Editor Pick
Inn the Garden of Evanston
- May 28, 2009
- Rated 4 of 5 by
ChocolateLady from Jerusalem, Israel
While Evanston, Illinois isn't a big tourist spot, it is my old home town. The last time I was there, I had the good fortune of staying at the Hilton Garden Inn, but under less than fortunate circumstances (to attend my father's funeral). Thankfully, this hotel made our stay as pleasant as possible, and if I had to go back again, this would certainly be the one I'd pick.
The rooms in this hotel are really large and beautifully cared for, with everything in excellent working order and very clean. We had a total of three double rooms, each of which had two queen sized beds that hardly made a dent in the space. The beds were slightly on the soft side for our liking and our one problem is with both of us being allergic to feather pillows, there weren't enough synthetic ones for us both. The biggest problem was that it took over an hour to get replacement ones so the room service wasn't quite what it could be.
Still, there's enough space in the rooms for a large desk and chairs, and a big chest of drawers which the very large cabinet with the TV on top (easily 30") only covered about half of. The built-in wardrobe was of ordinary size since two thirds were for clothes and the remaining third held a drip coffee pot with the mini-bar underneath. The hotel provides you with a variety of filter coffees pre-packaged in just the right amount needed for one small pot of coffee - which was perfect for my sister and me (as we are both coffee addicts). The bathrooms are really clean and the bathroom holds a full sized tub and a double bowl sink.
As for the view - well, there's not all that much of a view from the middle of a suburb like Evanston so there isn't much to talk about there. This isn't a very old building (it wasn't even around when I lived there) and yet they tried to build something that would blend into the other architecture of the downtown area. With a bit of the early 1900s feel to it on the outside, mixed with late 20th century blue colored glass actually looks much nicer than you'd thing. Inside there's lots of warm, dark colored wood and the lobby has no small amount of very comfortable armchairs and even a couple of TVs in the lounge area. Again the mixture of old and new stands out here and makes everything feel familiar while not at all run-down or shabby. The front desk staff all seem to be visible at any hour of the night or day, and even when we came in late at night, there was someone there to greet us. Mind you, they weren't always as helpful as they could be, and even when things were slower, I had to ask a couple of times to get some more of the coffee for my room. But at least they always apologized for the wait and tried to greet everyone with a smile.
I didn't have much chance to see the business facilities, but did have a glance into a couple of the large meeting rooms downstairs and they looked very impressive. Since technically we were in mourning we didn't get to use any of the health facilities (and back then we weren't really into those things yet) but I was told by my nephew that they were pretty good, and from the window, I saw the pool which wasn't terribly large but looked attractive enough.
Regarding the bar, there isn't one - Evanston is technically a "dry" town (or at least it was) so if you want a stiff one after a long day, you'll have to bring your own - and that you'll have to buy from outside the town's limits! The good thing about that is they leave you lots of room in your mini-bar to store your milk for the coffee or your own water and soft drinks.
We only had breakfast once during our stay, because it isn't included in the room price and seemed a bit pricey. They actually had two types of breakfasts at two different prices, and I don't recall which one we took. Still, they have a buffet with all the usual cold things like cheeses, fruits, juices and cereals, as well as a hot line where you are served things like eggs, bacon, hash-browns and the like. That you could only get two types of juice also seemed a bit skimpy to me.
The quality was acceptable and I thought the eggs were a bit on the wet side and the hash-brown potatoes a touch greasy, so it's nothing to write home about. I also might have preferred the buffet to be slightly better located as one side is a bit too close to the nearby table and you risk bumping into other customers. It also seemed that the service here wasn't at top form here and the buffet got messy and wasn't refilled very promptly. Not really worth the money, if you ask me, and the dining area seemed small and just a bit cramped.
For other meals, there are restaurants in the hotel and lots in walking distance, and at any price range you can imagine. There's also at least one coffee shop nearby that sells some really delightful pastries and bagels, so we went for those after our one try at the hotel breakfast.
As mentioned before, this hotel is located right in the middle of downtown Evanston. Evanston is the first suburb north of Chicago and is home to Northwestern University (which is also the city where the ice cream sundae was invented, by the way - but that's another story altogether). The downtown area is very quaint with lots of country-like shops mixed with chic small boutiques and many well known chain stores. If that's not your thing, the Hilton is just a few blocks away from a train station that will take you very comfortably into downtown Chicago, or you can take a bus to the Howard Street station (lovingly called "The L", Chicago's inner city train system) which will get you to any of the major sites there - and believe me, you could spend weeks exploring Chicago and not exhaust it - but that's another review altogether.
By the way, if you've got a car, don't worry about parking. There's a city car-park right next door to the hotel and they have an arrangement for guests to park in there for free - you just have to get your tickets validated at the front desk. (It would have been better if they had given us a ticket or voucher for the full extent of our stay, but you can't have everything in a small town, I guess.)
The Hilton Garden Inn is a very nice hotel that afforded me a generally good experience. While I doubt I'll have reason to stay there again, I can easily recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to be near Chicago but not right inside it. Four out of five stars here, removing one for the slightly slack service and fairly lame breakfasts that cost too much.
Third Time's Charm
- August 27, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
This is the third time we have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, and each time has been lovely. The rooms are clean, comfortable and inviting, We stayed in "corner" rooms this time...seem a little bigger. Fresh cookies in the pavilion in the evening for a snack! Made to order omelettes on the week-ends, and we woke up this time to a Farmer's Market on the back parking lot with fresh flowers, fruits, veggies, etc. for sale to take home. A nice surprise.
It is in walking distance to the lake (even saw a doe and fawn on our jaunt), and Garrett Evangelical Seminary and Northwestern U are nearby. We would definitely stay again. I used one of their meeting rooms in an earlier visit. They were helpful in getting everything I needed, and it was very reasonabe.
Comfort for Business Travelers
- March 11, 2007
- Rated 4 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
Repeat stays were consistent, bar service in lobby, can walk to restaurants downtown, breakfast costs extra, parking lot on block, front desk staff very professional, has restaurant but downtown restaurants better for dinner. Would prefer to stay there again when visiting