I live in Indiana but am close enough to Illinois that my job is there. I had to be in very early so I got a room at this place. This place has many names and you will get confused when looking them up. I have typed the address and phone number and have gotten Blue Star Inn, Urbana Travelodge, Travelodge, and America's Best Inn and Suites. Don't be tricked the address of all these names is 409 W. University Urbana, IL. 61801 and the number is [--]. First I had to ring the bell a few times and finally someone came out the back and let me in. I paid for my room and headed to it. Once inside I could not believe I had been charged $50. The tile on the shower was falling off and moldy behind it, there was nail sticking out of the headboard with a flimsy piece of clear tape over that fell off when I touched it, the window unit for a/c and heat didn't work, the left side bottom drawer of the dresser was knocked out, the blanket, sheets and pillow cases had cig burn holes in them, the room smell terrible, the light switch plates were covered with grime build up, lamp shades were dingy and dirty, the furniture had dark dirt spots all over them, I turned the bedside lamp on and saw a big red spot on the carpet so I got down to look bc it looked like blood and when I did I saw a half smoked cig butt under the bed, the wall had a huge warped crack in it by the window. I actually cried. I got all my things and headed to the front desk to leave. On my way there I stopped a woman and asked if she had stayed here before and she said yes. She said it's a shag but it's cheap ($5 would be cheap for this place). She also informed me that the last time she stayed the power went out in her room 3 times!! We wished eachother luck I continued to the front desk. When I got there the young guy asked if something was wrong. I said I don't want to seem mean, but yes there is big time. I told him everything and he offered to move me to another room. Which me being to nice I said ok but I want to see it first. When we first walked in it seemed much better at quick first looks (compared to the other). After the guy left out of curiousity I looked under the bed and there were 6 cig butts, an empty 2 liter of orange soda and cheesy popcorn puffs on the floor. The sheets smelled somewhat clean but had what looked like make-up stains on them. The lamp shades in this room were covered in cig smoke and dirt. I was just tired and worn out from work I reluctantly laid down. I woke after a couple hours and left to go eat dinner elsewhere. While out I asked the locals about this hotel and they couldn't believe I was staying there. It is known as the drug and sex hotel and the dirtiest around. I thought how grand!!! When I got back to the room I went to extra secure it by using the metal bar that catches the metal ball (so if someone tries to open the door if unlocked it will stop them) Ya, so couldn't because the door had been kicked in before and the ball on the door was GONE!! I work in security and corrections...trust that I know what a door looks like when it's been kicked in. Finally relaxed enough to fall asleep to wake up from a dream off being bit by spiders, only I was really itching everywhere and still am!!!!!!!!! Also, it wasn't just the rooms, the hallways were just as bad with the VERY DIRTY carpet and cig butts all around. The Indian guy behind the counter was nice, but then again I was quite the push over...probably because it was my first time getting room alone. I will NEVER go back to that hotel EVER, unless it's to help shut them down!!! Do not stay here! Spend the extra few bucks and go elsewhere. Even with it being somewhat cheap at $50 it's so far from worth that I promise!! I took pics with my cell but deleted them after sending them to my bf or I would post them with this. The only good thing about this hotel is it was close to my work.

Stayed here for a weekend when Illinois played Penn State. Got a good deal on Expedia and was satisfied with the hotel, as it fulfilled our small list of criteria - clean and within walking distance to the downtown bar scene and the stadium. It had apparently recently changed names to America's Best Inn and Suites, which was a bit confusing when driving up on Friday night, but they had our reservation in the system so all was well. We were told upon check-in that they were in the middle of doing some renovations, but there were no noise disturbances or messy conditions that we saw. All in all, a good value.

If you want Spartan, this is it! The room had nothing it didnt have to. The furniture was stained and awful looing. Had to put a towel down to sit on the furniture, Beds appeared to be clean and sheets looked an smelled clean, but the stains said it was time to retire the sheets! Pillows smelled ok. The bathroom was clean and had MIMIMUM furnishings. Heck, there want even any paper or pencil by the phone! There are NO amenities at this hotel. The 'continental breakfast' looked like it had been around for a couple of days.
The water in the shower was uncomtrollable It was HOT and only got hotter if you moved the knob (room 121). The hotel is run by an Inidan family who were very nice, but CHEAP, so NO refunds, NO partial credits. I did get out of the 2nd night - i think....
The sign above the back of the managers desk says something ike " Room can be cancelled within 20 minutes if you do not like", Should have taken the hint. SCRATH this place from your list!

I went down to Urbana to visit my brother at U of I for homecoming weekend. My husband drove his car there and we stayed at this Travelodge, which is also known as "Blue Star Inn." We checked in, put our things in our hotel room and walked to campus. Our car was locked and we kept the keys in the hotel room since we weren't going to be driving. Sometime while we were gone, my husband's $2000 stereo system was stolen out of the car. Another person who was with us had their checkbook and money stolen as well. The reason I'm posting this against the hotel is that the reason everything was stolen was due to the fact that the windows did not lock and they slid completely open. No screen or even plain locks. I have pictures to prove it! The theives went through our window, went through our stuff to locate the keys, went in the car, stole everything and then threw the keys back into our hotel room. When I brought this up to the hotel management, they said they "couldn't call the police or give me the number." Don't know why, but I called the police through information. When the cops came, they told us to never stay there again since they are always there. Hotel management also were not cooperative. No refund was given to me and they also claimed they never saw anything. The room was two doors down from their office and the car was parked in front of it. It would have taken at least 2 grown men to remove that stereo system. Please be advised that you should not stay there, as the Urbana Police Station even advised against it.