Cheri N.
Yelp
First impression upon arrival, nice motel, very close to campus. Clean, sparse rooms with just the basics. Walking distance to U of I but also in the heart of downtown. Nice shops and restaurants all around that you can stroll to. Free parking. Coffee maker, fridge, microwave, and hair dryer in room. We felt very safe for walking in the area at night. Lots of food choices nearby.
After a sleep we determined that the bed comfort was good to ok. Pretty solid and firm mattresses with white sheets and a thin blanket. Good temp control in room. Not too hot but not cold. Best part was check in and check out via text is amazingly convenient.
Cons: paper thin walls, so we can hear noise from other rooms. Plus the noisy traffic on Jefferson Street is very loud since it's a very, very busy street basically all day and night. Noted at 11pm there is still constant traffic swishing by. Super Thin windows with tissue paper thin blinds so there is absolutely no noise buffering. Could also hear music beats vibrating through walls. Sorry your ear plugs do not protect from music vibrations since there is no definitive sound but still can feel the beat while not hearing lyrics. I'm a heavy sleeper but woken up by this noise after several hours sleeping is too much! Then in the morning around 5:30 AM, the noise started through the walls again with the neighbor's bedside clock alarm going off . The in-room provided alarm clocks suck...as ours unexpectedly went off by 6am as well!!!!!! Plus we could hear the neighbor's voices through the walls word for word in the morning.
An additional improvement suggestion that I think is very important for personal safety: the owners should install a deadbolt in addition to a single swing bar lock at the top of the door that they currently offer. Since this motel does remote check in via text their door locks are pin coded. It is very unsettling to think how little security the physical doors offer with a single swing lock inside. I would've felt much more secure inside the room if they also had a manual deadbolt above the door knob.
Noted, this accommodation was much less expensive than other places in the area that were double what we paid here. Still we paid well over $200 on a Friday night. This is bottom tier lodging for sure but a trade off in saving money while being in an excellent location. Thankfully the streets in this area appear safe. Location is excellent for convenience but maybe not rest. Beware.