The Congress Plaza Hotel is clearly beyond its glory days as a grand hotel, but there are enough vestiges of that remaining for the adventurous traveler. We chose to stay there due to its close proximity to downtown and the museums, and its very low cost. The rooms are spacious but a little dingy. The lobby is beautful but not up-to-date - you can see that this was clearly a grand hotel in its heyday. The elevators are a little terrifying and the floor layout confusing. There are picketing workers outside, but they've apparently been there for years - just use the side door (not the one facing Michigan Ave). On parking: if you do valet, you can pay for it with your hotel bill on a card but it's a couple dollars more a day. If you take the car to the garage (where they're going to valet it anyways) it's a couple dollars cheaper but you have to pay the garage cash. I'd stay here again, but not if I was with anyone who was high-maintenance.
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