House 5863- Chicago's Premier Bed and Breakfast

Just a warning for anyone thinking about staying here. I reserved a room in May for Labor Day and was charged the full amount. When I had to change my plans A FULL 2 MONTHS PRIOR to the date of my reservation, House 5863 kept my money until after Labor Day, at which point they still charged me 50% of the cost. This is an absurd practice, especially 2 months out. Obviously, they're hard up for cash and not doing well enough to make a living by simply charging people for actual services rendered.

We arrived at this B and B. As we tried to get into the place, the owner made it very clear that there was no entry without code that he had sent out. We explained we had no code and he finally let us in and made it clear he was irritated. This is a self efficient B and B. There is no interaction with owner. A kitchen is filled with breakfast items, drinks and snacks. Great location. Metro into Chicago is in walking distance. Just be sure to have the code!

Be weary of making a reservation at this establishment. I booked for a Saturday night and a few hours later my reservation was cancelled. When I called the agency that booked my room, I was told that the hotel was "overbooked."

Had a nice stay. We had a private bath that was down the hall from our room. Everything was clean. Check in was smooth- we communicated through text and that worked well.

The owners were notable by their absence. Continental do-it-yourself breakfast options included stale croissants, jelly in squeeze bottles, no butter and various bread that you pull out of the refrigerator. Powdered cream for the coffee. Five varieties of boxed cereal. Some fresh fruit. Cheap hot cocoa mix. Cluttered, poorly designed bedroom. Wifi inoperative (until I reset the router.) Bathroom across the hall was cold. No housekeeping at all for the bedroom. Bathroom was unserviced the first day, then number of towels declined each day. Had to replace toilet paper on our own. Towel bar fell off of wall; not repaired during 4 night-stay. Fire extinguishers not inspected since 2009. Draconian refund policy.

Great traditional bnb. Friendly staff. Great patio. Comfortable and clean

BEWARE! OWNER IS A LIAR AND A FRAUDSTER. I WAS OVERCHARGED $170 OVER QUOTED PRICE. I waited OVER a month to see if I received ANY communication as to "why". NONE came. My only correspondence was a text thanking us for our stay. When I posted a less than stellar review, Owner LIED and said we damaged the room. AMEX is now checking into him. I have the City of Chicago (couple organizations) looking into his "alleged" FRAUD activities. ODDITY: Claims OVER 20 years in business but the website only has reviews going back 16 years. I realize that is only an "exaggeration" but is typical of his cavalier attitude towards basic business ethics. BTW, you libel me, and that's another offense against you. I HATE FRAUDSTERS

Please listen to the warnings on this review, and the many others. When people claim that this stay is a scam, it is not far off. When I initially made this booking, I was asked to email a picture of my ID and vaccination card. I was traveling elsewhere at the time and did not have access to my proof of vaccination, and after telling House 5863 this, they decided to cancel my reservation within a week. I found this to be odd, but simply remade the reservation a few days after that and promptly sent the photos of my ID and Vaccine card. The problem was, I wasn't refunded for my first reservation, so for 6 weeks, I was out $836. I left several voicemails and sent several emails to get refunded for the initial booking that was canceled. Communication with the proprietor was either non-existent or unhelpful. Even when I was staying at the hotel, he kept avoiding meeting with me to resolve the refund issue. When speaking with him, he was incredibly rude and unprofessional, getting very defensive and raising his voice. He did eventually take care of the refund, but the communication to get to this point was exhausting, and took hours of my time before and during the trip. On the way back to the airport, he was texting me claiming that I broke one of his Japanese trash cans by throwing away a piece of it. After about an hour of back and forth, he admitted that he found the piece he thought was missing and admitted that the trash can was fine. Try not to stay here.

Great place! Very comfortable and accommodating. The snacks in the kitchen were very much appreciated. I highly recommend.