Front of property

Reviews of The Willows Hotel

3 out of 5
The Willows Hotel
555 W Surf St, Chicago, IL

Reviews

8.4

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 489 out of 1004 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 315 out of 1004 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 109 out of 1004 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 65 out of 1004 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 26 out of 1004 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

9.0/10

Staff & service

7.8/10

Amenities

8.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Courtney

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
I love it 10 out of 10
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 23 Apr 2024
Thank you Courtney! We hope you choose The Willows in for your future trips.

4/10 Poor

Cathy, San Rafael

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Outdate property, very old and not well kept.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 23 Apr 2024
Thank you for your review Cathy.

10/10 Excellent

Kyle, Tacoma

Travelled with partner, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Walkable distance to the waterfront, restaurants, Wrigley Field, Apollo Theater, and more. Safe neighborhood. Staff was great, beds were comfortable.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 23 Apr 2024
Thanks for the review Kyle! We're glad you enjoyed your stay with us at The Willows Hotel. We hope to see you in the future.

6/10 Okay

Amberly

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities
The receptionist/clerk at check in seemed irritated and perturbed by our need to check in. She never once smiled. About 30 minutes after check in, a couple tried to gain entry to our room. They were given our room, as well. I called down to the receptionist/clerk who placed me on hold while the couple stood at the door(a good 10 minutes). Eventually she came back and stated that it was her fault; she gave them our room, too. I sent the couple back to her explaining this. The next morning, as I’m getting ready to leave for church and check out and head to the airport, I notice there is no hair dryer. I call the front desk and am informed that there is nothing that can be done about it until maintenance arrives at 9am. This does me no good as I have to leave before then. So I left with wet hair. Overall, the property is nice and the location is great. But the staff and service leave much to be desired.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 23 Apr 2024
We are so sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience at The Willows and thank you for your honest review Amberly. Let me assure you that we will definitively pass along your comments to the right people, and address these issues. Have a great week.

4/10 Poor

Vivian A, pleasantville

Travelled with family
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Terrible condition. Elevator walls all scratched up. Bathroom hasn’t been updated since the 70s and the tile grout is all dirty. Staff very unwelcoming and housekeeping has to be requested.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 22 Apr 2024
Thank you for your review Vivian. We take our guest's feedback seriously and we will be passing along you comments to the proper people. Have a great week.

6/10 Okay

Altanzul

Business traveller, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The 1st night I couldn't sleep due to the noise coming from upstairs. The wall/ ceiling seemed very thin I was easily disturbed by someone staying next to or upper-level guests.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 18 Apr 2024
Thank you for your review Altanzul!

10/10 Excellent

Alexa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 18 Apr 2024
Thank you for the rating Alexa, we hope you enjoy the rest of your week.

10/10 Excellent

Beth

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Older hotel but room clean and staff great! Would stay again
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 15 Apr 2024
Thanks for the review Beth! We hope to see you again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Ada, Huntington Park

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Staff was very polite and friendly
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 9 Apr 2024
Thank you for your review Ada! We are happy you enjoyed your stay at The Willows. We hope to see you again.

4/10 Poor

Chloé

No breakfast buffet. Small old room. Very noisy. Inconvenient parking. No valet
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 8 Apr 2024
We are disappointed you didn't enjoy your stay at The Willows Hotel. We hope you will come back in the future so we could show you a better experience. Thank you for your review and for letting us know where we can improve.

8/10 Good

Greig

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 24 Apr 2024
Thanks for the rating Greig!

10/10 Excellent

Tyler, Zionsville

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
great location for attending the Cubs game and site seeing in the Lincoln Park area
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 5 Apr 2024
We're glad you enjoyed your stay Tyler! Have a great week!

8/10 Good

Ryan

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice old Hotel. Has that classy old feel to it. Cleanliness was great.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 3 Apr 2024
Thank you for the review Ryan!

8/10 Good

SAUL

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 23 Apr 2024
Thank you Saul!

10/10 Excellent

Chris

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The Willows is a great hotel that reminds me of our hotels in Europe. My only complaint is that Expedia lists free parking and if you are lucky enough to find a spot on the street it is free but otherwise you have to pay in the parking garage down the street. Great hotel & staff.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 3 Apr 2024
Thank you so much for the review Chris! Here at The Willows we're happy to hear you enjoyed your stay. We will also address the parking to the proper people. Have a great rest of your week.

10/10 Excellent

Jason

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Parking garage very close, plenty of places to grab a bite to eat. We ate at bluebird it was excellent. Located just around the corner.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 1 Apr 2024
Thanks for your review Jason!

4/10 Poor

Debra

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 22 Apr 2024
Thanks for your honest rating Debra

10/10 Excellent

Charles

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
-
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 1 Apr 2024
Thank you Charles!

8/10 Good

Gregory, Murphysboro

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Amenities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 22 Apr 2024
Thanks for the rating Gregory!

10/10 Excellent

Isabela

Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 17 Apr 2024
Thank you Isabela!

10/10 Excellent

Vianey

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 15 Apr 2024
Thank you Vainey!

10/10 Excellent

Stephanie

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 5 Apr 2024
Thank you Stephanie!!!!

10/10 Excellent

Jean

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 29 Mar 2024
Thanks for the review Jean!

10/10 Excellent

Mariah

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely hotel in a nice residential neighborhood. The staff were very helpful and friendly.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 7 Mar 2024
Thank you for your review Mariah! We hope to see you again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Rachel

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The building is beautiful, clean, and the room was very big for a standard king. The staff was very friendly and helpful.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 27 Feb 2024
Hi Rachel! Thank you! The whole staff here is happy to hear you were taken care of. we really appreciate your visit and hope to see you again!

10/10 Excellent

Jeanne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 27 Feb 2024
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, Jeanne! We hope everything went well at your visit to the Willows and we look forward to seeing you again!

10/10 Excellent

Blake

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 25 Mar 2024
Thanks for staying with us Blake!

10/10 Excellent

Kathy

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024
Response from Roxana on 21 Feb 2024
Thank you for staying with us Kathy!

10/10 Excellent

Linda

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 25 Mar 2024
Thanks for the rating Linda!

6/10 Okay

Tawnya

Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 25 Mar 2024
Thank you for the review Tawnya!

10/10 Excellent

Debra

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A fabulous historical building with an abundance of charm.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 13 Feb 2024
Wow! Thank you, Debra! That was very kind to hear. We appreciate your visit and hope to see you again!

6/10 Okay

Krishna

Travelled with family, Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service
Very old property
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 6 Feb 2024
Thank you for your review, Krishna. Yes, although this a historic building, we are constantly changing to make the necessary accommodations for our guests. If there was anything you would like to suggest for us to change, it would be very valuable for us to get your honest feedback, Thank you!

8/10 Good

James

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 20 Mar 2024
Thank you for taking the time and giving us a review James. We hope to see you in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Danielle

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Adrian (Front Desk) on 20 Mar 2024
Thank you for stopping by Danielle! We hope to see you again soon.

4/10 Poor

Jack

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The building is tired! In poor condition and the area is interesting to walk in. Stay somewhere else.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 30 Jan 2024
we are sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the hotel as much as we had planned. We really appreciate all your feedback and look to use it to better the guest experience for the next person. Thank you for coming.

6/10 Okay

Sameer

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Did not like the room, it felt unclean.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 26 Jan 2024
We are sorry to hear that we didn't meet the standards that we strive for during your stay. Thank you for your valuable feedback and if you ever want to go into even more detail , please feel free to reach out to the hotel directly.

10/10 Excellent

Yuriko

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hidden gem
Staff were very friendly and helpful. My niece and I arrived earlier than the check-in time and they gave us the room that was available right away. The room was cleaned and although did not have a great view, had what we needed. The best part is as a compliment of my hotels.com status, a bottle of wine was complimentary. The location also was great around coffee shops, restaurants, and retail stores. We'll certainly choose this hotel again for our next trip to Chicago.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 26 Jan 2024
Thank you very much, Yuriko! We are happy that the staff was able to reciprocate your kindness! We thank you for visiting and look forward to seeing you again!

10/10 Excellent

Kathy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I have zero complaints. I loved my stay here. The staff were all so very nice. The location is perfect for walking to several places near by and then the transit system is extremely convenient for further destinations. The room was very clean and super cozy. Looking forward to staying again.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 24 Jan 2024
Thats incredible to hear! Thank you, Kathy! Really makes us makes us happy knowing you had a good time!

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 24 Jan 2024
Thank you for coming, Jennifer!

10/10 Excellent

Joan

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 24 Jan 2024
Thank you so much for the rating, Joan!

6/10 Okay

Andrew James

Disliked: Amenities
If the was a rating for sleep quality, I’d rate it 1/5 stars. The smoke detector light was so bright that I had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. You can hear everything on your floor, I’d be surprised if you slept more than a few hours.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 24 Jan 2024
Im sorry to hear about the smoke alarm light, Andrew. We hope at least some aspects about your stay were better and that you still had time to enjoy chicago.

8/10 Good

Mehdi

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 16 Jan 2024
Thank you for the rating, Mehdi! Your feedback is always valuable to us.

8/10 Good

Francisco, Highland

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The room was clean and cozy. Excellent location. Great for a o e night stay.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 16 Jan 2024
Really appreciate your comments, Francisco! Thank you for stopping by and we delighted to hear we hit the nail on the important aspects!

10/10 Excellent

HOLLY

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 16 Jan 2024
Thank you for coming, Holly! Glad you enjoyed the stay!

10/10 Excellent

Samuel

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 6 Feb 2024
Thank you for the rating , Samuel! Really appreciate you coming!

6/10 Okay

Severine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 16 Jan 2024
Thank you for the feedback, Severine. Have a lovely day!

10/10 Excellent

Marnie

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Historic building, walkable neighborhood
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 11 Jan 2024
Thanks for stopping by, Marnie! Great to have you and hope to see you again!

8/10 Good

Samuel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 31 Jan 2024
Thank you for the rating, Samuel! Really enjoyed having you stay with us. Have a great year!

8/10 Good

David

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good location and helpful staff
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 9 Jan 2024
Thank you, David! Glad to be of service to you. We wish you a lovely 2024 and hope that you can visit again!

8/10 Good

Robert, Naperville

Travelled with family, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel does not have its own parking lot
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Tony (Front Desk) on 5 Jan 2024
Thank you coming, Robert! Hope you had a great time!