Best Western Heartland Inn — Hotel in Mattoon

The only reason this place has a 3 star rating is because 3 of the reviews that gave 5 stars are family of the owners look at the names. Otherwise it would have an overall 1 star rating based on every other REAL review.

Run away very fast from this mismanaged dump!!!

If there were a Hall of Shame for hotels, the Best Western in Mattoon, IL, would undoubtedly have its name engraved in bold letters at the entrance. My experience here was not just disappointing, but downright disgusting.

Upon arrival, the building’s fresh coat of poorly applied paint on the exterior did little to forewarn us of the disaster that awaited us in this Best Western that’s an old run down Super 8 in disguise. With a sense of optimism, my son and his girlfriend checked into his room, while myself and our wife checked into ours. We decided not to go to our single king rooms though because we had a family members birthday party to get to. So we went to the party and returned later at about 11pm and went into our rooms which were next to each other. 10 seconds later our son is frantically knocking on our door only to discover his room was already occupied by another guest!

The shock and embarrassment were only exacerbated by the utter lack of urgency or concern exhibited by the staff when alerted to the egregious error!

Luckily the person wasn’t in the room otherwise who knows how that person may have reacted to being awaken by a stranger in their room at 11 pm.

You would think that ensuring a room is vacant before handing over the keys to a new guest is Hospitality 101. This establishment seemed to have skipped that lesson entirely.

So my wife contacted the front desk and the night manager came up. Once he realized we were not lying he said he would upgrade my son’s room for the trouble. Great!!

15 minutes later my son calls us furious over the fact that his upgraded room was a small queen the size of a full mattress. On top of that his girlfriend fell off of the toilet when she sat down because the toilet seat was not fastened properly. This was an upgrade mind you!!! Huh!!!!

The best part is the night manager while “upgrading “ my son’s room first tried to put him in another room that was also already occupied but luckily this time the guests in that room had put their hasp lock on the door to prevent the incompetent manager from getting into their room.

The staff's nonchalance suggested that this wasn't their first rodeo in the realm of blunders, and their subsequent handling of the situation was nothing short of a masterclass in incompetence.

Even after being presented with the opportunity to improve the situation, the staff exhibited a level of apathy and incompetence that was truly astonishing. Instead of a swift resolution, what followed was a drawn-out story of excuses, inadequacy and a display of some of the worst customer service I’ve ever seen. The day manager Celeste doesn’t truly realize or care she’s in the hospitality industry and most likely does not know the definition of “hospitality”. Which was evident by her handling of the situation the next morning. She refused to even just refund the cost of my son’s room offering a $25 discount, nothing more.Really?!?!

The room itself, once finally secured, was an example of the hotel's overarching theme of negligence. The cleanliness left much to be desired, and the decor seemed to be a relic from a bygone era that time, and evidently the cleaning staff, had forgotten. It just feels unsafe plain and simple.

It's clear that customer satisfaction is a notion as foreign to this establishment as basic housekeeping protocols. I shudder to think of the potential safety and privacy risks posed by such careless management.

In a world where choices are everywhere do yourself a favor and steer clear of the Best Western in Mattoon, IL. Or any Best Western anywhere in the world!! It's a hotel stay I wish we could erase, and an experience I would not wish on my...

I'm writing this now because I gave this hotel a MONTH ( I stayed here on May 25th) to rectify the situation. It took over a month just to get in contact with the manager, I was told every day that she was either unavailable or in a meeting and would call me back. It wasn't until it came to shouting on the phone that she finally somehow magically appeared. Although that was worthless in itself because all she did was offer me a 20% discount because she said she didnt want to lose money on the deal.....

Mind you that is after my bank account had been locked out for a month because this hotel tried to charge me for the room THREE times. I struggled to pay for funeral expenses that came up within the month because this hotel kept charging me repeatedly.

Currently I'm on my main phone opening a case with the health department so pictures will be attached later.

Do NOT stay here. I travel for work, and I will say this is by far one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in. The room was absolutely filthy / sticky the first thing I noticed when I walked in was I bug in the room and something spilled on the counter, When I went to go talk to the person at the front desk to switch my room he was nowhere to be found... I paid over a $100 to be here less than 6 hours, The mini fridge ruined my baby's food and medicine, my baby was sick fo4 4 days following our stay here, The bathroom smell was so putrid we had to keep the door open just to be able to use it quickly otherwise you would vomit. There was hair and what looked like mouse feces on the floor. Also don't worry about the swimming pool still being out of order trust me you would not want to go in it if it's anything like the rest of this hotel, and you can just go on a day it's raining... the hotel turns into a ✨️water park✨️, there are leaks everywhere the rooms are so humid, and massive puddles form in the lobby by the windows. We would have left immediately if it wasn't for the huge storm outside and it being the middle of the night.

I worked in customer service since I was 15 I haven't never had an experience so bad that I am reaching out to the health department. You are better off sleeping in your car if you can't find another hotel...

Zero stars. Never wrote a review in my life, but this SAFETY CONCERN needs saying. Booked a single king room. When we got up to our room, there was already somebody in it! Good thing they were not armed or confrontational thinking we were intruders.

Were told that we would be given an "upgrade" in a king room, but we were given a dirty queen room AFTER the manager tried to walk us into a second room that was already occupied. Stains on sheets, bugs in the tub, toilet seat broken and unattached, no trash cans in room, shower faucet broken, no smoke alarm present, and smell of mildew. On top of the disgusting excuse for a room, we listened to machinery going on and off all night after being placed next to a custodial room, so barely slept.

In the morning, the manager refused to refund us, or at least charge us correctly for the downgraded room size - we were offered $25 but are still being charged the same amount for a lesser room. We asked to speak to an owner or corporate and were told that we can do that, but ultimately would be directed back to the hotel 'manager' who would stand by her excuse of an acceptable resolution.

With this in mind, you are also required to sign off that the hotel is not responsible for stolen items, whilst they are handing out keys to occupied rooms.

Stay anywhere but here, even if it requires a little drive. You'll be happier, more comfortable, and SAFE...