Randolph Hotel

The brewery was the highlight for me. Its 1930s taproom look, vintage decor, and craft beer made it feel like stepping back in time, and the staff were friendly and knew their stuff. Every beer I tried had its own character. The lake setting was quiet and beautiful, too. I loved having coffee on the patio with a view of the water and waking up to its gentle sounds. I had a great stay at The Randolph Hotel in Fox Lake, and would come back for another relaxing visit with that historic feel and good drinks.

We wouldn't check in. The room smelled strongly of cigarette smoke despite our booking a non-smoking option, and the toilet and bathtub were visibly dirty. There was old food left in the microwave, plus spider webs in the corners. The place felt unsanitary and unpleasant, with little sign of regular cleaning or maintenance, and didn't match the online photos. We had to find somewhere else late that evening, which brought extra cost and a lot of stress. We expected basic cleanliness and comfort and were shocked by what we found. We feel misled and are very disappointed, and want a full refund or at least fair compensation for this distressing experience. I'd advise people to avoid this property unless major changes are made.

At 6:00 pm I arrived for my Booking.com reservation and found nobody there. I spent 1.50h talking to AI on the phone, and it gave me a door code that didn't work. There was no way to reach a person. It was raining and cold outside, and as I text this, I can't feel my fingers. Then I checked the Google reviews and wished I'd read them before booking.

We took one look inside and immediately booked another hotel, 30 minutes farther away. The room on the third floor smelled like urine and was disgusting, nowhere I'd pay to sleep. We had to put the entry code in to get in, after eventually parking in the bar lot just to check in because there was nowhere else to park. Before that, I emailed the site several times asking them to call, but they ignored that and kept replying by email. We asked for a refund and were told same-day bookings aren't refundable. I'd rather burn the money than sleep there. The place was so bad that even a motel in the worst neighborhood would be a better choice. I'm shocked booking websites work with it. It should be closed, and I can't imagine the positive reviews are real, since there isn't one positive thing about it. If I could leave a negative star review, I would.