Phoenix Vacations from ￥326,714

Hotel Riu exceeded our expectations. The room was spacious and clean. There were no carpets in the room which was fabulous! The bed was comfortable and the room is equipped with key controlled lights and cooling. The hotel is very quiet and I had no trouble sleeping until the last night. There was a sound that mimicked a bass or subwoofer that kept me up. The staff did all they could to find the source including sending an engineer to my room to make sure it was nothing mechanical or internal. We never could find the source but it sounded far away not like in the next room. I felt very safe as a single woman traveling on my own. No access to upstairs rooms without a key card. Our favorite place was the rooftop bar!!!! Great views, fabulous staff, and the food was very tasty. Drinks were well made and not watered down.

The first room we were assigned smelled like a cat. I'm severely allergic, so I knew right away (room 2204). The second room (1404) was nice and clean. Unfortunately the noise from Michigan Avenue is pretty much unbearable. It's an old building and no sound proofing has been done to the walls ... even from the 14th floor I could hear sirens all night, cars drag racing, and even gun shots. There are 5-6 elevators on this property, but the first set of 3 services the lobby to floor 22, and the second set services 22 - 30something. I found myself constantly waiting on an elevator. One morning at 8:30 am, I had to wait for 3 (very full elevators) to pass by. If I wasn't carrying a bunch of things I would have taken the stairs. On another occassion I actually got stuck in one of the elevators, as it wouldn't open at the lobby level. I had to take it back up and use the stairs. On a positive note, the location was nice. The gym was excellent, and the food on property was very good. I just won't be back because of the noise and the elevator issues.