Arlo Chicago (Formerly Hotel Julian)

Reviews

• HA

  Hana Amer

  1 day ago
  5.0
  Very pleased with our stay at Arlo Chicago. Firstly location was perfect, situated on Michigan Avenue we were close to Millennium Park, the river, as well as many shops, restaurants and cafes. Secondly the room was quite spacious, modern and always cleaned very well. Thirdly, customer service was great, in particular a shoutout to Nick from reception who was super friendly and ensured we were well looked after during our stay. Would certainly recommend this hotel. Hana & Maurice
• YZ

  Yilin Zhang

  5 days ago
  2.0
  Unfortunately, our stay at Arlo Hotel was disappointing. We found a bug on the bed and brought the concern to the front desk. We asked if the sheets could be changed or if a room change was possible. Since it was already around midnight, we completely understood if this couldn’t be handled immediately and were willing to wait until the morning. However, the front desk insisted that the sheets be changed right away and told us someone would be sent up immediately. When the staff member arrived, we were handed a set of clean sheets and essentially asked to change the sheets ourselves. The staff member then left. Given the situation and the fact that we had specifically brought up a cleanliness concern, we expected the hotel staff to handle changing the sheets rather than asking guests to do it themselves. This was completely unacceptable and not the level of service I would expect from a hotel. I will say that Dan was great and very helpful when we had an issue with the TV. We appreciated his willingness to help and his friendly service. Overall, the way our bed/cleanliness concern was handled really impacted our experience and was not what we expected from a hotel stay.
• CR

  Connie R

  Sep 3, 2026
  1.0
  I booked a stay at Arlo Chicago back in July, but unfortunately, an unexpected family emergency required me to change my travel plans. I reached out to the hotel directly, not asking for a refund, but simply requesting that my reservation be moved to a future date. Unfortunately, despite explaining my situation, the hotel refused to accommodate my request and made no effort to offer an alternative or work with me on changing the dates. I understand that hotels have policies, but good customer service also means showing compassion and making reasonable efforts to accommodate guests when unexpected circumstances arise. I found the way my situation was handled extremely disappointing and unprofessional. Based on this experience, I would not recommend Arlo Chicago to anyone planning to travel to Chicago. Customer service matters, especially when a guest is dealing with an unexpected family emergency. Please be advised and consider this experience before booking your stay.
• NN

  notnot

  Aug 21, 2026
  1.0
  Early Check-in Trap ruins an otherwise great stay! I booked a stay at Arlo Chicago from July 27 to July 30 through Agoda. I had already prepaid the room fee online and knew I owed a USD 90.69 facility fee at the property. To be fair, many aspects of our stay were wonderful. The room was great, the Wi-Fi was fast, and the in-room TV connection worked perfectly. We even had an issue with our luggage where we had to leave it behind to be picked up by the airline, and the staff handled that situation beautifully and provided excellent service. Unfortunately, our entire experience was ruined by a deceptive billing practice at the front desk and the lack of communication after the incident. On arrival, we got there before the official check-in time. Our original intention was simply to leave our luggages at the front desk and return later. However, the staff member informed us that a room was already ready and offered to check us in. He explicitly explained that a USD 150 hold would be placed on my card for the deposit, and that the facility fees would be charged at checkout, with the remaining hold released. Because I wanted to be absolutely sure, I even asked him to repeat these exact terms to my husband so we both understood. (The hotel can verify this interaction on their CCTV). At no point during this detailed explanation did he mention a USD 50 "early check-in fee." Later, I discovered they quietly charged an extra USD 50 to my credit card. I emailed the hotel directly to resolve this but received zero response. When I raised the issue to Agoda, the hotel hid behind their policy, claiming the fee was justified because we checked in early—completely ignoring the fact that their own staff authorized the check-in without disclosing the fee. Had the staff member honestly disclosed the USD 50 charge, we would have gladly left our luggages for free and walked around. Disclosing a deposit fee but hiding a service fee is unacceptable. It is a shame that a hotel with such good rooms and helpful luggage service allows its front desk to trick guests into hidden charges and ignores them when they ask for clarification. BEWARE OF THE EARLY CHECK-IN OFFER — it is a trap to slip an extra fee onto your card.
• RB

  Robert Bredvad

  Aug 21, 2026
  2.0
  This is just not a serious hotel. Location is great, rooms are fine, but the customer service and amenities are lacking. Two parts of my experience that make me not want to return: 1. I needed an iron. If you call "Front Desk" from the in-room phones, you're connected to an AI agent. It understood I needed an iron, confirmed they'd send one to my room. Wrong. Three hours passed, nothing. I called again, explicitly saying "connect me to a real person." It did, and that real agent confirmed that an iron would be sent to my room, but that agent was seemingly not on-site, but in some sort of call center. No iron arrived. I dialed housekeeping, and only got a voicemail. Finally, I told the AI agent to connect to me "a real person, at this actual physical location," and finally got someone in the building — and after FOUR calls, the iron finally arrived. I should have just walked downstairs from the start. If anyone reads this — please, whatever efficiencies you think an automated system provides you, it's misguided. What an absolute waste of time trying to reach a real person in the literal building I'm staying in. Dumb. 2. The wifi is garbage. I'm here for a work trip, trying to download something and the Speediest download speed is.....less than 2mbps. My phone, on its worst day, is 10X faster than this. Why even bother providing wifi at all if it's functionally useless?

Frequently Asked Questions About Arlo Chicago (Formerly Hotel Julian)