Not up to Crowne Plaza status !
This hotel has a great location if you want to be downtown Chicago and close to the Michigan Avenue shopping area. We found this a little hard to find as the hotel is also called "Avenue Hotel" with the Crowne Plaza name in smaller print under the canapy. I drove by it not noticing it as the Crowne Plaza. 
The lobby is small and not impressive. We had an upgraded King bedroom on the 17th floor that was nice and large. Our room faced the front of the hotel and we had problems with noise. You could hear everything on the street. The biggest issue was the doorman blowing a whistle to hail cabs was non stop and we could hear it clearly in our room.
Overall the hotel was just OK. Too expensive for what you get, parking was 50 dollars for the one night we stayed. Next time I'll stay somewhere else.