I traveled with my husband, our two teenagers, 5 & 7 y/o’s, then our grown daughter who lives in Chicago joined us for a night.
Here’s what’s great about James’ place:
- PLENTY of space for everyone.
- The hot water never ran out.
- Lots of bed linens and towels.
- Neighborhood did not feel sketchy & people walking on the street were pleasant. Even so, the entry is double doored and double coded; it feels safe.
- 15 minutes to downtown by car or catch the L right around the corner.
- Parking (free street) was no problem, we always found a spot right in front of the building.
- Kitchen has plenty of supplies.
- WiFi was strong and consistent.
Here’s what may be not so great:
- When other guests talked about the stairs, they’re not joking; be prepared. Not a problem for us, but others could think so.
-There was leftover food/drinks in the fridge and garbage in the trash when we arrived. That may be me being a clean freak. 🤷‍♀️
- The L runs 1/2 a black away and you can hear it if you’re a light sleeper.
- It would be nice if the power strips or outlets had USB ports.
- The beds.
The two twin beds in the same room are Murphy beds with thin mattresses. It was perfect for our younger two, don’t think I would expect a single adult or teenager to sleep on them.
Both the queen beds were very uncomfortable. We stayed three nights and that was more than enough for our backs.
The beds do all have mattress protectors on them so that’s nice.
- The worst thing and only real issue about the apartment was the marijuana. Whoever lives on the second floor must smoke a lot. We smelled it in the stairway and it became very strong in the actual apartment. I’m not sure if the whole building’s ducts are connected but you would assume so. This was a problem for our family. Our children complained about the funny smell and it lingered in our clothing after we were in our vehicle. Recreational marijuana use became legal in Illinois on 1/1/20 so there’s nothing to do about it.
Overall, James’ place was a great value and fit my family’s needs for our four day trip, just wish the marijuana issue wasn’t present.