Courtyard Chicago Elmhurst/Oakbrook Area

After reading the reviews once I got home, it sounds like these problems have been going on for a while without being fixed. I usually feel comfortable choosing a Marriott, but I’ve had too many similar experiences at their lower-end hotels and will research more next time. I arrived late before a work meeting, unpacked, then found the AC didn’t work at all. I was moved to a second room where the air worked but wasn’t cold, and the third room was finally okay. By then I’d lost sleep and wasn’t rested for my meetings. There was no microwave in the new room, no ice machines in the halls, and dirty water came out of the sink.

We reserved five rooms so my daughter could celebrate her 10th birthday with four friends, because the hotel advertised a hot tub and heated pool. I called the day before to check that both were working and was assured they were. At checkout, though, I was told the hot tub had been broken for a while. The pool was there, but the water was freezing. The girls ended up stuck together in one small, outdated room with no microwave and leaking windows. There was no apology, refund, or offer to make things right.

The breakfast we prepaid for was a big letdown and poor value at $28 per person plus a drink, either coffee or water. There were only five choices, all sandwiches, a muffin, or yogurt, and no coffee refills. My “advocado” was a small brown cup of guac with leftover tortilla chips, and the arugula in my sandwich had yellow spots. Subpar. The hotel itself is dated, with significant water damage in the main floor hallways.

The pool was a highlight, really big, and my family enjoyed the hot tub. But doing laundry afterward was awkward: the dryer only took quarters, and the hotel didn’t have any, so they told us to come back in the morning. That wouldn’t have worked if our flight had been earlier. It costs $2.25, so after changing $2 into eight quarters, I was left carrying 75 cents. We only stayed one day, which was probably for the best, since this place seems more suited to a quick night before a flight. It’s pretty outdated, and the hand soap comes in a packet that dried my hands out badly. The AC and heat kept changing on their own even though we set it to 70, reaching 75 overnight. Since the hotel is beside a road, we heard cars and trucks all night.