The Buckingham, chicago-il

Do not live here if you are looking for summer housing. The building is rundown. Your unit will have old, damaged furniture that they switch out for older furniture when you make a request. Your bathroom will have mold, your kitchen sink will leak onto the ground. None of your lights will work. The cabinets and fixtures are all old and cheap. For what you’ll be paying you’re better off subleasing from someone else and commuting to work. Plus the Loop is boring so there’s not much gained from location alone

My son lived at The Buckingham (Apartment 504) during the summer of 2026, and it was one of the worst apartment experiences our family has ever encountered. The most significant issue was that the apartment had no functioning air conditioning for approximately eight weeks during the summer. Numerous maintenance requests were submitted, yet the problem was never properly resolved. Management provided a portable AC unit taped to a window, but it was ineffective and frequently became disconnected. The apartment routinely reached temperatures around 85 degrees, making it difficult to sleep or even comfortably occupy the unit. There were also serious safety and security concerns. My son's key card stopped working, leaving him dependent on roommates or security staff just to enter his apartment. When reporting the issue to Gregory, he refused to provide a replacement key card unless he paid $75, even though the card was issued 3 weeks prior, already in poor condition, but Gregory said he scratched it. $75 for a keycard after paying over $3,500 for the summer -come on! As a result, roommates often had to leave the door cracked open so he could get inside, which is clearly not a safe solution. Other unresolved maintenance issues included: Extremely hot water coming from both the kitchen and bathroom sinks, with little or no cold water available. A non-functioning hallway light outside the apartment, making entry difficult and unsafe. Repeated threats of lockout fees despite the fact that management had failed to provide a functioning key card. Most disappointing was management's response. Complaints were repeatedly brought to their attention, yet little was done. When concerns were raised, the interactions felt dismissive and unprofessional rather than focused on resolving the problems. No tenant paying premium downtown Chicago rent should have to spend most of a summer without air conditioning, without reliable access to their apartment, and without basic maintenance issues being addressed. My expectations going in to this was a 3 star as that is reasonable but given the issues outlined they get a 1 star from me. I cannot recommend The Buckingham based on this experience. I would look into other options.

**Extremely disappointing experience. I strongly recommend avoiding this place.** My girlfriend had an absolutely terrible experience living in this student housing. She was sharing an apartment with four other roommates when one of them brought a child to live in the apartment, despite this being a student housing facility. The living conditions quickly became unacceptable. Dirty diapers were left around the apartment, shared spaces were constantly messy, and basic hygiene standards were completely ignored. What makes this situation even worse is the management's complete lack of responsibility. They were fully aware of what was happening, yet **for over two months, they did absolutely nothing to resolve the situation.** Students pay a significant amount of money expecting a safe, clean, and properly managed living environment. Instead, my girlfriend was forced to deal with extremely uncomfortable and unhygienic conditions while management repeatedly failed to take action. **The biggest problem isn't just what happened inside the apartment, but the fact that management allowed it to continue for months.** Completely unacceptable, extremely unprofessional, and a total lack of respect for residents. **If you're a student looking for accommodation, I strongly suggest looking elsewhere.**

We moved my son into The Buckingham yesterday for his summer internship in Chicago. He was the first check in time at 7:00 and there was a small line. The process was very efficient and it took just minutes to check in and get his room key. The room was clean and organized and the entire process could not have been easier and more organized. Super friendly staff and management too.

My A/C has been broken for 2 weeks and it is 94 degrees in my room as I type this. This place is legally robbing me for $1,890 a month and I would highly, highly advise anyone reading this to find quite literally any other alternate in the city, even 20-30 minutes outside if you have to. There are terrible reviews dating back to over 3 years ago and seems nothing has changed so it's clear that management simply does not care.