Offbeat hotel alternative - interesting, comfortable

Daniel, 2006-05-08

The Fisher Building offers accomodations in apartment units rather than hotel rooms. Mine was a 1 bedroom with kitchen and living area. The accomdation was clean and certainly offered more room than any hotel at anything like a comparable price. The bed was good. The kitchen was adequately well equipped - although my stay was brief so I can't say if things other than the fridge worked. Plenty of water flow in the shower (much more than water-saver-widget infested hotels tend to offer today). Air conditioning was not turned on yet for the season in the building, and the unit tended to be overly warm unless you opened windows. The problem with that being that the El runs very close by and makes lots of noise. The only other knock on the place is that there's no there there. This is not a hotel so there are no lobby facilities, no sense of community or place (however transitory). Also, the location may not be ideal unless you're either spending days at the Chicago Public Library (around corner) or in the financial district (also very close). Other hotels, restaurants, etc. that you'd normally associate with Chicago are not nearby. You'll either have to use the mass transit or walk quite a ways to get to civilization.

Pluses and minuses.

Ann, Charlottesville, VA, 2005-11-13

The Fischer Building is an old office building which has been remodeled into apts. The apartment we stayed in was modern and clean and nicely decorated. Galley kitchen had glasses, dishes and cookware and coffee maker as well as expected appliances. The lobby and check-in procedure is rather creepy - the sole employee present had been instructed to get a lot of unnecessary financial info, but didn't insist when I refused to provide it. The building's location could be rather daunting to some - it's in the business district around the Federal Building, so after dark there's almost no one on the streets except street people and some traffic. This also means that the nearest places to eat, get coffee, etc. are closed after business hours and weekends, and altho a 7-11 is on the ground floor, the grocery scene is pretty bleak. It is convenient to the Art Institute and Field Museum though, and even though the nearby shopping is decidely low end, it's just a health walk to the glorious of Michigan Avenue.

Review

Edward, Los Angeles, CA, 2005-06-19

No review provided by user

Apartment Hotel in Downtown Chicago

Lawrence, Los Angeles, CA, 2005-06-09

The Fisher Building in downtown Chicago is an "apartment-hotel" building that offers rental arrangements from a day or two to long-term stay. I stayed for three nights, and enjoyed the stay. Although it does not offer the usual hotel amenities (restaurant, room service, house-keeping), there is a well-stocked 7-11 on the ground floor and good restaurants nearby. I was in Chicago on business and really appreciated the central location: a few blocks from Michigan Avenue, and only a few blocks south of the center of own. The only problem was that nobody was in the "lobby" when I arrived, and I almost left, thinking there had been a huge mistake.