Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk
Spacious Riverwalk rooms near Michigan Avenue undercut by severe check-in delays and steep dining prices.
The verdict
Pick a traveller type to re-weight the scores and re-rank the rooms around what you actually care about.
Situated along the River Esplanade near Michigan Avenue, this high-rise hotel offers generously sized rooms with striking views of the river and lake. Beds are plush and comfortable, and the property features a seventh-floor pool and fitness center. However, guests regularly endure chaotic check-in lines and long room delays as staff struggle to keep up with the building's massive room count. 862
Every line below traces back to something a traveler actually wrote — open a line to read the original sentence and follow it to the source.
What travelers noticed
- Guests consistently appreciate the riverfront setting next to the Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, and Millennium Park. 694
- Rooms provide ample space and natural light for families alongside comfortable pillow-top beds. 84
- Check-in service is widely criticized for chaotic lines and wait times that can stretch up to two hours. 3
- Housekeeping frequently struggles to keep pace across the tower's 1,214 rooms and 34 floors. 8
The catch
- While some travelers snagged heavily discounted rooms, others felt nickel-and-dimed by expensive bottled water and breakfasts topping $38 per person. drawn from the full read
- Upper levels like the 30th floor deliver exceptional skyline and fireworks views, but lower north-facing rooms offer little to look at. 7
Who it's for
- — Families needing generously sized rooms
- — Visitors wanting river and lake views
- — Easy walking access to Michigan Avenue
Skip it if
- — Anyone in a rush at check-in
- — Travelers seeking modern, recently renovated decor
- — Guests looking for affordable on-site breakfasts
Seen on camera
6 moments · 2 videos · Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk
Each moment is pulled at the second a cited reviewer said the words. Play it here, or open the original video at that timestamp.
“I was generally happy with both hotels but thought the Travelodge gave me a much better value”
youtube.com2:39“Embrace refined comfort in family-friendly hotel rooms and suites enhanced by essentials such as ultra comfortable Shera…”
youtube.com0:21“as far as food choices nearby the Travelodge is a much better location plenty of fast food venues in restaurants taco sh…”
youtube.com0:44“Enjoy our coveted location by the river near Michigan Avenue, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile.”
youtube.com0:44“as far as the rooms yes it is an older hotel it doesn't have the newer smell of the Sheraton grande but I was pleased wi…”
youtube.com1:28“I was on the 12th and top floor and looking north well not much of a view last year was at the 30th floor of the Sherato…”
youtube.com1:48Frames are citations: each one links to its second in the source video, attributed to the creator who filmed it. Nothing here is supplied by the hotel. Creators who want a moment removed can ask and we take it down.
Paying $8 more direct is likely worthwhile if you value Marriott Bonvoy points, status credit, or on-property benefits.
Prices shown are an estimated range, not a live quote — the booking site confirms the real rate for your dates.
This sits inside our estimated range for this hotel.
Confidence: low · modelled estimate, not a live quote. Check the supplier for the real rate on your dates.
Score breakdown
How the 82/100 is built, category by category — each one with the strongest thing travelers actually said, and the source it came from.
Bathroom
87- “The bathrooms have notably large vanities, and typical shower/tub combos.” 8
Food
89Location
93Noise
91- “And despite its location, this Sheraton is described by many recent visitors as quieter than most Chicago hotels.” 2
Room
82Service
86Bed & Sleep
89- “Embrace refined comfort in family-friendly hotel rooms and suites enhanced by essentials such as ultra comfortable Sheran signature sleep experience beds and striking views of the lake river and Chicago cityscape.” 60:21
Where it is, how to reach it
Details read from tripadvisor.com · checked 2026-08-24
Stay value
How this property reads against the hotels we cover alongside it. Measured on review evidence, not on a nightly rate.
Falls short of what $$ usually buys
Scores 8 points below the mid-range median of 90, across 412 hotels in the same bracket. In Chicago it sits 7 points below the local median of 89.
- This hotel
- 82
- Bracket median
- 90
- Index median
- 90
Based on 412 comparable hotels.
Which room to ask for
What reviewers say about where to sleep inside this building — by room number where one is named, and otherwise by floor, wing, aspect and position. Every line opens onto the quotes behind it.
- 1 mention
- 1 mention
- 1 mention
- 1 mention
No location within the hotel draws repeated complaints yet.
Where travelers agree — and don’t
The topics reviewers split on most. A wide bar means your experience depends on which room you get — or whose opinion you trust.
View the 39 things travelers said behind this verdict▾
Quotes run exactly as travelers wrote them — spelling and all. We trim for length, never for tidiness.
- “With 1,214 rooms over 34 floors, housekeeping struggles to keep up.” 8
- “The location is great, but the poor check in process made for a very disappointing start to our stay.” 3
- “I don't know, I would assume allowing the mobile check in to work would have resolved the issue. I think they literally just had no one who knew what they were doing on staff tonight.” 12
- “Took about 75 minutes. Could have been worse to be honest. I thought it would take 3 hours. Front desk guy had beads of sweat dripping down his face, super stressed-felt bad for him.” 12
- “The rooms are large and business-friendly, with desks and work space, but the Wi-Fi isn't free.” 8
- “If not for the inconsistent housekeeping, there would be few complaints about these large rooms with views of the river and downtown Chicago.” 8
- “The check in time was at 4pm, but I waited almost two hours before receiving a room. I kept being told the delay was due to housekeeping, yet no room had even been assigned to us and no one could provide an estimated time for when it would be ready.” 3
- “Purely due to renovation schedule (Sheraton hasn't had one in years is desperately waiting for one), the Loews is a more modern, nice hotel.” 14
- “I was very disappointed with my check in experience, especially for the amount I paid for 4 nights.” 3
- “The location is great, but the poor check in process made for a very disappointing start to our stay.” 3
- “Enjoy our coveted location by the river near Michigan Avenue, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile.” On camera60:44
- “The Sheraton Downtown is in a great location to explore riverfront attractions like Michigan Ave and Millennium Park.” 9
- “Right along the River Esplanade next to the Magnificent Mile, this location is tough to beat.” 4
- “I was generally happy with both hotels but thought the Travelodge gave me a much better value” On camera72:39
- “Lounge is gonna be lit. They were selling rooms and suites cheap as F earlier this month to fill up.” 12
- “They didn't inform us they were doing a special breakfast on new years. So the price was far more than we anticipated. We thought it was 25/person, and it ended up being 75/person for Breakfast.” 18
- “This hotel, the Hyatt on Wacker and the big Marriott on Rush are all convention hotels that never recovered from COVID. They were selling rooms and suites cheap as F earlier this month to fill up.” 12
- “For accommodations, Loews Chicago Hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton, and InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile are the nearest competitors. Sheraton has the best price, and a river view to boot!” 4
- “I was on the 12th and top floor and looking north well not much of a view last year was at the 30th floor of the Sheraton Grand and you cannot beat the view there unbelievable but is it worth the extra cost” On camera71:48
- “IPod docks and coffeemakers come standard, but the hotel uses minibars with sensors that automatically charge for removed items, leaving little space for guests' own refrigerated goods.” 8
- “On check-in I was informed that there is a $25 destination fee. This was not disclosed during the booking process. I guess a destination fee is something like a resort fee with no resort amenities.” 18
- “Additionally, they never informed me of the destination fee, so I paid it and never got to spend the credits.” 18
- “Starbucks the next morning is $16 for a venti and a large coffee. Three of the cheapest bottles of water that have ever been made cost $16.50. This hotel is just ripping people off. These prices would be laughed at even in an airport.” 18
- “A lounge has extra amenities for Sheraton Club members, including Wi-Fi and an unremarkable continental breakfast.” 8
- “"Hotel beautiful, breakfast was not worth $38. Pp. tables needed a placemat or an tablecloth and..."” 1
- “as far as food choices nearby the Travelodge is a much better location plenty of fast food venues in restaurants taco shops pizzeria Panda Express a coffee shop next door as well as a Panera Bread close by” On camera70:44
- “The hotel has five on-site restaurants, several of which boast gorgeous riverfront views.” 4
- “"Beautiful hotel by the riverwalk with great access to the Navy Pier, restaurants and the river..."” 1
- “Embrace refined comfort in family-friendly hotel rooms and suites enhanced by essentials such as ultra comfortable Sheran signature sleep experience beds and striking views of the lake river and Chicago cityscape.” On camera60:21
- “The line to get a hotel room at Sheraton/Chicago - 250 people at least I've never been in a line this long in my life, not airports, not Disney world, never....” 12
- “Room was amazing for our family of five!!” 3
- “as far as the rooms yes it is an older hotel it doesn't have the newer smell of the Sheraton grande but I was pleased with the size of the room it was decent” On camera71:28
- “Some might considered the overall decor generic.” 8
- “"We stayed in the Ogden Suite, which it turns out is not actually a suite. It's..."” 1
- “The bathrooms have notably large vanities, and typical shower/tub combos.” 8
- “Is it a Times Sq hotel on New Year's type of thing? There is a view do the river which is where fireworks go off, but that's the same firework show that they do twice a week in the summer.” 12
- “The spacious rooms come with a spectacular view of the lake.” 11
- “Plush pillow-top beds overlook the city skyline or Chicago River.” 4
- “And despite its location, this Sheraton is described by many recent visitors as quieter than most Chicago hotels.” 2
What we still don't know
What we can’t tell you yet, said plainly. These close as we read more coverage of this hotel.
- No reviewer has named an individual room number here yet.
- Nothing reliable said about room types.
- Nothing reliable said about building or wing.
- Nothing reliable said about which side it faces.
- Nothing reliable said about position on the floor.
- Noise rests on 1 source — too thin to rely on.
- 18 sources carry no publication date, so we cannot tell how current they are.
Ask about Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk
Answered only from the coverage cited on this page. If nobody has written about your question, it will say so rather than guess.
How much we read
Deep coverage · 55/100We read 18 sources for this property, and pulled 51 traveler insights worth knowing. Last checked 2026-08-26.
Watch this hotel
We keep reading Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. Tell us when you're staying and we'll follow it until then — you'll hear from us only when the verdict is rewritten, the score moves, or new reviews land. No daily mail, and the watch closes itself after your stay.
Sources
Everything quoted on this page, grouped by traveler insights, outlets, and video & podcast. Counts beside each group show everything we’ve read of that kind; no one kind can carry the score on its own.
5 of 6 summary lines above are traced to specific quotes. The rest summarise the read as a whole rather than any single document.
View all 18 cited sources▾
Everything quoted on this page.
- 1Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalkchoosechicago.comReview siteDate not stated3 quotes used
“"Hotel beautiful, breakfast was not worth $38. Pp. tables needed a placemat or an tablecloth and..."”
Read originalchoosechicago.com - 2Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk Reviews & Pricestravel.usnews.comReview siteDate not stated3 quotes used
“Enormous and ideally situated, this hotel calls out to families with its generously sized rooms and a large pool.”
Read originaltravel.usnews.com - 3Hotel Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalkchicago-hotels-now.comReview siteDate not stated6 quotes used
“The location is great, but the poor check in process made for a very disappointing start to our stay.”
Read originalchicago-hotels-now.com - 4Sheraton Grand Chicagochicagotraveler.comReview siteDate not stated5 quotes used
“For accommodations, Loews Chicago Hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton, and InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile are the nearest competitors. Sheraton has the best price, and a river view to boot!”
Read originalchicagotraveler.com - 5Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk Reviews, Deals & ...expedia-aarp.comReview siteDate not statedRead originalexpedia-aarp.com
- 6Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk | Chicago | Hotel Reviewyoutube.comVideoDate not statedListened for quotes only4 quotes used
“Embrace refined comfort in family-friendly hotel rooms and suites enhanced by essentials such as ultra comfortable Sheran signature sleep experience beds and striking views of the lake river and Chicago cityscape.”
Read originalyoutube.com
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