My wife and I just completed a weekend stay (February 11-13) at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Chicago. Unfortunately, our experience at this hotel was not very pleasant.

To give the situation some context, I will let you know that I was trying to make a decision between staying at the Embassy Suites-Downtown or the Doubletree. My wife is in Chicago for the next two weeks on business, and due to the amount of luggage she was bringing I wanted a suite so that we had some extra space. I am familiar with the types of rooms offered at Embassy Suites, but I was able to get a more attractive rate at the Doubletree. I called a representative at the Doubletree and asked if the rooms were comparable to the Embassy Suites. I was told that the Doubletree rooms are "two-room suites" with a separate living area and sleeping area. With that information, I booked an Executive Level Suite at the Doubletree for two nights.

Upon arrival, I was surprised to find that our "suite" was actually one room, which appeared to be no bigger than the standard hotel room. I called the front desk to confirm that I was given an executive level suite. After the gentleman who received my call made it quite apparent that he was annoyed by the question (long, heavy sigh and sarcastic tone), he confirmed that my room was in fact an executive level suite. Apparently what classified this room as a "suite" is the long, low dresser/TV stand right in the middle of the room, with a couch on the opposite side of the room from the bed.

Upon entering the bathroom, I noticed that the sink stopper was broken. It was stuck in the closed position, resulting in water pooling in the bathroom sink. The handle moved up and down with no effect on the position of the sink stopper. In addition, there was cracked and chipped tile on the bathroom floor. Upon taking a shower, it was noted that the shower diverter was only partially successful. Half of the water was still coming through the faucet, resulting in very low water pressure out of the shower head.

Finally, on Friday night my wife and I went down to the lobby to speak with the concierge for dinner suggestions. We asked for some suggestions of local Chicago eateries. The suggestions we were given included TGI Fridays and The Cheesecake Factory; nothing even remotely similar to what we had asked about. Exasperated, we decided to go for a walk in pursuit of some restaurants and found numerous non-chain restaurants within 5-6 blocks of our hotel.

The hotel is in a great location (convenient to the Magnificent Mile and Rush St.), but as you can see I was quite disappointed with the service.