I stayed in the motor lodge part of this hotel (lower price). The closest parking lot was full, so I had to be about block away. Parking was free, so no complaints. Check in was smooth. Room was clean, but a bit sparse on the furnishings. My room had two double beds, a table and four diner style chairs. There was no "soft" chair:( There was a tiny kitchenette with fridge and microwave and a few dishes and a coffee pot. My biggest disappointment was that the interconnecting door was ajar- I closed it and it seemed tight. When I came back from working the door was again ajar. I thought that I had not closed it so I repeated the process. the same thing happened the next day- so to my surprise the door opened right up into the neighboring room. The door had the ability to be locked from the OTHER side (but not my side). I was pretty horrified that the multiple male voices I had been hearing in the other room apparently had access to my room any hour of the day or night. I called the front desk and the lady said that there was nothing to worry about because the guys in that room were friends of the manager. Then she said it was probable the housekeeper (I had the do-not-disturb sign on the door the entire stay). Sorry- not good enough. I sure that lots of guys who rape and pillage know managers; AND- even if it was the housekeepers who opened the door, the guys next door still had access to my room (and ME) for the first two days of my stay. Eventually someone came to lock the deadbolt, but it took three trips to get the right key. So, I couldn't relax becuase every 1/2 hour someone was knocking on my door trying another set of keys. That was really the big/bad part of my stay. I'd stay again but I'd insist that I be shown that the deadbold was key locked. The on-site restaurant is convenient. It was raining and I didn't feel like going out. The prices were a little high for the quality of the food. the mac and cheese seemed like velvita out of a box to me.

My husband, son and I stayed here for one night recently, in connection with a high school reunion. At check-in, we were pleasantly surprised to discover our double room reservation had been upgraded to a suite.

We were in Room 405, a large corner suite. The bedroom contains two double-sized beds, a small closet, a bedside table and lamp, an upright chest of drawers, a TV set, a window over looking the one-story motel section of the Carleton property, and a comfortable bathroom, with a tub, shower, toilet and single sink.

The living room contains a sofabed, a desk, a TV set, two windows overlooking Pleasant St. (currently under renovation), a mini-fridge, a micowave oven, a bar sink, assorted tables and lamps, a coffee maker, and a bathroom with shower, toilet and sink.

There is a small entry room with a table and a small closet, with extra bedding and an ironing board. There are telephones and alarm clocks in both the living room and bedroom. All the rooms were clean. Gilchrist & Soames toiletries are in the bathrooms, along with plenty of towels.

I slept well, but my husband found the mattress on the double bed to be very uncomfortable. The sofabed was lumpy, so our son opted to sleep on the unopened couch. He slept poorly.

The hotel staff is friendly and helpful. The hotel lobby is beautiful, reminiscent of a bygone era. There is a restaurant and a separate bar on the property, and plenty of restaurants nearby.

Our favorite breakfast place in Oak Park is George's, in the 100 south block of Oak Park Avenue, opposite St. Edmund's Church.

There are four, small, free parking lots nearby for hotel guests. This is a big deal in Oak Park, where free parking can be difficult to locate. Be sure to ask the desk clerk where to park, before you arrive.

The Carleton has the feel of a hotel built in the horse and buggy era. I loved staying there. Oak Park has so much to offer visitors. We walked all over town easily from the hotel.

My husband and son give this hotel a "two" for the uncomfortable night's rest, but a "five" for everything else. I give it a "five" overall because I loved it so much.

If you want modern rooms, and an indulgent luxury experience, you will have to spend the night elsewhere, probably at least 20 minutes from Oak Park. But if you enjoy the sensibility of a more gentle age, the Carleton is well worth a stay.

My husband and I came to this hotel on the recommendation of the family we were visiting. We recently had to give up our old cats for adoption, because our condo association decided that. The family that adopted them lives in Oak Park, There were only two choices, and apparently the other place is some sort of broken down curiosity of yesteryear's bad dreams. NO THANKS! We decided, after looking at the website, and after calling and speaking with a very sweet--and funny--old Spanish man, that this would be the place for us.
Oak Park is beautiful! We arrived early and were told that our room--a suite, with a hot-tub (Ch'ching!!!!!)--would not be ready until later in the afternoon : <(. Whatever. If we were in some silly small town, this would've possibly, maybe been a problemo, but thank the Gods we were in Oak Park. We crossed a couple busy streets and got some decent meat for lunch (Gotta love chicago!)! We then went for a nice long walk. There are so many parks in Oak, um, Park. LoLz. So beautiful. It was a hot damn day, but that didn't matter being in this new magical place. We stopped into a book store, but we didn't buy anything. After that, just like that, our room was ready!
The small, tan skinned woman at the desk was super friendly, and she even apologized for our room not being made up when we arrived. You can take the small out of the town, but you can't take the good-will and charm out of the small town. I will say, our room seemed kind of old, like an old dirty coin, but still cool like an old dirty coin too--like a cool, rare coin. Jason, my lover, said it reminded him of the shining by stanley Koobrick. He thought it was cool. And, I may've forgotten to mention this, but........... HOT TUB!!!!!! Oh, yeah! And that, friends, is the last youre going to hear about the hot tub ;)!!!!! Just make sure if you ever stay here before you die if you like hot tubs, get one with a hot tub.
WE took a little nap, that turned into a long nap, and so we missed our chance to see our little cats that night. MY husband wanted to get a drink. So we met the conseairgee at the front desk. He was a look-alike for Robert Downey JR, and very nice. He sent us across a busy street to a cool bar. We had a few and slept like our sweet cats probably were. I had pretty good dreams that night.Any ways we saw our sweet cats the next day, and it was nice to see they were being taken care of in such a cool town. Their new mama and papa seemed a little weird, but friendly. They were young, and you know how kids can be.
All in all, EXCELLENT trip, and a great place to lay your head down and dream of better days in! The only bad thing was there was wedding going on, and the people there were rude (d r u n k !) When we checked out we asked to speak to the owner of the hotel. We were given a number to call, because he wasn't in (probably out golfin LOL). My husband left him a voice-message, and asked that he please return our call. He never did. Oh, well, you know these hotel owner types, probably out drinking champain and eating duck.
Staff: A+++++++
Room: A++++
Town: A++++++++++++++!!!
HOT TUB: AA+++++++++++++++!!!!!!!!

One more thing, Carlton, you might want to think about getting a pool. And also, a decent BBQ restaurant in the hotel would make your place THEE place.
THanks, guys!

J & T

They had street works going on, which the on-line booking agent DID advise us in the fine print. It was only a problem for finding access to the place, it wasn't loud. Once we found access, it was fine. Just allow 5mins more to drive round the block to find the way in. The staff were great, the hotel room facilities (a small kitchenette) were fantastic for saving money on restaurants. Room was a perfectly ordinary, fine, clean hotel room. Bathroom was a tad small. The reason I'm online right now booking this hotel again is that the room is fine and there is free parking and the hotel is located just a short walk to a train station. AND the price is right in a city with WAY over priced hotels.