Pipers Alley Self Park

Worst parking garage ever. Not only is it a rip off but it is UNSAFE. Just watched a guy fall down half a flight of stairs because the lights were out, the stairs were wet, and the steps are weirdly steep and narrow. Luckily he didn’t die, but the people who own this place were happily taking everyone’s money even though the lights in half the garage were out. I told the employee on duty and he was just like «oh we’re working on the lights.» Great. Maybe shut the place down until you fix it? I called 311 and oddly there is no building code against pitch black slippery wet stairs in commercial buildings in Chicago… Weird.
Add to that the fact that if you go to the gym there and go even a minute over the free two hours you get hit with $ 20 immediately. And all the other rates are just as ridiculous. Please please don’t park here. These guys don’t deserve a dime for this over priced death trap designed to prey on tourists going to second city.

Fuck this parking lot. Not only is not even that great… I would be surprised if someone hasn’t yet died on the cement stairs… but the attendant is such a fucking asshole. Avoid this crappy ass company and attendant like the plague.

This review is for monthly parking at this lot:
I’ve lived nearby for 2.5 years. Since the lot wasn’t far I had a spot here for two years. When I first got a spot there it was $ 90/​month! Great deal! And management was wonderful. Then, somewhere along the line, management changed and we’ve had nothing but problems ever since!!!
For starters they bumped parking up to $ 160/​month (I understand an increase from $ 90– but I feel that’s a bit excessive for a public lot in this area). But the real problem came in the billing– our billing address changed just after the management changed. We’ve tried over three times to correct the problem but they STILL send the bill to the wrong address. As a result, we put it on automatic payment.
We cancelled our spot months ago and were told we just needed to turn in our entry card– but when visiting our old address (family lives there) we realized they are STILL sending a bill. Not only that– but after checking our credit card statements they have been charging us for months!!! We canceled the end of September! We are trying to rectify the situation today and get a refund for the months they’ve been wrongfully charging us.
They are completely unorganized and management is poor. Fine if your looking for a spot for one evening but I would not rent a spot here. If you do, DONT use automatic pay.

It’s a parking garage. There’s validation if you use the businesses in Pipers Alley. It feels safe. It’s clean. What else is there to know? I wish it was less expensive.

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to get nailed in the ass, drive yourself to Pipers Alley Self Park, hang out for 3 hours and then swipe your card in the only working pay station of the three available (one of which has apparently be out of order since 2008) and bend over.
That 3 hours just cost your ass $ 26.
Hurts, doesn’t it?
Sure, there are worse ways to be violated, but if you saw the conditions of this rag-​tag self park you too would be right there with me, b*tching about forking over a virtual cornucopia of cash so you can drive up a million levels and squish into the very last spot on the roof between two cars that may very well have oxidized into their spot. And why the f*ck don’t they validate for Second City? That’s some bull.ass.sh*t.
No sir, I don’t like it.

17 dollars to see a movie at pipers alley. We had the ticket validated… and didn’t realize it was only a discount of ONE DOLLAR!!!
When the total read $ 17, we were astounded… and then the parking attendant came over to ask what the problem was…
«Is this right? We saw a movie and validated it?»
He confirmed it was indeed $ 17 to park during a 2 hour movie. and when I sighed that I don’t think I can ever come back to this theatre again… he sarcastically laughed, «Awww. You’re breakin my heart!»
Sorry piper’s alley… i don’t think i’ll ever see a movie there again.

Ok if I had to give stars for the price of the parking then I would give a hands down 2 stars. Yikes $ 20 for parking between 4 – 6 hours. The pay machine on the ground level did not accept cash due to technical malfunctions, only accepted credit cards.
I give 2 stars for the lighting on the 4^th level from elevator to where my car was parked. I could see where I was going but in this type of environment more lighting is needed.
I give 2 stars for layout of the garage. The tight turns as you drive up into the garage is tough, and the damaged walls from previous drivers is a tell tale sign of high risk injury to your car. There are annoying parking spots at each turn of different parking levels which makes it hard to squeeze through Especially if the car is not parked immediately adjacent to the wall. Not to mention, when you exit it does not allow you to search for parking spots. The exit takes you bee line straight to the street level.
I give 4 stars to the friendly service of the staff that has to endure drivers like me who do not read the directions properly and end up at the exit only after 5 minutes of entering the facility.
Parking tip: After 6:30pm Lasalle street east of the parking structure opens up (Thanks for the tip Yoder!)

I’m rating them two stars for a few reasons.
I never get a rock star parking spot on the lower floors.
They’ve got more than ten of those cars that look like they’ve been parked there for centuries. Move that crap to a higher floor so I can park there!
Parking can be expensive without validation.
— To validate try, Moody Church, Pipers Alley theater or the health club.
The elevator is archaic and takes forever.
The stairs in the stair case are so freakin narrow. We’re not all there for a workout! Get a hernia trying to make it to the top quickly.
As of a few years ago the lot is not manned. This especially sucks during special functions in the area. You know. so you pull in looking for a spot, by the time you drive to the top and back down they charge you some bullshit charge which you can’t contest in person. Writing and then receiving your money could take up to four weeks!