If your company has selected this place for their annual conference or training then watch out – it was chosen because your company is looking to cut back their expenses instead of having something in a better venue that is not like a prison, such as Las Vegas which is where my prior employer conducted their 1-week training for executives.

This property was originally a junior college in the 1980’s and was purchased by Accenture as a method for training their employee’s at the lowest possible cost while placing a “collegial” spin on the old dump as a great place to network with peers. The truth is that unless you are a college-hired Analyst your chances of seeing these colleagues again are about the same as seeing the folks you pass in the airport again (slim to none).

The Pros:

Gym is of nice size and you can normally grab a treadmill w/o any problem
Plenty of trails on the facility grounds for running or walking (weather permitted)
Food is of good variety and well prepared then served in buffet style
Snack selection and beverage choices are in plenty between class/conference breaks

Cons:

If you are an Accenture employee then make preparations to get shoved into a room the size of a closet that will be similar to that of a cruise ship. This is true for all employees except for few selected Senior Executives.

The limited number of standard-size rooms (what the Q Center classifies as Executive Rooms) are reserved for the small amount of non-Accenture conferences (5% of their clientele) because those folks have more choice of where they can stay.

The facility is in the middle of nowhere. I ended up gaining 5 pounds the week I stayed here because outside of class there are limited options other than drinking and eating and it rained every day.

The facility is old and still smells like that the college it once happened to be
Very long hike between rooms and training part of the facility

Staff attitude seems to be mediocre at best. It is the concept of “we know you’re required to be here and you’re a dime-a-dozen”.

My next “con” is more aimed at the Accenture guests but since they are 95% of their folks, I think it relevant for this forum. My overall observations of the training facilitators were that they were here out of obligation. Similar to having to meet a % of their work other than chargeability for the year; this resulted in the classes becoming very boring and monotone in nature. I had to drink plenty of caffeine in order to stay awake and the days dragged.

Advice:

Well, if you’re with ACN, you really don’t have a choice but to attend but the class is required for promotion, which is another topic for a different forum you don’t want me to start here. My only advice for ACN staff is to have reasonable expectations before your arrival and prepare accordingly. If your willing to pay the extra $40 per night for an upgrade, be sure to inquire about the option to upgrade upon arrival at check-in.

Non ACN staff, I strongly recommend you steer away and influence your conference / training arrangement personnel within your company to not book at this facility.

Website looks good.... place is a wreck and looks like the retro 70's.... service ok but can tell the place is tired and caters only to their anchor client, accenture. go to chicago... worth the trip.

Went there for a couple of training courses. The high speed internet is great , the canteen food isn't great except for breakfast. The staff are really friendly and the center organised buses to the local outlet malls and things like that.

The rooms are small, but if you're going for a training course it's fine.

Check in was easy and efficient. When I arrived in the room and saw the size, I went back to the reception to let them know an executive room was booked for me and this one was quite small. The answer was that I should feel lucky because people are fighting to get this kind of rooms... Given the size of the regular ones, I do understand! The other point is that the Q Centre is in the middle of nowhere. Event St Charles is not at a walking distance. And Chicago is very far away (60+ miles). So you end up in the Q-Centre pub every evening... Now beside the tiny size of the rooms, the Q-Centre provides a high quality service. Wifi is accessible almost everywhere and is free. The business centre is extremely efficient. The restaurant is well organised (important when 1000 people want to take their breakfast at the same time!). The meeting rooms and conference facilities are also of high standards.
In short, good for the business side. But becomes boring if you have to spend more than 2 days...