Our stay at Karen's apartment was fantastic! Karen is an incredible host--she made us feel completely at ease and very welcome. (She even left us some breakfast items in the fridge and Garret's popcorn for snacks!) She was so helpful in suggesting places to eat and see/do, but was really clear she wanted us to be on vacation.
The apartment is on the Southside of Chicago in a diverse neighborhood. It took us about 10-20 minutes to zip into town up Lakeshore Dr. (Side note: using the Park Whiz app we had no problem finding a central space to park on the cheap). The apartment is HUGE and well appointed in a fun boho sort of way. Other than the doorman, we didn't see or hear another soul in the building during our two days. It was very quiet and the views into the city are postcard worthy.
In short, Karen's apartment is great. While it is not right downtown, it has great views and is very easy to get downtown. Plenty of space for a family or friends traveling together.