We are headed to a trade show at McCormick Place in April and the event organizers have given us these choices for hotels:
1. Chicago Marriott Downtown 2. Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown Lakefront 3. Fairmont Hotel 4. Holiday Inn Chicago City Centre 5. Hyatt Regency Chicago 6. InterContinental Chicago 7. Le Meridien Chicago 8. Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers 9. Swissotel. We'll be there for 4 days or so and had a tough time trying to figure out if there were one or two hotels that really stood out. Mahalo!

I guess it depends how much you want to spend. The InterContinental is right on Michigan ave. and I hear is wonderful. So is the Fairmont which is right off Michigan within walking distance of the New Millenium Park, The Embassy Suites are fine and I assume much cheaper they are right across the street from the New Sheraton.And the swiss Hotel is near the Fairmont. All these hotels are close to each other. I'd probably pass on the Holiday Inn for any of the others. I'd go for the swiss Hotel or the Fairmont. If price is a consideration I'd go for the Embassy Suites.You can walk to alot of places and restaurants from these hotels but you will have to take a cab to the MC Place. It as its own hotel right next door but they charge a fortune for rooms there.

They are all within a half-mile of Michigan Avenue and the river (think of the Wrigley Building!), so location isn't really a concern - you can walk to all kinds of things. The Embassy Suites and Holiday Inn are not typical of their chains, as you can see by their prices; they are quite a bit nicer than you might expect. The Marriott, Sheraton and Hyatt are large, impersonal convention hotels. Intercontinental is the only one in a historic building, a beautiful structure from the 1920's with a prime Michigan Avenue location. The Swissotel and Fairmont are just north of Millennium Park, and are smaller and a more upscale than the convention hotels. Le Meridien is considered one of the finest hotels in Chicago. tripadvisor.com has lots of reviews.

The only hotel in the group that I have stayed at recently was the Hyatt Regency. Not really impressed. Your typicaly very large chain, business hotel. It does have a great bar (The Big Bar).

Curious

"...given us these choices for hotels." Can't stay anywhere else???
My favorite Chicago hotel is The Palmer House. Love it.

How do you plan to get to McCormick Place? Will the trade show offer complimentary shuttle buses? Free passes on the shuttle train to McCormick (hope I got the name right)? If you don't have shuttle buses to McCormick, then pick the closes to the shuttle train stop (at Randolp, I believe) that takes you down there...which would be the Swissotel or Hyatt Regency.

Of your list, I've stayed at the Marriott, Hyatt, Holiday Inn and Swissotel--of those, I actually preferred the Hyatt. It's a typical convention hotel and not much else, but it's very practical for a trade show. I didn't like the service at the Swissotel and the incidental charges added up quickly (glad I wasn't paying for them). Its breakfast room isn't big enough to handle a convention crowd (who all eat at about the same time), esp. when you have a bunch of people wanting a table to themselves rather than share with strangers (last year, seeing the big lines for breakfast at the Swissotel, I volunteered to share my table with some other attendees. They jumped at the offer, but were extremely rude to me, LOL, no good deed goes unpunished).
The Interconti seems to have fallen from favor lately, but all I know about it is that if you stay there, stay in the tower part.
The Marriott is a good compromise hotel. Not too far from Marta, usually a first stop on convention bus route (due to the hotel's size), and close to some excellent Mich. Ave shopping.

Just DON'T STAY at the Best Western's Chicago Inn--a dump!

Matss, when it comes to dumpy Chicago convention hotels, I will see your BW Chicago Inn and raise you a Quality Inn "Downtown". Even worse. It's not "downtown" and there's nothing quality about the QI. Got stuck there for one convention in 1990--street people slept in the lobby, housekeeping staff were mugged on our floor, and when we waited outside for a cab one night, two cabbies stopped, not to give us a ride, but to tell us the block was too dangerous to stand around on our own.

None of these seem really close to Mcormick Center but the ones I know about seem good. I have stayed atHyatt Regency, it is big and loud but good. Can't hear yourself think in the atrium. Swisshotel is right next to it, on the river, a good location. The Intercontinental is across the bridge from them, on Michigan Ave. It has 2 sections, one older. Also a good location for Mich Ave but not close to McCormick. I have heard good things about the Fairmont. We love Chicago! Go there once a year and usually stay at the Palmer House, not because it is so great but it is the location we are used to.

I put clients up at Le Meridien all the time, because it's close to my office, and they rave about it.