In real estate, the saying is "location, location and location." This place wins on location. And the owner is a gem. She is responsive, kind, and caring.
But beyond that, we found this place ok, functional and acceptable, but not inspired, compelling, and wonderful.
Expect a two level, two bedroom, two bath apartment which meets minimum requirements but doesn't really go over that measure. The best feature is probably the modern kitchen, with a large refrigerator, nice cooktop, coffeemaker, dishwasher, and sink. But the fridge was empty - there are no basics stocked at all, and just a couple of granola bars (or something like that) left to welcome guests.
The living room has stained, functional couches which were fairly dirty or stained. The large screen television was good - but getting content on it was difficult. There were no instructions on how to get programming on it. I don't think there was cable tv, but we were able to access over the air (free) tv - but not all stations in Chicago were accessible. We asked the owner to help us reprogram or rescan the channels, but we were not able to get major over-the-air channels, including CBS Chicago (for NFL football on Sunday).
There were streaming services available using ROKU - through guesswork and finagling - including Netflix and Sling (which allowed us to get some of the national network programming) but it was by chance that we figured out how to do it. Other channels were blocked by the lack of an access code for ROKU. We could not figure out how to get to Netflix to use our own subscriptions. A short information guide on how to use the television might have been very useful and user friendly. There was none.
I am sure that if we had understood more about what was on HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 on the tv, we might have been happier about the tv system.
Downstairs, the bedrooms were just that - rooms with beds. There were metal nightstands on the side of each bed and a towel rack on the floor. Other than that, very little that made the rooms feel homelike or pleasant. There was plenty of storage space on shelves and a place to hang clothes on hangers.
Just like we had issues with the tv system, we had issues with the heating system. We could not get the heat in the apartment to get either the bedrooms or the upstairs to livable levels as unseasonalably cold weather hit Chicago over the Colombus Day weekend. The thermostat settings were difficult to change and it felt like changing them made no difference in the ouput. Even when Kath came down and adjusted them, the result was the same - no heat and cold rooms (both floors). A set of detailed instructions on how to manipulate the thermostat to heat the rooms would have been welcomed.
There are two portable electric space heaters (again with no instructions). One night (of our 3) we were unaware of the heaters. The second night, we tried to use one but were unsuccessful. The third night, we struggled to get it to work, and it was just fine, although a bit difficult to adjust the temps - but we were happier to be warmer than cold. (By the way, the portable heaters are two different types of units, so if you figure out how to use one in one bedroom, you will have to figure out an entirely different heater for the other.)
The bathrooms were very nice. Downstairs, the one bathroom has doors into each of the two bedrooms. We loved the automatic heater which turned on with the fan and light. Show pressure was fine.
Upstairs, an Architecture Digest quality small bathroom shows what good things can be done in small spaces. The sink is the smallest I've ever seen and very unique for the small space - but very well designed and completely functional. We liked the look of the upstairs shower but didn't use it. Again, the heater in the ventilation system was great.