University Plaza Hotel is a fancy place, expensive to build and maintain. It is very close to being an excellent hotel, however noise carries in the nine story atrium. The clatter of breakfast plates carries from the first floor to the far end of the ninth floor. A few people sitting and chatting in the bar create a din, get a little craziness going and you have a roar of noise. The acoustics are terrible. I listened to an unseen dog yip throughout breakfast, a much bigger dog only gave a couple of big woofs during our stay.

Add in very noisy H-VAC units and you have a very unpleasant experience. We shut our heat off at night and listened instead to the neighboring units. Earplugs eliminated the noise for me, my wife finds them too uncomfortable to wear.

I did not think that two elevators were enough for 270 unit hotel. All was fine until they were out of order. It is a long climb to the ninth floor.

The sink was outside the bathroom in our room. I get up before my wife and prefer to shave without disturbing her.

On the plus side, wi-fi was fast and reliable. Our room was clean, the bed comfy and not short sheeted, the couch, desk, dresser and TV were fine. Hot breakfast was good.

Deduct 2 stars for the noise, one star for the elevators, and one star for the sink outside the bathroom and give them back one for polite, professional staff to reach a two star, poor rating.

The rooms are basically arranged in a stacked circular pattern around the lobby. Therefore, you have an open view of the lobby below, and all the noise that comes with it. The heater is loud, and blows cool air. Furthermore, the walls between rooms are not soundproof. My neighbor had their tv on from 2AM until I had to get up. Would not recommend if you expect a quiet, warm place to sleep.

We just loved our recent stay at this John Q Hammonds hotel. The view from our window revealed the downtown area while the inside revealed the beautiful atrium with waterfall. Our room was very large with a king bed, sitting room with sofa bed and computer desk. The bed was plush with extra pillows. We always take a black light with us to check for hotel cleanliness and they passed with flying colors! The carpet was exceptionally clean. The hotel offers cute little samples of shampoo and conditioner. Their breakfast buffet is better than standard with scrambles eggs, ham, fresh fruit, cantelope, cereals, biscuits and gravy, toast or bagels and two different kinds of muffins. You do not go away hungary and the quality is very good. Lunches here are very good as well. Bar service in the evening in the lobby. Total price package is very fair. Free parking and valet service. Front desk staff are very helpful and accommodating. My definite hotel of choice in all of Springfield. Close to Drury and SMS as well as downtown and has a convention center that is right across the street from the Shrine Mosque and the Judicial Center.

This is a wonderful place to stay. All needs were met eagerly. The food was wonderful and the hotel beautiful. A relaxing place to stay.