Heart O’ Chicago Motel

So this is an update to an earlier review. As we were checking out the guy behind the desk was taking a hotel reservation over the phone. They entered all the persons info into their book including their credit card numbers. They had what appeared to be 3 slips on a sheet, so I could see the full credit card information of the last 2 people that had called in to book a room. There were quite a few sheets in their book and to me this is a major privacy breach waiting to happen.
I write this review so that others know if you are going to book a room with them its best to do it via a 3^rd party website like hotels or travelocity or whatever so that they’re not writing your credit card into a book that can be seen by anyone or lost or stolen later.
My review of the room is still a 2 star, but their book keeping is a for sure 1 star. I’m just thankful we booked via a 3^rd party so that we’re not in their book.

There cannot be any possible reason to live here. I should have gone to the motel 6 near the airport, which would have been cheaper as well as bigger. The room is a matchbox, which is excusable given the location.
What is not excusable is the fact that there is no cooling in the room in June! There is only heating and I had to leave the windows open at night. The wifi is a joke, and there are a total of 2 charging points in the entire room, and they too are too well hidden and away from the bed to be of any use. They have no hooks for towels in the bathroom (another basic thing which is missing in the bathroom) The asian guy at the reception looked extremely uninterested in whats happening. I have lived in motel 6s a lot, which is usually 60 $, so i was expecting at least a similar deal when i paid 100 $ a night here
My suggestion, live a little further and take an über to go wherever.

Face it. one only stays here because it the only choice in this part of town. The night auditors are unaccommodating and judgemental. You would hate to view the the room with a black light… it looks discussing enough without one!

I am a Chicago native and go back to visit often. I enjoy my stay (s) at the Heart O Chicago. Its clean, inexpensive and very convenient! Being from Chicago I know the bus routes, trains, etc., so I can’t see paying $$ to stay downtown. It might be different for tourists. But access to downtown is very very easy! The bus outside the motel takes you to the train (6 minutes) and from there you can ride the train downtown– 35 minutes!

We stay here most years for the holidays, and it’s usually very clean, although the mattresses are not firm, they feel cheap and unsupportive.
There is an excellent diner several blocks away called Alexander’s Restaurant, and you get 10% off if you mention you’re staying at the Heart 0′ Chicago.
Bring your own shampoo (only soap in bathrooms)

Not much good to say about the heart O’ Chicago… Blood stains on 2 pillow cases, hair on the towels, so it gets no marks for cleanliness in my books. My customer service experience was lackluster, the receptionist was on a personal phone call the threw the entire check in process. Their idea of a complementary breakfast is a cup of coffee or a glass of juice and a donut. I guess it could of been worse but for the money I expected better.

Clean and centrally located. Stay here and save yourself a ton in cab fare. It’s a 5 — 10 minute cab ride to the Metro, Rush street and every great bar/​restaurant in the city.
Don’t expect any frills. Just a clean place to sleep for the night.

Well, the rooms are clean… I will give you that. There was an overpowering smell of air freshener in our room. It seemed strongest when the heat was on. Thankfully, it was a mild day and night and we were able to keep the heater off. The TV is awesome. You get 2 channels… seriously…2. I get more channels on my iPhone. Being on a busy street you are going to get street noise. This hotel must be near a Fire Station though because the sirens go ALL night. The worst part of our experience though was the paper thin walls. The group of partiers in the next room got home at 4AM. They were not really that loud, but you could hear every word they said. They yacked until 7AM. There is no way I would stay at this place again.

If you’re looking for a Marriott or Hilton, go to a Marriott or Hilton. I have the opportunity to stay in the upscale hotels while traveling for business and have no issues with staying at the Heart O’Chicago.
The HOC is a economic alternative when my wife and i travel to Chicago a couple of times per year to visit our son. It meets all of the basic criteria you look for when you’re planning most of your time visiting the city. It is clean, affordable, and conveniently located to the Northwest side so that we do not have to travel far.

As a former resident of Chicago, I like to go back and visit frequently. And when I do, I always try to stay at the Heart O’ Chicago. Decent accommodations for a very low price. The rooms simple and usually clean. Free wi-​fi is a perk. Free parking right out front. The continental breakfast has improved over the years — what used to be tiny cups of coffee and a few donuts is now coffee, milk, juice, and plenty of food options. The biggest drawback is that the walls are QUITE thin (the last time I stayed there, my dad was in the room next door and we could have conversations with each other without yelling… yikes). But that’s not enough to keep me away, and I’ll continue to stay at the HoC for trips to come.

We stayed here for 3 nights in June 2011. It was clean, well kept, and definitely affordable.
If your looking for a spa experience, this isn’t it. At all. Not even close. However, if your looking for a clean, safe, affordable place to stay while exploring Chicago — with weekend rates of $ 79 bucks a night, and a free and safe place to park your car it doesn’t get better than this.
Some quirks which I personally didn’t find to be a deal breaker:
*DO bring soap, shampoo, hair dryer, etc.
*The entire bathroom was yellow. I mean YELLOW! It was hilarious. The tile, the paint, the shower curtain, you needed sunglasses in there in the morning.
*The towels are small, thin, and scratchy.
*There were no towel racks or hooks to hang your wet towels. I thought it very strange, but on the other hand, the floor is fine since they’ll bring you fresh ones anyway.
*The air conditioner pumped out room temp air loudly and we were unable to adjust the temp or the level at all. Pretty sure the controls were just for looks.
All in all, we have very fond memories of this place and plan on coming back next time we’re in Chicago.

I was hesitant to go with the three star vote because frankly, there isn’t much to get excited about but Heart O’ Chicago Motel fills a niche as a budget friendly motel in the city of Chicago — something there is a huge shortage of.
Our experience was positive overall. Here were the pros and cons.
PROS
Relatively inexpensive when compared to city hotel prices. Our room that had two double beds was $ 92 plus taxes.
Our room was clean and in the morning I saw several housekeeping employees starting on the rooms so that told me they have adequate staff to keep the motel looking its best.
It’s on the city’s north side, not far from Andersonville. The Clark and Ridge location puts you convenient to many popular north side eateries, shops and of course, Wrigley Field.
CONS
It can be a bit noisy, especially if you’re not used to «city noise».
Parking. While they do have a private lot, there is an equal number of spots per room, which means if two cars of customers are staying in one room, two spaces are used. We saw cars blocked in (ours included) in the morning due to this.
The bathroom is pretty small and the shower curtain was a bi-​fold style, made of hard plastic that, when closed, made the small shower area even more cramped.
The Four Seasons it isn’t but then again, it’s about a quarter of the price too. It’s a budget motel in an expensive city. If you’re budget conscious, you might want to check it out.

My boss booked two rooms here because the price was so attractive for Chicago. Big mistake! I’m not too much of a snob to stay somewhere that looks a little seedy but when the first thing you see is a hooker walk out with her «john» behind her putting his belt back on I have to wonder if this is the place I want to stay for two days. We walked into the lobby and the first thing that hits you is the sour moth ball taste. The second thing that hits you is the «concierge» who said without word from me or my boss «you know you have to pay even if you don’t stay here.» What topped it all off was the steel gate over the windows, the barb wire fence around the building, the view of the gravel lot, and the tethered remote on the side table. I just felt like I was going to raped, jacked, or knifed. I in fact did not get refunded so I definitely got ripped off.

GOOD: Cheap, clean, close to Andersonville which is AWESOME.
BAD: Faintly covered up cigarette smell with copious amounts of air freshener (even though I’m pretty sure smoking has not been allowed for a long time). Staff can be rude.
I would have given it 3 stars because it’s affordable and clean. Although the furnishing are outdated, it’s kitschy and fun and it’s only for a few days.
I gave it 2 stars because almost cancelled the reservation entirely after this exchange with the staff:
Me: «Hello, I would like to know if I could change a reservation. Instead of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, could I make it for Saturday and Sunday nights?»
HOC Staff: «YOU HAVE TO PAY ONE NIGHT! YOU CAN’T CANCEL!»
«I-​I am sorry? I don’t want to cancel. I still want to come.»
«YOU HAVE TO PAY ONE NIGHT! YOU HAVE TO GIVE 24 HOURS NOTICE!»
«No one said anything about a cancellation fee when I made the reservation. I have made reservations at other places and they let you know if there is a cancellation fee.»
«NO! This is America! You are in America, right?!»
«Yes, but in America business are supposed to let you know about cancellation policies.»
«NO! You are in America! You can not do this!»
«Can you hold on, please?» I talk to my boyfriend. Relate our conversation thus far. He says, «Let me talk to him.» I hand over the phone.
BF (what I can hear): «Hello, sir. We’d like to change our reservation to… Yes… but… She was not informed of any cancellation policy… Yeah… Listen. Would you rather get a one night cancellation fee or 2 night’s worth? Hello? Hello? He hung up on me.»
I call back and the staff answers: «So Saturday and Sunday night?»
We went, we stayed, we were generally satisfied. That guy could have been less of a jerk though.

My favorite gay bars are located in Rogers Park (Touché & Jackhammer), so when I come to Chicago, I like to stay somewhere within «stumbling distance» to my favorite raunchy leather bars: Heart O’ Chicago fills the bill. It’s a scant 10 minute stroll from the motel to the bars that I like.
This is a motel, people! It’s very outdated, but it’s CLEAN. The bathroom appliances (toilet, tub, sink) in my room were all 70’s chic gold. The king size bed was pretty comfortable, and the huge window was an added bonus.
The walls are THIN, so you get to hear the dude in the room next to you bang his girlfriend at 6:00 AM – which is an odd way to wake up. For me? I could care less — it’s all about the experience!
The breakfast is pretty damn rad — simple, but good.
Oh, and the WiFi is powerful: I asked the front desk, and their provider is Comcast, so you get über fast cable Internet. I’ll never stay anywhere else in Chicago

This place is a great homebase for those on a budget in Chicago. Clean, but pretty bare bones. Free parking is an awesome bonus. BYO shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, hairdryer, etc. And be sure to coordinate your PJ’s with 70s yellow.
Stayed there in Aug and the AC kept it totally cool, but was crazy loud.
It’s not a luxury retreat, but it’s also under $ 100/​night for a king-​sized room. Would definitely stay here again.

It was party central on Friday and Saturday nights but Sunday night was (apparently) back to the norm of reasonably calm and quiet. The owner changed my friend’s room when told of the super noisy air conditioner. The room was clean and neat, pleasant because the «no smoking» ban was for real. Average-​adequate furnishings include TV but no frills. Good for out of town guests looking for a nearby place to stay. Main drawback is parking space; on a full-​house night it’s doubled up parking with just enough space to turn around at the far end. The Continental breakfast is typical for this genre motel — cold cereal, instant oatmeal, doughnuts and coffee. Reasonable price.

My parents got a room here for the weekend, and they had nothing bad to say about the place. You get free parking and free breakfast, but otherwise, a basic motel (no clocks in the rooms, but wake up calls available). It was extremely clean, and everything looked fairly new, so they must have updated the place recently. My mom said it was probably the cleanest motel she’s ever stayed in, and for the price, it can’t be beat. The total charge came in under $ 200 for the weekend, and if you get a place anywhere downtown, that’s about what you’ll be paying for one night, plus parking.

I just came back from a two night stay at this place and it’s not too bad. If you just need a clean, no frills place to lay your head at night, this is it. I would rather use my money to have fun in the city than blow it on some overpriced hotel. The cable was weird, maybe 10 channels… but HBO did work, so I guess that’s a plus, right? There’s no microwave, or mini fridge, for those of you who may want to bring food back to the room. The air conditioning worked perfectly, and the breakfast consisted of coffee, orange juice, muffins, doughnuts, fruit, and I think cereal/​oatmeal. Not too bad. I’d quickly stay here again.

Um, yeah. I stayed here once while in the process of moving from New England. Thought to myself «well, how can one go wrong with a name like Heart of Chicago and a AAA recommendation?» Well, my friends, the answer is — you can go very wrong.
The place is run down (if it was ever run up I will never know) with small rooms offering shabby furnishings. The glass block window in the bathroom looks out to the alley, where on the night I was there, a 2 hour yelling argument between a pimp and his ho echoed into my room. The TV reception was spotty, and I only got 3 stations in well enough to be able to watch. The heat was broken, but not in the «off» position. Even though this was January, the heat blew on high and full force to such a degree I had to open the only two windows and sleep on top of the covers (maybe not such a bad idea anyway). It would not turn off, even for the maintenance guy the next morning. I felt like beef jerky when I woke up.
The folks in the parking lot outside were raucous and big partiers. I am not certain if they were guests of the motel or not, but noone seemed to complain or shut them up, as it went on for 3 hours.
The included breakfast was a single box of Dunkin Donuts and a carafe of coffee.
My thought about all of this is, if AAA can «highly recommend» this place, maybe its time to question their level of standards.