Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven — Hotel in Springfield

This motel is absolutely WONDERFUL. I've been here several times and love the experience. This place blends the past with the present, and they've done it justice in both regards.

There are no spacious "royal presidential suites". That's not why you stay here. This is a historic motel on the historic Route 66, so yes... you are staying in rooms your grandparents would have in the heyday of automobiling. In some ways you are taking a step back in time, but don't get me wrong... this place is far from feeling dilapidated.

Upon arriving, you check-in and are greeted with 1950's and 1960's decor at the front desk. And... it's... BEAUTIFUL. Any lovers of "retro" will have to clean their jaws up off the floor from the amazing job they did. This building will take you back to those golden days. This is also the building where they serve the continental breakfasts, so you get more than one chance to experience this.

As for the layout of the "motor park", the front area you will find the pool, and rec area, and the rooms where maybe if you were driving a rental truck across the country.... this is where you might want to stay.

Exploring further back, you get into what I would consider the better areas of the motel. Tight driveways and parking give a throwback to the days when women and men knew how to maneuver a "land yacht" just fine. But you are also greeted with signs and other decor dating back to yesteryear, and in my personal opinion, the motel gets... COZIER.

In one of my stays, I had a room in one of the farthest reaching spots from the entrance and I LOVED IT. "Cozy" was written all over it... being far enough from Glenstone Avenue that when I went out on the front porch, the noise was minimal, even during morning rush hour. And yes, I would consider the walkway out front of each room as a "front porch"....

As you pull up in front of your room, you will immediately recognize that this place puts an extreme emphasis not just on the room itself, but the extended outdoors. Each room had two chairs out in front of the room, and the landscaping was beautiful.... flowers, trees, bushes... it really added to the entrance ambiance, not to mention give you a little extra space outdoors to enjoy the morning or evening.

Going inside, all the furnishings are modern. The buildings may be of an architechture from a by-gone era, but everything from the bedding to the seating to the new flatscreen TVs to even the plumbing in those bathrooms your grandma may have used... is all updated to the post 2010 era. Sure, the square footage is small as was acceptable when your grandfather was motoring the family along Route 66... but that is to be expected. And this is what makes this motel truly a lost treasure that needs to be experienced first-hand. You literally get the best of both worlds... architecture of generations past... meet clean and modern.

Rail Haven is a GEM. They've kept the feeling of that bygone motoring experience, but with a modern, yet cozy style that I keep coming back for. If you traveled Route 66 in it's heyday, you need to visit. Or maybe you're like me where you are old enough to remember those traveling trips, but the Interstate System was already bypassing the classic Motels of the Golden Motoring Days. Or maybe you are just passing thru the Springfield area and need the best unique stop over.

You need...

I booked this motel because I knew it was on route 66, an older motel that had charm and it had a pool.|The reviews were pretty good, so I took a chance...||Okay, the good. Its a cute place, the pool area is old school huge, neat old cars and even neon on the office like the old days. Clean enough where it counted (bed, surfaces... mostly), nice staff.||The front door to the office was my first clue about lack of cleanliness. It doesn't take much to simply windex and wipe, it was disgusting. The pool, albeit nice and big and a good deck around it, was in dire need of better filtration and some skimming. I was also expecting a hot tub, as in the pictures online, but it appears they have closed it off with some kind of astroturf deck build. :( |The outside of the room, the "sidewalk/balcony" in front of the door and steps was littered with trash and the chair and tables had food and stains on them.|The door didn't close shut all the way, allowing hot air and flys to enter. The safety latch was broken. |The room was clean where it counted (i.e. the bed, most surfaces appeared to have been wiped.) but I did notice that my feet got dirty just walking barefoot in the room.|The bathtub spigot leaked and constantly dripped. The vanity sink had handles that pointed in weird directions and no aerator, so water came out fast and splashed on you. |Towels were mismatched and, sadly, like many motels, stiff and hard, not soft. |In-room coffee was a little single cup machine (no keurig) that I didn't even try to use.|Glad I bring napkins, silverware, bowls glasses and proper coffee mugs with me when I travel. They offered none of this. |The floor lamp in the room was broken (both the base and the light itself, just flickered on strobing). Plus there was a cigarette filter and the remains of a crumpled up, dispersed cigarette on the floor by the lamp, indicating to me that cleaning was not thorough.|Beds were okay, but after 2 nights, I was ready to come home to a comfortable mattress for sure.|The neighbors were the worst part. Lots of noise outside. A party started just outside my room at 3am Sunday morning. Dragging tables and chairs together and loud drunken conversation. ||This motel could make a few small changes and really be something. Just put in the extra effort!||The double room was enough for me alone, I wanted to be closer to the pool and the king rooms are on the other side of the property. When they say double though, they mean 2 full-size beds. Not 2 queens.||It is right on Rt. 66, so that interesting to drive down||I wouldn't walk around in this neighborhood at night for sure. Lots of sports bike groups loud revving their engines, peel outs and noise.||I wouldn't walk around in this neighborhood at night for sure. Not much around it worth walking to.||They would really up their game or just offer less and provide a higher quality product||It's a cute nostalgic place, it could really be something with a few small changes...

I booked this motel because I knew it was on route 66, an older motel that had charm and it had a pool. The reviews were pretty good, so I took a chance...

Okay, the good. Its a cute place, the pool area is old school huge, neat old cars and even neon on the office like the old days. Clean enough where it counted (bed, surfaces... mostly), nice staff.

The front door to the office was my first clue about lack of cleanliness. It doesn't take much to simply windex and wipe, it was disgusting. The pool, albeit nice and big and a good deck around it, was in dire need of better filtration and some skimming. I was also expecting a hot tub, as in the pictures online, but it appears they have closed it off with some kind of astroturf deck build. :( The outside of the room, the "sidewalk/balcony" in front of the door and steps was littered with trash and the chair and tables had food and stains on them. The door didn't close shut all the way, allowing hot air and flys to enter. The safety latch was broken. The room was clean where it counted (i.e. the bed, most surfaces appeared to have been wiped.) but I did notice that my feet got dirty just walking barefoot in the room. The bathtub spigot leaked and constantly dripped. The vanity sink had handles that pointed in weird directions and no aerator, so water came out fast and splashed on you. Towels were mismatched and, sadly, like many motels, stiff and hard, not soft. In-room coffee was a little single cup machine (no keurig) that I didn't even try to use. Glad I bring napkins, silverware, bowls glasses and proper coffee mugs with me when I travel. They offered none of this. The floor lamp in the room was broken (both the base and the light itself, just flickered on strobing). Plus there was a cigarette filter and the remains of a crumpled up, dispersed cigarette on the floor by the lamp, indicating to me that cleaning was not thorough. Beds were okay, but after 2 nights, I was ready to come home to a comfortable mattress for sure. The neighbors were the worst part. Lots of noise outside. A party started just outside my room at 3am Sunday morning. Dragging tables and chairs together and loud drunken conversation.

This motel could make a few small changes and really be something. Just put in the...