The Congress Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Chicago

Horrible. Because of this scam of a company (Trip.com) not paying the hotel, they refused the reservation and tried to charge us double. Ended up having to drive 4 hours home in the middle of the night. Also, the Congress Hotel is a filthy DUMP. Avoid that rathole motel and Trip.com at all costs,

The room was prepaid through trip.com, but I was charged again by the hotel after checking out. It was a terrible experience. Tried to contact the hotel, but never answer the phone.

Unfortunately cannot recommend despite excellent location

I wanted to love this hotel given its prime location near Grant Park, but several issues made our stay frustrating.

Maintenance concerns: Multiple rooms in our party had non-functioning air conditioning, which made sleeping difficult during our visit. Given the age of the building, this seems to be an ongoing maintenance challenge that should be addressed.

Noise and responsiveness: Our room shared a connecting door with neighbors who were quite loud past 1am. When I contacted the front desk for assistance, I was told there was nothing they could do. I understand hotels have limited options with noise complaints, but some effort to address the situation would have been appreciated.

Communication difficulties: I accidentally left earphones on my bed before housekeeping (my oversight for not using the “do not disturb” sign). When I returned, one was on the floor and one was missing. While I take responsibility for leaving them out, I spent several weeks attempting to follow up via phone and email. I eventually reached both the front desk and security director, but neither was able to help locate the item or offer any resolution.

Bottom line: The location is genuinely excellent, but the combination of maintenance issues and difficulty getting responsive service made this a disappointing stay. There are many hotels in this area—I’d suggest exploring other options.

I came here in 2024 for the NASCAR race and I expected top level service. I heard some decent things about this hotel and that even Presidents have stayed here. Expectations were high and this hotel disappointed. To start I called in advance to ask where to park. Douglas received my call and was straight rude. He was yelling at me, interrupting me, and even hung up on me when I’m asking one of the most simple questions. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when we got to the hotel it took longer than usual to check in and finding our room was a nightmare. The hotel hallway was icky, smelled like old raisins, and had peeling paint everywhere just to name a few issues. When we found our room, just 30 minutes walking in circles later 😒, the number on the door was practically invisible and the only real way to make it out was the slight indent blending in with the door. The hotel room itself was mediocre with more peeling paint and low-quality doors. The only good thing was the bed which was comfy and the view was nice, I could even see the track. However, everything else was terrible, and I will probably never come back here, even if you paid me.

I am extremely disappointed with my experience hosting my wedding at the Congress Plaza Hotel. What should have been one of the most special days of our lives turned into a nightmare due to unprofessionalism, missing items, and services we paid for but never received.

When we first began planning our wedding, we were working with Melissa, who was absolutely amazing. She was organized, professional, and truly cared about making our day perfect. Everything ran smoothly under her direction. Unfortunately, shortly before our wedding, she reached out to let us know she could no longer work there, explaining that she was dealing with theft and major internal issues within the hotel.

After Melissa’s departure, everything completely fell apart. The hotel provided the new planners, including Itzel Torres, with countless photos, details, and instructions outlining exactly how we wanted everything set up. She assured us she understood and would execute everything properly. However, nothing was done as promised.

First, the liquor package we paid for was not offered to guests, and much of our décor was either mishandled, damaged, or stolen during cleanup. I repeatedly asked our assigned “planner,” Itzel Torres, about our missing décor, but she refused to communicate with me. Several items we were told the hotel “didn’t have” were later found in the possession of other staff members after another employee helped us locate them.

The décor that was set up was thrown together carelessly, and much of it was damaged. Meals we had carefully selected for our guests were not served as planned, leaving many guests without the food choices we paid for.

To make matters worse, one of our guests found roaches in their hotel room. When they reported it to the front desk, they were told, “What do you want me to do about it?” — which is completely unacceptable.

The front desk and reservations staff also showed a lack of professionalism and basic courtesy. Several members of our bridal party had issues checking in because of confusion and poor communication from the reservations team. I had to contact Vanessa, who handled our group reservations, and even she expressed frustration with how poorly everything was managed.

There was a long list of problems, missing services, and unfulfilled promises that made this experience incredibly stressful and disappointing. We paid for a professional, organized wedding experience, and instead, we were met with disorganization, disrespect, and missing items. I would strongly caution anyone considering hosting their wedding or event at the Congress Plaza Hotel to think twice.

I will be in contact with the BBB as well.