Lighthouse Lodge

A quiet, clean, well-kept older building with useful features like a mini fridge and microwave. The staff are super friendly, it’s pet friendly, and the price is budget friendly for rural mid-America Illinois.

The rooms are plain, but clean, and the place was silent all night. We didn’t hear traffic or the neighbors, and saw no roaches or other bugs inside, just the usual insects outdoors on an Illinois summer evening. For $49.95 including tax, you get a fridge, microwave, satellite TV, and self-service laundry only a few steps away. If you’re used to four-star hotels, pulling up to this 1955-era brick motel might make you want to head back to the interstate, but you’d miss one of the last real bargains in the USA. It’s a clean, cheap stop in rural America, and our family would stay again if we get the chance.

A perfect cheap motel for shorter people, under 5 foot 5! I’m almost six feet tall and my feet hung over the short bed. There’s a gas station only a few feet away for coffee, drinks, and snacks.

They allow dogs, but the extra $20 pet fee felt like a ripoff. The room smelled, and the bed was hard. Next time I’d sleep in the car.