and it was really great! We had a huge king bed, comfortable pillows and comforters — a clean bathroom. What more could you ask for of a hotel room?
Additionally, they supplied robes for the room and what’s more fun then walking around in robes all day? :)
As far as the area goes, it’s in a nice upscale residential area. I felt very safe there. It’s also not far from The Magnificent Mile which has lots of great shopping (Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Tiffany’s, etc). Just beyond that is Millennium Park which is also a great tourist attraction. This isn’t very walkable from the hotel, but it’s just a short cab ride away.
Overall, I would stay here again if I found myself headed to Chicago.