Before I start, I just want to state that I know not to expect a 5 star hotel at a 1 star price. I don't complain at standard service & I normally don't feel the need to review every hotel that I have stayed in. However, I do feel the need to review this one.

We booked this hotel for $43 on a site that doesn't show you the name before you pay, as a 3.5 star hotel. We wanted a nicer hotel with a pool for our girls to have a little "getaway" on the long weekend off of school. We saw the mixed reviews & checked the hotel website. It was mentioned that the hotel had underwent $18 million in recent renovations. I thought that this sounded good & was happy that the hotel had been updated. I have stayed in variety of hotels in my life, from 1 stars to 5 stars, chains to private owners.

The hotel was nice upon entering. The lobby & first floor areas were very nice. They seemed updated & we thought that this was a good sign on the room. The elevator was also nicely updated & very fast. We arrived on the 6th floor & saw a "preferred guests" sign on the hallway wall. This seemed nice & we expected to see nice updates in our room. (I did check and floors 2-5 did not have this sign). The hall had a weird smell, sort of like something had either burned or been painted recently. Almost a musty smell, but was being covered up with something else. The halls were long and dark with little natural light due to the layout of the hotel. The halls had been painted a gross shade of tan (a peach undertone) and you could tell that the old molding & wall paper had been painted over, not replaced. The lighting fixtures were updated & nice. I just couldn't get past bubbling trim & wallpaper, peeling paint, and weird smell. It seemed very low end to me & you could tell they had cut many corners during their so called renovations.

We got to our hotel room quickly (room 640), and it did look decent at first glance. There was downtown Chicago landmark inspired artwork on the wall, updated lamps, and a huge floor to ceiling window that let in a ton of nice natural light. Then, upon closer look it seemed that the corner cutting continued. Again, the wallpaper looked a bit dated but this wasn't painted over. The molding & doors were painted over and had peeling paint. The dark wood cabinets in the living room held a microwave, refrigerator, and storage space. The out side of the cabinets had a milky looking substance dried on the front of them & had clearly not been wiped down or cleaned. The counter top was nice & was clean. Snacks were available for the expected high prices, but we had our own so the kids weren't tempted. The flat panel TV was nice, but a we had a issue with the remote tuning the bedroom TV at the same time. The sleeper sofa was ok & the desk was decent as well. We did notice dust on the lamps & a few other fixtures. Not a lot, but enough to know that they aren't always cleaned.

The bedroom was separated by French doors. This was nice & had a king size bed with white linens. As mentioned, there was a TV in the bedroom as well. The wall behind the bed appeared to be leather but wasn't. It was however filthy with dried white stains or marks that were higher up on the wall. I don't even want to imagine what this could be, but I am hoping that this review will get the walls cleaned...clearly the maids don't pay attention to everything. I would have complained, but didn't feel the need since we were only there to swim one night & we had baby gear that I didn't feel like hauling to another room. The headboard was clean however, so I wasn't going to be near the marks. The pocket door that opened to the bathroom had been painted over during their "renovation" and stuck quite often and was very loud. The paint was peeling in several different spots due to this.

The bathroom had an updated sink fixture. I was cute & I think it was probably my favorite thing in the room. However, the updated fixtures were just cheapened by the shoddy paint. The bathroom was clean, and I was glad to see that. There was rust on the shower curtain pole & it was starting to come off the wall on the left side. There was a drip in the bathtub faucet but you couldn't hear it.

We enjoyed the swimming pool & hot tub. The area was clean & well stocked with extra shampoo and conditioner for the shower that was in the restroom. The towels were not stocked good & we were lucky to claim the last 4 available. The pool room furniture was nice & we did have a good time. I did after all say that the 1st floor was nice & did appear to be updated.

At check in we requested a crib for out 15 mo old. We were told to call down when we were ready for it & they would bring it up. We called at 8pm & then at 9pm when it still hadn't arrived and had a very cranky little girl on our hands. The front desk Rep actually stated "Oh, you wanted that right away" when my husband asked when we could expect the crib. It still look another 25 minutes to get it to our room, and by that time our 6 year old was exhausted too.

The bed in the sofa sleeper was ok...better than most sleepers. The king bed was decent, a little hard in my opinion because we have a very plush pillow top at home. However, it was better than most hotel beds that I have slept in. We were given a late check out & had no problems the next day.

Overall, the hotel was decent & was nice in theory. It appeared that the renovations were 1 of 3 things...a. grossly over exaggerated on the website, b. the bulk of the money was spent on the lobby & 1st floor with little to over the halls and rooms, or c. the company used cut corners and over charged. It was a clean hotel, but the peeling paint, bad wallpaper, etc just left a bit of a bad appearance. I have a feeling that the hotel will need another renovation soon because the last is already showing need of repairs. It's too bad because this hotel could be very nice if it lived up to the lobby.

I booked a room last minute on hotwire for $45! You get a one bedroom suite with a great shower and comfortable bed. I give it an A+.

This is the best hotel I stayed around the Arlington heights. Here are some reasons.

1) Good floor plan. The living room and bedroom are separated by french doors,
and convenient to use. While the total area is not very large, the bathroom and
the closet are efficiently arranged.

2) Internet is free if you are an AT&T WiFi customer. I have AT&T U-verse at home
and it automatically provides me free WiFi.

3) CATV provides TV Japan program for free. (I am a Japanese speaker.)

4) The room has a fridge and microwave. It is convenient for a long stay.

5) Parking is free. Hotels closer to O'hare Airport charge $20/day.

While I did not have to pay for room this time, the price was $89 when I stayed.
It was a good deal, compared to the quality.

Front desk staff is awesome, rooms are great, nice location and beds. Would stay again.