Illini Union Hotel — Attraction in Urbana

A buddy and I recently decided to pay a return visit to our alma mater, the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana and decided to stay at the Illini Union Hotel. You can’t beat the location - in the middle of the campus on the north end of the “Quad” and a block from campustown.||Our double room was booked directly through the hotel and our Saturday night stay set us back $145 77. We had no problem getting a weekend room since it was spring break. No problems with check-in and the front desk staff was very friendly.||Free parking is available next to the building. There is no pool or exercise room directly on the premises. The basement has a bowling alley though.||Our room was adequate in size and tastefully decorated. We were also able to score a room overlooking the Quad facing the Auditorium. It had a flat screen TV, small fridge, coffee maker, safe and iron and ironing board. There also was a desk/chair and a separate wing chair.||The bathroom was clean and contained the usual amenities, including a hairdryer and a selection of tetra green toiletries. (A nice touch - Braille on the toiletries’ caps.) Shower pressure was fine. ||We had no complaints about the beds and appreciated the four pillows on each bed.||The room rate included a $5 voucher for each of us toward breakfast at any of the food places in the Union. (There’s a Starbucks on the first floor and a food court in the basement, but only the Starbucks was open on Sunday due to spring break.)||All in all, a good choice. But if you can, ask for a room with a view...

We have spent this year touring colleges for my son. We were happy to stay at The Illini Union Hotel to truly experience what it would feel like to be a student on the campus. The hotel is situated directly in the Student Union, in the center of campus. Being from out of town and not knowing the area at all, we were happy to be in walking distance of the entire campus and downtown area. It does feel a little like you are in a dorm more than a hotel. The room we had was nicely updated with the school colors, we had a beautiful view of the quad, but the bathroom was really old, although clean. We visited during a heatwave in late August and thankfully the room had great air conditioning! Although you are in the student union the 2 days we were there it seems liked only the Starbucks was open even though classes were already in session. Front desk wasn't helpful in recommending anywhere else to eat or where to go. It was too hot to really wander around even at night, so we ended up relying on trip advisor reviews to go somewhere about a 10 minutes drive away to eat. Would have been nice to have some information on the hours of campus eateries and local restaurants just so we knew where we could go. I'm sure many prospective students stay here for their tours and a little information could make the stay much...

Rented a room to stay overnight, mid-week, following our prospective-student campus tour. Tour ended around 12:30 and concierge didn't offer to help get us into our room early, even after taking the hour long walking tour that followed our four-hour drive to get here this morning. She did however offer to go ahead and give us our parking pass and told us to check back at 3. The clerk who checked us in at 3:30, however was very welcoming and cheerful, helping to recommend places to eat nearby worthy of our one night in town.

Our room was great, with a view of the Quad. It looked the same as in the photos I viewed on the university's website. The reviewer who complained of them being little more than made-over dorm rooms must not have had the same dorm experience I did in college. The room was plenty spacious, with a decent flat panel television that had enough channels any person could find something to watch. Bathroom was small and a mix of modern and more "vintage" run-of-the-mill fixtures.

I do wish our "family suite" had a small couch...