voco Chicago Downtown - Riverwalk by IHG
A riverfront hotel with views of the Merchandise Mart, modern bathrooms, and plush King beds.
The verdict
Pick a traveller type to re-weight the scores and re-rank the rooms around what you actually care about.
Voco Chicago Downtown provides riverfront accommodations with views of the architecture and Merchandise Mart lights. Rooms feature plush King beds and large bathrooms stocked with Apotheke toiletries, alongside a 15th-floor breakfast buffet overlooking the water. However, service is a severe weak point, with guests facing disorganized staff and check-in lines that take well over an hour. 616
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
- Bathrooms stand out for their walk-in showers, good water pressure, and white vetiver Apotheke toiletries. 616
- Guest rooms offer plush King beds with comfortable bedding, easy temperature controls, and ample storage. 166
- The hotel provides views of the river, architecture, and the lights of the Merchandise Mart. 617
- A 15th-floor buffet serves American breakfast options overlooking the river. 16
The catch
Who it's for
- — Sightseers wanting river and skyline views
- — Travelers prioritizing spacious bathrooms with walk-in showers
- — Guests seeking affordable rates at a renovated IHG property
Skip it if
- — Travelers unwilling to risk long check-in lines
- — Guests expecting polished and organized front desk staff
How to book
Score breakdown
How the 78/100 is built, category by category — each one with the strongest thing travelers actually said, and the source it came from.
Bathroom
89Food
87Location
90Noise
88Room
81Service
76Bed & Sleep
78Nothing quotable yet on this one — the score leans on the rest of the coverage.
Where it is, how to reach it
Details checked 2026-09-10
Where it sits
voco Chicago Downtown - Riverwalk by IHG and the 39 other hotels we cover in Chicago. Hover a marker for the hotel; click to open it.
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 86, across 675 hotels in the same bracket. In Chicago it sits 10 points below the local median of 88.
- This hotel
- 78
- Bracket median
- 86
- Index median
- 86
Based on 675 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
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 28 things travelers said behind this verdict▾
Quotes run exactly as travelers wrote them — spelling and all. We trim for length, never for tidiness.
- “I think they literally just had no one who knew what they were doing on staff tonight.” 17
- “The Embassy is good and does have a nice breakfast and reception. The rooms are a bit dated and the lobby can be loud and a bit annoying if you're just trying to get to your room quickly.” 13
- “The Embassy is good and does have a nice breakfast and reception.” 13
- “Busy_Narwhal_76 • 3 taon ang nakalipas The mobile check in out help solve a lot of their problems. Also, they have no one who works here having any idea of what is going on. They look shell shocked haha!” 17
- “The rooms are a bit dated and the lobby can be loud and a bit annoying if you're just trying to get to your room quickly.” 13
- “Bed was extremely comfortable with nice bedding. Room temperature easy to control.” 16
- “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....” 17
- “The guest room offered everything you might find in a premium hotel like thoughtfully curated furnishings, power outlets, storage and closet room, and a plush King bed.” 6
- “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.” 17
- “At night, we saw views of the iconic Chicago skyline and the vibrant lights from the Merchandise Mart. The morning sunlight offers a stunning view of the river and architecture of the Michigan Avenue bridge.” 6
- “And I would rather have a desk than a kitchen table to work at (mainly the desk chair). Also, the breakfast is at the Webber Gill and is nice (if you get that comped)” 13
- “The rooms were pretty outdated, the breakfast was hardly edible and the reception drinks were so bad I didn't even use the two other tickets some other guests handed off to me.” 13
- “I just stayed at the Embassy Suites early May. Breakfast is definitely better as they have a cook on duty for omelets to order.” 13
- “Breakfast is served on the 15th floor overlooking the river. Buffet style with American options and brunch type. The food was wonderful.” 16
- “Although the hotel did not offer room service during the time of our stay, we had the chance to grab breakfast from the Riverbend Market (which is also open 24 hours) for a hearty Chicago-inspired plate of Chicken and Waffles, made with Belgium waffles and spiced maple syrup.” 6
- “A short way from deep-dish pizza restaurants in Chicago, the 3-star smoke-free hotel offers a prime location and includes an American restaurant.” 12
- “I stayed at the Embassy Suites last fall. I would not recommend it. The rooms were pretty outdated, the breakfast was hardly edible and the reception drinks were so bad I didn't even use the two other tickets some other guests handed off to me.” 13
- “I've stayed at the Embassy a lot; great location! London House is my favorite though.” 13
- “I loved Homewood suites when I stayed in Fulton Market. Great location, nice snacks, super clean/updated, and Ceiling fan.” 13
- “The voco hotel lives just across from the Merchandise Mart and train station, making it a convenient stop from all corners of Chicagoland.” 6
- “I've stayed at that Embassy Suites many times. Great location.” 13
- “The HGI downtown/Mag mile is great and very walkable- I stay there quite a bit.” 13
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 view.
- Nothing reliable said about position on the floor.
- Bathroom rests on 1 source — too thin to rely on.
- Location rests on 1 source — too thin to rely on.
Ask about voco Chicago Downtown - Riverwalk by IHG
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
Light coverage · 50/100We read 18 sources for this property, and pulled 41 traveler insights worth knowing. Last checked 2026-09-11.
Watch this hotel
We keep reading voco Chicago Downtown - Riverwalk by IHG. 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.
6 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.
- 7Voco Chicago Downtown An Ihg Hotelhotelplanner.comReview site2026-05-25CurrentRead originalhotelplanner.com
- 4Downtown hotel recommendations? : r/AskChicagoreddit.comForum thread2025-12-08RecentRead originalreddit.com
- 1
- 15Options in Chicago : r/ihghotelsresortsreddit.comForum thread2025-02-18RecentRead originalreddit.com
- 13Downtown Chicago Recommendation? : r/Hiltonreddit.comForum thread2024-05-20Ageing18 quotes used
“The rooms are a bit dated and the lobby can be loud and a bit annoying if you're just trying to get to your room quickly.”
Read originalreddit.com - 6Review: voco Chicago Hotel Grand Openingtheknockturnal.comReview site2022-11-15Ageing5 quotes used
“Refined and modern bathroom features Apotheke toiletries in delicious white vetiver, a perfect clean scent with added depth.”
Read originaltheknockturnal.com
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