You must try this hotel!
I had stayed at this hotel before it was the Hotel Lincoln and loved the neighborhood so much that I knew I wanted to come back... in spite of the hotel's previously "well used" atmosphere. When I found out that it had changed hands and had been renovated, I was very curious to see how much of a change might have been made. To my amazement, the Lincoln Hotel has all the things I liked about the older version, but updated to a very comfortable and welcoming place to stay.
My wife and I stayed for 4 days during the week. We were greeted by Katy at the front desk, who immediately made us feel like she was truly glad we were there. She helped find some places to dance that evening. 
We had no trouble finding places to eat. There is a wide variety of restaurants within walking distance in almost any direction you go. Directly across the street is the beautiful Lincoln Park, where the Zoo and Conservatory are located. There is also a Farmers' Market in the park on Wednesdays through the summer. We took advatage of the complimentary bicycle rentals that the hotel offers and rode along Lake Michigan to the Navy Pier. There's complimentary WIFI at the hotel also.
Several times during our stay, Glenn, at the front desk, suggested and helped us to find our way to other activities. Either Katy or Glenn were always there to answer our questions and make our stay more enjoyable. They also answered our questions about the hotel's history and revival, very interesting.
While the hotel offers lake views and city views from some rooms, We were quite happy with a room that overlooked the side street and a very interesting flower shop across the street. It was quite a treat to walk through, for the flowers and the architecture!
The rooms are generally smaller than those in a newer building, but very efficiently layed out to get the most out of the space. Everything in the hotel is newer and done in a 1960's type of motif. We frequented the coffee shop off the lobby every morning. They were always very friendly also. We did not go to the adjoining restaurant. It seemed more upscale than we were looking for. 
We did however, go up to the rooftop lounge one night after an evening out. It was a disappointment. Wine and mixed drinks were a bit expensive and the beer was served in cans, no offer of a glass. It was very difficult to get the servers's attention, even though they weren't that busy. (Three of them were in a group having a conversation the first five minutes or so that we were there.) The atmosphere was kind of cold: unfinished concrete walls, no colors to speak of and the lighting was like they had turned the house lights up to clean for the evening. There were windows to look out over the city, but they were relatively small and we weren't fortunate enough to be seated at one of those tables, so no view. Before 11 pm, you are able to go out onto the rooftop to see the views, but we didn't arrive until after 11 pm and were told we were not allowed to go out onto the rooftop, so again, no view. I'll repeat: very disappointing!
We are looking forward to returning to the Hotel Lincoln on our next visit to Chicago. It was probably the most welcoming hotel we have ever stayed in. We found we had just as much, if not more, to do within walking distance of the hotel than when we had stayed downtown on previous trips.