Midway Hotels
 

Does this site have a "rant and rave" section. If so, feel free to shift this over there.

My rant is about the hotels around Midway Airport. I stay in that area for a number of reasons, and have been continually frustrated with false advertising. The Midway Hotel Center represents themselves as being in Chicago, but they are not, they are in Bedford Park. Also, they advertise themselves as close to the CTA L train, but it really requires a shuttle bus back to the airport, which is time consuming.

The hotels that are in Chicago are no closer to the L train. What happened to truth in advertising? Yesterday I drove around looking at the hotels, and some of them are total dumps.

The desk clerk at Midway Inn on Pulaski told me that the hotel has designated rooms for long term stays, for "quickies," for walk-ins, and then for Expedia customers. He told me that only the Expedia customers get decent rooms- which for him meant that the hot water usually, but not always, is working, and that it is not overly damaged. He said that only because Expedia has reviews do they try to provide better service. I couldn't believe he just told me like it is.

He went on to tell me that "continental breakfast" means just cereal and coffee- with milk if they don't run out. The courtesy van they advertise to the airport only runs in the morning. And, the air-conditioning often works, but does go down a day or two per week in the summer.

I looked on Expedia and other sites, and am shocked that they even allow a hotel like this to be listed. Are there no standards in the industry?

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll.../hotel-reviews has reviews on them, and mysterious between all the 1s and disgust for the wet sperm on the carpet, missing toilet seats with unflushed feces, and dirty sheets, is mixed in lovely comments and high ratings.

I assume the owner is paying for rooms so that they can rate their place, so it doesn't sit at a 1 star. How can Expedia even sell these rooms?

And they posted tons of lies about themselves- free internet, complimentary newspaper, voicemail on the phones, coffee makers in all rooms, etc. On one site they say they are 4 miles to Wrigley Field and another they say 12 miles (which sounds more right).

They even lie that they are a Travelodge... see http://reservation.travelaffiliatepr...e-chicago.html

The whole situation irritates me. Is it like this everywhere?

I found one great hotel near Midway http://www.carltoninnmidway.com/ that actually is a 2 minute walk from the L train. It delivers on all of their promises: free wifi, airport shuttle, parking, breakfast, fitness room etc. It is really a diamond in the rough. AAA approved, reasonably priced, and extremely friendly and helpful. I've stayed there several times, and find it to meet my high expectations on room comfort and cleanliness, although the lobby could be more spacious.

I've looked into some of the deals at the downtown properties, even though I do prefer to stay near Midway, and can't justify staying in a $120 discounted room that with in-room internet, parking, breakfast, and tax would amount to closer to $220 per night.

Am I the only one who gets frustrated with misinformation, padded bills, and outright deception? How to find the right hotels without all the leg work? How to avoid those surprises at check-out?

There are 4 Marriott-brand properties grouped together within 1/2 mile of MDW, and they're fairly consistent with similar properties everywhere else. They are all in either Chicago or Bedford Park (which borders on Chicago near MDW).

It is true that it is not convenient to walk to the terminal or the el. In fact, the el station is about a mile away from these properties, but a 24-hour shuttle bus regularly services all of them and is prominently mentioned on their web pages.

That hotel you mention looks decent. But its standard rates are nothing to write home about, IMO:

"Guest Room with Queen-Size Bed: $92 ~ $109
Guest Room with 2 Double (Extra-Long) Beds: $109 ~ $129
Guest Room with King Bed: $109 ~ $129

Special Event Rates:

Guest Room with Queen-Size Bed: $109 ~ $149
Guest Room with 2 Double (Extra-Long) Beds: $119 ~ $159
Guest Room with King Bed: $119 ~ $159"

Then you have to take the Orange Line 30 minutes+ each way.

I'm consistently Hotwiring 3.5-4-star downtown hotels around those figures. For a family visit on Jun 4-7 I got Embassy Suites Lakeshore for $115 (vs. $179 direct), including breakfast buffet for 4 people, and manager's reception (all the crappy beer and "House of Usher" scotch you can drink for free!).

I could have had the Palmer House via Hotwire for $89, and the Hyatt McCormick/Hilton Chicago for $86.

I've just about given up looking at hotel websites when the upcharge is so drastic.