Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North

Absolutely fantastic location — great river view. Walked to the Navy Pier — short Über ride to family functions (rehearsal dinner and wedding). Hotel is older — would have liked water bottles in room. Air conditioner was rather loud.

I stayed here from Monday to a Friday and thought it was a pretty nice stay. The facilities were good and the grounds clean, albeit pricey. That is until I discovered that my headphones were taken by someone. I have never had an item stolen from my room and I travel extensively and so when I inquired with the hotel they claimed no responsibility. It is incredibly frustrating to give a hotel over $ 3,000 in business over the course of a week and have them not be accountable for their actions. I will never stay here again.

Stayed for 3 nights with my 2 young daughters just to sightsee. The location is great and seemed pretty safe. The pool is huge and the market in house is truly a lifesaver. I cannot say enough good things about the staff! The concierge, front desk and housekeepers. So helpful and courteous. Especially Johnny the doorman– a real asset to this property. The only reason I dropped one star was because of the cityscape restaurant– they basically threw us out because my daughters are minors. They have a no one under 21 after 5 pm rule, even though it was empty and still light out at 645. And they weren’t nice about it.

Nice hotel rooms are nice. Meeting room was cold but no big deal. Walking distance to restaurants and bars.
Breakfast was good but disappointing the buffet didn’t have an omelet bar.
Health facility was sufficient and has an indoor pool

Great views and upscale by Holiday Inn standards. With the exception of Wi-​Fi everything was great. They have a nice bar and restaurant as well.

I really enjoyed the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel. Aside from it being just a bit of a labyrinth to get into, the room was comfortable. The staff was very nice and the bed was nice soft and sleep inducing. Shower pressure was great.
While it was a Holiday Inn, it was very modern and boutique-​feeling inside the Chicago Mart building. –1star for the café in the lobby with shitty gas station coffee for $ 3+/cup. WTF?
Otherwise, no complaints. Would be happy to stay here again.

Grandparents, parents, and 3 little kids on the loose in Chicago in April! This Holiday Inn is attractive, clean, with a great location, and a fabulous view. BUT, the thing that really made it special for us was the super helpful, friendly, welcoming attitude of every staff person we encountered. Bellmen, wait staff, front desk.. .. all good. (In fact, we found this positive, pleasant attitude in almost everyone we dealt with in Chicago. Patient cab drivers, helpful museum staff, etc.)
We had 2 king suites on the 17^th floor. Very spacious, great view of river, city, and Lake Michigan in the distance. Cost more than we’re used to paying, but it was definitely worth the price. Kids enjoyed the pool on the 16^th floor. Nothing fancy, but well cared for and just right for a little late afternoon splashing around.
I did have trouble locating the essential in-​room coffee maker, but on day 2 the 3 year old found it stashed in the cupboard under the TV. Ahhhh.…
I will certainly return to the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza on my next visit to Chicago.

I’m sad to say that I was born and raised in Chicagoland (okay, I’m from Suburbia, but still…) and this was the first time I’ve ever stayed overnight downtown.
For a couple days and nights, I got to somewhat experience what it’s like to «live» in the heart of it all. And do a whole lot of walking.
We had a fantastic city view. Room was small, but that’s to be expected — especially in the city. Beds also seemed very low and the mattress was so squishy, I almost felt like it was old and worn out.
It wasn’t the best sleep I’ve ever had — but I had to share the bed with my daughter — and we’re talking sharing a double bed. How 2 grown adults can sleep in this sized bed is beyond me. Because it was horrible with an 11 year old. Plus, my family was like a live ad for sleep apnea. The snoring!
If I could have opened our window — I would have jumped. Our stay here was a turning point for my family — I now realize we need a hotel room that has separate sleeping areas, or that we need to book 2 rooms (provided it’s affordable). Because that — was torture. And that’s nothing against the hotel — but the small room, the small beds, and 4 people (2 adults & 2 kids) — we just needed more space for our sanity.

Had a great stay here for a work trip recently. I had a room by the elevators, which I expected to be noisy with roaming folks throughout the hall, but thankfully it had no impact on my sleep at night. The hotel itself is newly renovated and the staff were wonderfully accommodating. My room was quite large — king size bed, table w/​four chairs, couch, and desk along the wall — likely due to its location. The view was amazing! I had a view of the Chicago River, which was green for St. Paddy’s Day during my stay. The bathroom was also bright and spacious enough for me to get ready in every morning, and the shower pressure was amazinggg!
I ordered room service on the first night since I got in late. The burger was simple, but hearty and cooked how I requested it. The order came through quickly too — under 30 minutes as I recall. There’s also a bar and restaurant in the hotel, and a shop if you need any random items like snacks or wine.
It’s also super convenient that it’s connected to the Mart so you have access to a ton of shops, stores, and cafes… in my case, my company’s Chicago office is there. Although, it can be a little challenging to find the right entrance if you enter off of Wolf Point Plaza then walk straight to the elevators to go to the lobby on the 15^th floor. There are arrows and signage that show you the way to the elevators to get to the lobby, but it’s strange to not immediately walk into a hotel to find check in right there. Easy to reroute yourself once you figure it out.
There’s a pool and a workout room, which I sadly didn’t utilize while there, but was glad to have the option. And a fridge in the room! … although it didn’t fit the leftover deep dish pizza box so that went to the garbage.

After scouring the Internet for over a month for an affordable hotel I choose Holiday Inn due to location, parking price, the purple room décor and the pool. I made the right choice! Our room had the standard 2 double beds and there was plenty of room for my teenage son’s inflatable mattress on the floor. The skyline view was awesome and the room was comfortable. The hotel is on floor 15 but never fear! The bellman was awesome and went out of his way to help us when our room key didn’t work. Plenty of things to do near the hotel, the door man hailed us a cab, and a ride into the city was $ 10 + tip. Awesome. The pool is large and has a glass ceiling, during the day it felt like a green house. Very nice. The bar had nice views and the Market was convenient — pricy but still great if you need something. I would definitely recommend this hotel to another family planning to tour Chicago!

I really dig the facelift on the Holiday Inn at the Mart! From the lobby, to the bar, to the rooms, this perfectly located hotel is aesthetically leaps and bounds above where it was last year. And thanks to a super convenient, Mart attached location and affordable price point, it works out super well for me.
Let me break it down, short and sweet:
Rooms: Small but clean with modern touches. Bathrooms and toiletries are on the minimal side. While the rooms are light on amenities, they’re comfortable and quiet.
Views: If you have a room with a view, it’s really beautiful!
Location: Centrally located to River North and The Mart, but kind of a pain to navigate yourself to the ground level or the breezeway. It definitely takes a few times to feel like you’re not wandering through a labyrinth.
4 solid stars!

My office is at the Mart, so I stayed overnight for one night due to a conference.
First of all, I love that this place is connected to the Mart, since it made schlepping my bags that much easier from the office. Floor 2 takes you right on over the skyway to the hotel bank of elevators. Tip: It’s a bit of a maze to find the bank of elevators once you get past the skyway, so you might have to ask someone. Hotel lobby is on the 15^th floor. The signage is a little wonky, so pay close attention to all the signs.
I was pleasantly surprised when I entered my room and relieved that it was so nice, clean and modern. King size bed, nice modern bathroom, and a fabulous view of Chicago.
For some reason I couldn’t get warm at night, so I had to crank the heat a bit. Unfortunately that meant the fan kept running and running. This kept me up a bit at night, and I couldn’t get comfy on my pillows, either. Who knows. Though it didn’t bother me, I did hear the «L» in the background, so if you’re not used to city noise, you might want to ask for a room away from the track.
With regard to the shower, I’m not sure I turned it on the right way, because it seemed to be a bit low on pressure. However, I know I was tired, since I also used my lotion for hair conditioner by mistake. Regardless, I appreciated how clean and bright everything was. The blow dryer is built into the wall. Remember when we used to travel with our blow dryers? Glad those days are over.
Friendly hotel staff, and fabulously convenient to anywhere you might need to go in town. I would absolutely recommend this to those looking for a great convenient-​to-​everything hotel.

Recently renovated ultra modern yet still comfortable hotel conveniently located inside Chicago’s merchandise mart.
I stayed here for a few nights and I really enjoyed my stay. The hotel has anything and everything you could need. There is a coffee shop, a bar, and a little café inside the atrium. They also have a pool and workout room.
My room was so much nicer than I expected from a holiday inn — who knew! Huge king size bed, great view of the Chicago River and bridges. Loved all of the ambient lighting and the modern décor.
The only negatives: über/​cabs can’t seem to find this place. It’s a bit of a maze of elevator rides to actually get up the hotel on the 15^th room. But even still, nothing that would prevent me from booking this hotel again. Really impressed.

I am used to staying at 3.5 –5 star hotels for work, but my new job is a bit more budget conscious. I was hesitant about staying at a Holiday Inn, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Rooms were nice, modern, clean and spacious. I would have never known this was a Holiday Inn from inside the room. The restaurants also had good food (ate in the restaurant for breakfast and ordered room service for dinner). This is a great location, as well. I’d definitely stay here again.

Holiday Inn Market Square, River north, is central to some of the best restaurants and amazing views of the city. For that reason when we visit Chicago, we stay right here. It’s walking distance to comedy clubs, bars and some of the best restaurants, not to mention the house of blues.
My first 2 visits were a 5 out of 5 stars, the lobby, restaurant, bar and pool are, and still are among the best around. Great rooms too. My last visit the room needed some updating but all in all, not bad.
The staff is friendly and quite knowledgeable of the area too. We intend to return every year.
Jim

My husband and I just used the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North for our Wedding Room Block over 2÷18−2÷21 We personally stayed here from 2÷18−2÷21 also. From the get go, the sales rep we worked with Diane Fuentes and Samantha (i forget her last name!) were so amazing. They were both extremely responsive to emails.
We had a block of 23 rooms for our wedding weekend. Everyone really enjoyed their stay and their rooms. We lucked out with the BEAUTIFUL weather, so our guests were able to walk with the great location the hotel is at. I would have liked to have a fridge and a safe in our room, but they had a safe down in the front desk we were able to use, so that worked out just fine. I also would have liked our room to have been updated a little nicer, we had a regular standard room that wasn’t as nice as some of our guests, but it’s okay too. The prices of breakfast was pretty pricey that’s honestly the only reason why I took off a star.
Everything was great. HUGE shout out to the lady who answers the room service calls. SHE WAS SO GREAT!!! My husband and I called every night for something, and she answered the phone every time with the best attitude and so positive and happy.
We really enjoyed our time here and would love to spend our anniversary here in the future!

Poor customer service. I forgot contact solution and when I called the front desk to ask if they have any all I got was a no and a hang up. I guess I’ll be sleeping in dry contacts.

This is the second time I have stayed here. The combination of price and location makes this the perfect downtown spot. Very friendly staff. Great pool. Fun bar for a drink anytime. It dies get busy at night. Easy breakfast to start your day.

So a holiday inn is 9.9 times out of 10 a three star experience. What’s kicking me up to four was the service and food at this one.
Pros…
–Gym
–Pool
–Sexy Sky Bar
–Dining room with decent menu (same menu in Sky bar and room service)
–In lobby market
–Amazingly friendly service. Dining room, Bar, Front desk, Room service, door man all made me feel like gold.
–Really great location
Cons…
–The rear of the building is across from train tracks. Staying on business who cares but if you plan to sleep till 10am this may be annoying.
–The market in the lobby was rocking Yankee Stadium prices. Like $ 8 for a banana and coffee each morning.
Tips…
–Get a room facing out front if you plan on sleeping in
–A Mini Fridge is just $ 25 for the entire stay
–Walls are thin like most hotels so don’t blast your tv or music like an ass
–Hit a news stand or CVS for snacks for your stay it will save you rather than strolling into the lobby market each day.
–Walk to Battlefork and eat the bacon burger lol

I had a great experience here. We arrived after being delayed into Chicago and Eddie was extremely helpful, understanding and set a great tone for the rest of our stay. The fitness center was clean, sizable (compared to many other holiday inns) and the dry sauna was great. Don’t miss the sky bar while you’re here, the «smoking jacket» was fantastic. Again, people like Eddie really make the difference in a world where customer service seems to mean nothing anymore, it’s great to find people like Eddie. Definitely recommend staying here.

This was such a convenient hotel!!! Not only was it pleasant with a beautiful view but it also connected to the train which will get you ANYWHERE in Chicago. It also conveniently has a market inside along w/​a lounge for the nights you don’t feel like leaving the hotel or for a place to begin your night. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel, I will stay here the next time I visit.

I stayed in December 2015. I showed-​up on-​time for the hotel’s «guaranteed 3pm check-​in time» because I had an event to go to that evening. I waited until 4:10pm when my room was ready. Every time I went up to the desk to ask about the status of my room, they kept telling me that they have guaranteed check-​in times of 3pm, which made no sense because I was still waiting. When I asked for the manager to complain about the wait, he went behind the desk and simply handed me my room key, no service recovery, no apology.
I have definitely had MUCH better service at Chicago hotels.

I must preface this one with the fact that the service is lovely and the rooms are clean. My biggest issue is with the internet. I read on other reviews that it should be fixed by the end of the year; however I will be staying another four nights and cannot oen a webpage and it is the end of the year. I always reccomend the Holiday Inn Express where they offer a free breakfast, better TV channels, and the same reliable service. This place loses two stars because of the internet, TV and lack of breakfast; however I should have caught the lovely gentlemans name who asked how I was doing today and told me to have a good day. Lastly beware of the bar prices.

This place is solid. You can tell it’s OLD, but they definitely keep it clean and updated. The rooms are nice. The beds are comfortable and have plenty of pillows. Service is excellent.
Stay here.

Full disclosure alert: I’m Diamond with Hilton
I don’t do this very often, but I’d like to leave a good report from my most recent stay at the Holiday Inn Chicago MerchandiseMart.
Great business hotel, very clean room, nice restaurants and bar, and excellent service from the entire staff. Thanks for a great stay — I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Chicago!
Stayed March 2015, traveled on business

They advertise free wifi, but don’t deliver. Over the course of my 1 week stay, several members of my party all reported the same problem using different devices, from rooms in different corners of the hotel.
Wifi consistently shows full signal strength, but the actual latency and throughput is worse than «dialup» speed and the connectivity is very intermittent. It’s useless for Skype and frustrating even for basic email.
Their tech support just said all equipment is functioning properly, but there were several hundred devices connected which was probably overloading the bandwidth. I guess that’s another way of saying the hotel did not scale their internet service for the number of users they should accommodate.
No internet in downtown Chicago + the year is 2015 = 1 star. Sorry.

Last week, I had the privilege of staying here for the first time. I was definitely happy with the experience, and I hope I get to stay here again in the future. My girlfriend and I stayed here just one night, so we could catch a concert in town. We both wish we could have stayed longer.
So finding the place is kind of hard. The building and entrance are a pain to get to, and we admittedly had to call from the car to figure out how to get to the entrance. However, not unlike Isla de Muerta in Pirates of the Caribbean: it gets easier to find once you already know where it is. But then it gets weird again, because the lobby of the hotel is on the 15^th floor. It’s a bit weird, but ultimately not too much of an inconvenience.
We got there well before our check-​in time, but we were able to check our bags with the desk so that we could explore the city. I really appreciated that we didn’t have to carry them around all day.
Once we came back to check in, we got to our room. It was clean and had a gorgeous view of the skyline and the river. We had a king size bed, coffee maker, and a flat screen tv, and we coincidentally were right across the hall from the ice/​vending area, which was nice. We were also pleasantly surprised to find out that the toiletries in the bathroom were Bath & Body Works, and in the hard-​to-​find Coconut Lime Verbena scent to boot. The bed was so soft, I fell asleep almost instantly. One bummer though was that the book light that is built into the bed worked on my girlfriend’s side, but was busted on mine. I didn’t need to use it, however, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. (Holiday Inn, if you’re reading this though, please fix it!)
But, before we passed out for the night post-​concert fun, we did manage to order room service. The person on the phone was courteous and helpful, and went over each item we ordered to make sure we knew how it would be served, which was an unexpectedly nice touch. Likewise, the man who brought it to our room was kind and made nice small talk.
We ordered two entrees and two desserts. The first entrée was the Honey Roasted Turkey Sandwich ($ 12). It had turkey, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on it. It was a really good sandwich, and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of meat on it. The second entrée was the American Eggs-​Plosion Burger ($ 14). Puns aside, it was one helluva burger. It came topped with a thick slice of ham, a fried egg, cheese, greens, onions, and tomato on a pretzel roll. Seriously, if you find yourself here too lazy to go buy food, get this burger. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and I wish I hadn’t agreed to go halfsies with the spouse so I could have it all to myself. The first dessert we ordered was an apple tart a la mode, which was about $ 9 if I’m not mistaken. It wasn’t the best. The skins were tough on the apples and hard to chew. It was alright, but nothing to write home about. The second was a cheesecake that came with a raspberry sauce, and that was about $ 7 or so. It was delicious, and was a great way to end the night.
This hotel has a pool and a gym, as well as a little convenience store/​café and a gorgeous bar. The view from the bar is stunning, and we really regretted not having the time to check it out before we left. Plus, check-​out was a piece of cake.

I love this hotel
This is a comfortable hotel in a great location. It’s right downtown. I can walk to the place I’m visiting on South Wacker. There is a place right next door Marchandise Mart. It has a lot of shops and restaurants. It is two blocks away from the miracle mile that is packed with restaurants, bars, night clubs, shops, etc. everything you ever want to visit. Chicago deep dish pizza. Burgers. Subs. Alcohol. Happy Hours. Also a station for the elevated train is right outside the aforementioned food court. I take the blue line from O’Hare for $ 5.
The hotel itself is nice. I am on the 23^rd floor. It has an amazing view of the city with buildings and water taxis going by way down below. It has a convenience store, a bar and a restaurant. I don’t spend much time there because of all the action going on outside. There is a pool and a decent fitness center with stationary bikes, treadmills, elliptical machines and weights. The other guests are business people as well as families.
Whenever I’m in Chicago, this is the place I go.

Top floors have dirty windows, actually all floors have dirty windows but the top floors have like a dozen or more spiders that are around during the day that clog up the windows and look awful.
The hotel staff are relatively nice but have very little patience with you wrt to almost anything. They got our room wrong, charged us wrong rates, charged us for extra nights with the car after telling us that we would not have to pay for one of the two nights … so many things went wrong.
The lower floors are actually renovated, have nicer bathrooms and beds. The upper floors, especially doubles, are dirty, old, and the sheets are smelly.
Overall, not my favorite hotel in Chicago.

A curious place in the sense that the lobby is on the 15^th floor above the Chicago Sun Times offices. Head into the building and take the elevator up to the reception desk.
Views from the lobby sky bar are really spectacular.
Rooms are nicely appointed, but small. Overall value for the price. .. meh. You can Hotwire/​Priceline a four star on Michigan Ave for $ 100 and do a lot better for your money.

This is the place to stay when the weather is unfriendly. The café had fantastic food. Totally unexpected for a hotel restaurant. the calamari was among the best I’ve had ever in my 67 years.
There is a skyway connecting the hotel to the Merchandise Mart and the food court on the second floor.
I walked in flip flops to breakfast and I avoided the sub zero weather outside.
Plus I could pass my time wandering int eh show rooms of the Mart.
They have a great fitness center and a decent sized pool with free wifi.
The staff are very helpful and friendly.
I’ll be back particularly in the winter time.

We had a great experience. The hotel is very modern and clean. The staff has been friendly from the concierge to the front desk people. The hotel has great views of the city. We are in the 21^st floor and we were able to enjoy the sunset. There is the Cityscape bar right next to the front desk has fantastic views of the Chicago river and the skyline.
Just remember you need to take the elevators to the 15^th floor to get to the Holiday Inn lobby.

GOOD
+ comfy bed, I slept like a rock.
+ amazing mirror light in the bathroom, I’ve literally never looked better.
+ there is a CVS about a block away, because…
NOT SO GOOD
— none of the on-​site restaurants or room service were open at check-​in and there was no snack vending (at least that I could find) — I’d driven three hours to Chicago and just wanted something quick and easy because I knew it’d be a few hours until I got dinner.
— the parking garage is across the street and the hotel lobby is on the 15^th floor. I had to run out to the car to get my phone charger and it took about 15 minutes round trip from room to car and back. Not a huge deal, but inconvenient (and would have been more so if it was raining or snowing). I also didn’t feel particularly safe doing it when I got back after going out late and thus waited until the morning.
RANDOM
: the neighborhood smells like fresh-​baked chocolate chip cookies, which is both delightful and frustrating.
: the parking rate advertised on the website is $ 45/​day; it was posted as $ 35 in the parking garage.
: I paid to upgrade my room to a «skyline view» — I was expecting skyscrapers (per the photos on their website) and got one really tall condo right across the river and then a sea of low buildings stretching out toward what I think was probably the United Center — a snooze of a view that could be any city not worth the extra scratch.