Fabulous Lobby, but as you go up, it goes downhill
The hotel is excellently situated for visiting The Art Institute or Millennium Park. It is an "old classic" of a hotel, and the main lobby is a must see, but I would not stay there again. The problem with any hotel dating from long ago (the current one was built in 1923-25) is that, even with extensive remodeling (which was done in 2007-2009) it is hard to create spaces that are comparable to what is expected today (in many cases the walls are load bearing so cannot be changed too much). We had a reasonably sized room (king bed and space for a desk and lounge chair) but the bathroom was very small with little space to spread out toiletries. Also, there was no coffee machine in the room - something I have come to expect in virtually all hotels these days. My major complaint about this stay was the Executive Lounge. It is usually worth while to pay the extra for access - in most hotels it is not much more than the cost of two breakfasts and there are usually some hors d'oeuvres in the evening along with a modest wine at a modest price. (Since we are currently at the diamond level in the Hilton Honors program, we get access for free at the Hiltons but I usually upgrade at other chains such as the Hyatt.) At the Palmer Executive Lounge I ordered a couple of glasses of wine (there was a bartender on duty) and was slightly surprised by the cost - $9/glass which came to $21.44 for two with tax and tip - and was even more surprised by the wine. It was about the worst wine I had tasted in many years. I didn't think it was even as good as Trader Joe's cheapest $2.99 wine that I tried a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't get a look at the bottle to see what it was (although I did notice that she had to fish it out of the back of a cupboard). I noticed that a couple of groups in the executive lounge had brought their own wine in - and I can understand iot at the prices they were charging. It then occurred to me that the wine had been sitting around open for some time. I checked the room service menu and saw that they offered three red wines by the glass - the same three varietals as at the bar. The cabernet was a William Hill at $10.50/glass from room service. I presume that what I had had at some time been a William Hill that had been left to turn to vinegar. It was slightly more expensive from room service, but I hope that it was in a lot better condition.