747 Lofts by RedAwning - River West, Third Floor Chicago

It was a very comfortable place to stay in, and having a full kitchen and a washer/dryer was very handy. The location was great. Cheaper than a lot of hotels that didn't have all these amenities!

There are some inaccuracies in this listing - the check in and out timings on booking.com are wrong, as the check-in email sent on the day had less generous timings in it (4pm instead of the listed 3pm check in, 10am check out instead of 11am). It also said that there was a queen bed, but it turned out to only be a single bed, which was fine for myself but may be problematic for couples. The only way to get in contact with the local team for any on site help or check in/out enquiries is via phone which is problematic if you don't have a local sim card. It was a bit noisy from the street, the ventilation, and the walls were thin enough that I could hear my neighbours' conversations. Bring earplugs!

The location was tremendous. It was in a quiet area right between Wicker Park and the West Loop, right at an entrance to the Blue Line, which goes to O'Hare in one direction and the Loop in the other. It had the double advantage of being perfectly located for getting places and being quiet at the same time. If you want to use the L to get around, this is a great option. It had a full kitchenette and contactless electronic check in. They were fast to respond to electronic communications.

They have to use an ID validation system to comply with Chicago short-term rental regulations before your room registration is considered complete. That system is buggy and did not work. They were quick to respond to validate my ID in another way, but I had to reach out to them to let them know that I kept getting "check back in 30 minutes" messages every time I tried to use it. Hopefully they will fix this.

Simple and cozy

Difficult parking. Difficult to get up to the room at the third floor.

Central and close to train/bus stop!

I had no control over the temperature of the unit. My entire stay the room sat at 80° and not because of my own choice. I would adjust the Nest thermostat and then I would look again and it would be back at 78°. It was HOT this weekend. I could understand if I had an unreasonable temperature but 68° is very reasonable.