The Talbott, Autograph Collection

Good location clean rooms

The third room they moved me to was tolerable. The first two rooms were not normal. The television is perhaps the newest thing but I had no idea how to make it work, and the people sent up to show me couldn’t make it work properly either. No luggage rack in either very small room. No clock in either room Neither in-room phone worked. I had to call the hotel from my cell phone to speak to the front desk. The fancy Nespresso coffee maker didn’t work in one room, did in the other for coffee. Neither one will simply heat up a cup of water for tea. They brought me an electric kettle. The ventilation in one room blows right onto you on the bed. There’s no way to turn the fan off without also turning the heat off. Turn the thermostat down and you have the fan blowing cold on you. The bathrooms- let me tell you about the bathrooms: the first room had no grab bars and no hand-held shower. Not a safe situation. The second room, so-called accessible, had these. However it was not a shower stall but a tub, retrofitted with shower functions. The controls for the shower were low, at the level of the spigot for the tub. To regulate the water temperature you’re bent over, reaching for the knobs at the level of your knees, your back is under the flow of water from the shower nozzle. They finally put me in an ‘upgrade’ room. Nice, large, normal, accessible, comfortable, functional room to which I brought the tea kettle and luggage rack they’d brought me previously; functional except for the telephone and the same lousy tv. Housekeeping tidied up while I was at breakfast. I went upstairs to gather my stuff for the day and discovered that the now the toilet didn’t work. The tank was not filling, the water was wastefully running. On my way out I reported this to the front desk who assured me they’d send the engineer. Eight hours later when I returned – guess what! Not fixed. I reported again to the desk person and told her I was going out for dinner and I’d need a functioning toilet when I got back for the night. The entrance areas are attractive; a small sitting room on one side, the restaurant, a popular place, on the other. The staff was pleasant and tried to be helpful and accommodating. This was appreciated, even if not always successful. Marriott Hotel brands are usually quite reliable all over the world. This one may be trying to be too fancy for its own good.

The Talbott is tucked away on a quieter street just seconds from all of Chicago’s best. The lobby, while small, is cozy and welcoming. Check in was fast and easy. We had a large room that was spotless. There were multiple outlets all over the room which is something that I often find lacking in hotels. The bathroom was a decent size, well lit and the shower was large walk in, tiled and probably one of the least disgusting hotel showers I have seen. The hotel has been updated but it’s clear they were retro fitting the space and not starting new. It works though as the room gave off a modern, cozy vibe. The room was quiet and had a doorbell to light for service. The only issue we encountered was one of the 2, very small and old elevators did not work our whole stay. Seeing as other people commented on that before we were there, this is clearly an on going issue. This led to crazy long waits for the elevator. We also had requested extra towels one day and we had to repeatedly call and ask for them as they never arrived. We were only on the 4th floor so we mainly walked so be prepared. Perhaps ask for a low floor.

Water station on every floor, 430 to 530 cocktail of the day. The location is amazing and a beautiful neighborhood. Grateful for the hospitality

I want to give this lovely hotel a 5 so badly. The only thing standing in my way is the very loud noise coming from the alley, to which we abutted, woke us early (by 5:30am both mornings we were there) We were on the third floor. We were upgraded (without asking) to a wonderful suite, huge by big city hotel standards, actually much larger than my first apartment! It was beautifully appointed but the best part was the bedding. I wanted to take it home with me! Awesome sheets and pillows. Bathroom had two sinks, which was nice for the two of us. Strangely, no light in the shower stall and the water was very hard to regulate. Every single staff member with whom we came in contact was professional and helpful. The location of this hotel was perfect!

Everything was great except only one elevator was working and my room was poorly lite even with all of the lights on.