The Holiday Inn Express Magnificent Mile in Chicago was built in the early 1900s as the Hotel Cass, & has just recently joined the IHG group.
I have spent a lot of time in Chicago so far this year, and The Holiday Inn Express, Magnificent Mile was a budget friendly option for an extended stay.
The original Hotel Cass was built in the early 1900s, and was renovated in the past two years, which I found surprising, as some of the features look like a holdover from the previous hotel. The building is 15 stories tall, and has 174 rooms.
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Booking the Holiday Inn Express
I booked the hotel using IHG points; the stay averaged 14k points a night; I had purchased points last year when IHG was offering a 100% points bounce. My total stay was 98k points; the cost to purchase those points was $500, which equated to a per night cost of $71 a night. In this case, it was a good (but not necessarily excellent) use of points; the cash rate was $110 per night plus tax.
Holiday Inn Express Location
Despite selling itself as the "Holiday Inn Express, Magnificent Mile", it's not located on N. Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile). It's located on N. Wabash, two blocks west of N. Michigan Avenue, an area I would call River North. The location is great for tourists - there is a Pizzeria Uno and a Pizzeria Due within 2 blocks of the hotel, both on N. Wabash Avenue, and it's a short stroll down to Portillo's (I make no secret of the fact that this is my favorite hot dog place in Chicago). If you like to gamble, there's a Bally's Casino just one block south also on N. Wabash, and you're close to all the great shopping on N. Michigan Avenue, including The Shops at North Bridge.
If you're coming in from O'Hare, the Blue Line is about a 15 minute walk away.
Holiday Inn Express Lobby & Check-in
One of the nicest features of the Holiday Inn Express Chicago is the lobby area, which although small is lovely, featuring two large windows overlooking the street out front.
I arrived around 2pm, and was welcomed as an IHG loyalist, and was told that my room was ready, but there was no mini fridge, so I could switch out to another room later in the day, or wait for a room to become available. Personally, although I do like having a mini fridge in my room, I wasn't prepared to wait around for a couple of hours for one to be available, so I accepted the room which was available.
Queen Guest Room
I thought my room at the Hyatt Grand Central in New York was small! This one was tiny in comparison. There was room for a queen size bed, a desk, and a small table holding coffee supplies. I was wedged into the corner in order to take the photo below. There was a gap between the bed and the wall which was barely wide enough for my carry-on suitcase; that was the only place to put the suitcase where it was somewhat out of the way.
Although the room had a closet, there wasn't room in the closet to store the suitcase.
The room was on the 10th floor; it featured one window which looked out of downtown Chicago, and the (former) John Hancock Center, so no complaints about the view.
The bathroom was small, but clean and functional, featuring the ubiquitous "shub"; that is a bathtub with a shower head (rather than a separate, walk-in shower). Storage in the bathroom was limited to a narrow shelf above the sink - there was no vanity to speak of.
Holiday Inn Express Chicago in-house dining
As with most Holiday Inn Express locations, there is no on-site restaurant or room service. The hotel offered a free buffet breakfast with a choice of eggs, breakfast meats, breads, cereal and juices.
I've never been a big fan of breakfast buffets at hotels, so I typically will grab a bagel, or a waffle if that's an option, so I can't comment on the hot items on the menu.
Unlike some other locations, this one was never crowded in the mornings, and I was always able to grab a seat for a quick breakfast before heading out for the day, or back to my room to work.
Other Hotel Features
The hotel had a small gym, which I didn't use (I don't like basement gyms; I would typically only use a treadmill if the weather isn't nice enough to walk outside, so I skipped using it.) As with many downtown Chicago hotels, there was no pool, so keep this in mind if you are planning a visit to Chicago with younger children who enjoy using a pool.
Surprisingly, there was no guest laundry on site; most Holiday Inn Expresses I've stayed at previously have had a guest laundry, which I think is a nice feature if you're staying longer than a week at a hotel.
Final Thoughts
The hotel offered a 500 point IHG bonus per night if you chose to forgo housekeeping. To take advantage of this, they provided a hangtag to hang on the door each evening. In my experience, it didn't matter whether I left the hangtag on my door or not, the room wasn't serviced once during a six night stay. This wasn't a major concern for me, as I was working in my room much of the time anyway. It only became an issue when I ran out of toilet paper.
Despite this offer, however, I did not receive any bonus points for forgoing housekeeping.
The Holiday Inn Express Chicago met my needs in terms of a place to stay in a decent location, but I would likely not stay here again. With no room to place my suitcase other than between the bed and the wall, and no drawer space to place clothes, it wasn't convenient for getting dressed etc.
In reality, the room was too small for anything other than a very short stay for a solo traveler.
For anyone looking for a hotel recommendation in Chicago, I much prefer the Intercontinental on Michigan Avenue.
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