Amber Inn

What a great gem in the city! Prices are great, staff friendly and nice. Plenty of free secured parking. Although not a lot of late night businesses in the area — it’s safe and secure. Best hotel on south side hands down!

My idiot friend decided we should stay here. We were all scared as hell, reading the bible and praying that we would make it out alive. Ok not that extreme, but it was definitely not the best location in Chicago, and there is no effort put into cleanliness. I expected a nice suite and I got a top floor shack. Definitely not a place I would recommend to anybody with common sense.

It was an amazing motel, and the staff were very nice. The rooms are large and very clean !
Robyn was very nice with us and she did everything to make us feel like home !
I highly recomand it

My review is really just to address a few things written below…
39^th street is NOT the ghetto, and it’s NOT one of the worst areas in the city.
To be quite frank, races OTHER than black people often call all black areas the ghetto, which is just annoying.
This place is in fact in a predominantly black area. It is also outside of downtown PERIOD, which means the quality won’t be grand in any way because of that fact alone.
Soooo if you need a cheap place, use a rule of thumb: south and west side is full of minorities, the north side *primarily* isn’t. The hotels wont be great, the service will probably suck, and any amenity you’re accustomed to won’t exist. Take your pick based on your personal preference. :)

The Amber Inn is a nice & simple hotel nestled in one of THEE worst areas of the windy city. I mean SCARY!!! There’s a nice sit down restaurant in the building and a rib joint across the street and a liquor store on the corner… yep, its in the ghetto! Good bed, free Wi-​Fi with a strong signal and a nice TV and a microwave & a fridge. All clean & neat. My only issues with this place is the neighborhood and the fact that this is the only hotel I’ve ever been in that does NOT have a coffee maker in the room… and no room service but that’s ok.
If you’re caucasian, then don’t go to Rothschild’s liquor store on the opposite corner. They don’t want whites in there and don’t mind letting you know that.
The hotel room I stayed in # 256 was a nicely laid out room and comfortable.

My friends and I stayed at the Amber Inn for three nights for the Lollapaloza Music Festival. I see myself as an easy going college student that doesn’t need much in the way of hotel accommodation. This being said, the only reason that I rated the motel with two stars is because of the price and the location. Every other aspect of the hotel is worthy of only 1 star. We got two rooms: one room smelled of cheap perfume and the carpet was sticky as if there was still soap in it, the other room was clean and basic but the lock on the door handle was broken and the deadbolt didn’t work with the key we received. The neighborhood was pretty shady. I would defiantly not walk around after dark. About three blocks from the projects. Close enough to the train but i did not feel safe walking there so we just drove to White Sox stadium transit station which is only three blocks away. All in all, it served our needs, cheap and close enough to downtown via subway.

The management staff is not very accommodating.

If you are on a serious budget in chicago its for u but area is a bit ruff so lock up but safe its not the ritz but the resturant next to it Pearls place makea for it

Oh boy… quite an experience. On the plus side, the price is nice (we paid $ 80/​night for a «suite» — although the regular price is $ 90). And it is close to the green line which brings you into the city.
On the downside:
The area isn’t great. Not crazy bad, but not great.
The «suite» we got was … iffy at best! The door handle was loose. The two lights by the bed weren’t working.
No wi-​fi, and you got about 6 channels to choose from on the TV.
Many lacking details (dirty lamp shades, broken faucet)
And to top it off… BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE! Ok, they did watch our luggage for us on our last day after check-​out, that was very nice of them. But, on check in, we arrive with our online confirmation (we booked the rooms for $ 80/​nt). We wait for 15 minutes as the lady figures out what to do, because according to her the rooms should be $ 90/​nt. We end up having to pay $ 90/​nt and having to show up the next day to speak to the manager for a refund. And possibly even worse, we were in a rush to catch a show, so we call the lady and request that she call a cab for us to pick us up in 15 mins. We get downstairs in 15 mins, and sure enough, she forgot.
And it doesn’t look like cabs frequent that area, because then it took another 15 minutes for a cab to arrive.
A bit frustrating. I suppose if you are traveling on a budget it’s ok, but next time we are definitely booking a room closer to the city.

Pros: Decently priced, pleasant staff, efficient maid service, close to the green line and US Cellular Field, very tasty/​family-​friendly restaurant (Pearl’s Place) within the complex.
Cons: Sketchy/​ghetto-​like neighborhood, resembles an hourly motel, less than stellar rooms, no wi-​fi, very few television channels.
Conclusion: If you need a cheap room for one night, then this is your place… but if you’re a tourist looking to see Chicago — just spend the extra cash and stay IN Chicago!