I had a great three nights here, and I have no complaints.

The hotel is located in off of the interstate. People have said that it's far away from the city of Champaign, but that's because they're spoiled and don't know how it is to live in big cities -- if you're okay with driving 10 minutes on empty streets to get to Champaign, you'll be fine.

There is nothing nearby, except for a nice gas station that has enough food to survive if you're too lazy to go out and eat every time.

Now about the hotel: First of all, I went there on a weekday, Tuesday - Thursday. It was virtually empty, so I had no major problems. Obviously people who have had bad reviews are probably going in peak times, and it makes sense that you'll have more problems. I didn't have any. Check in time took me about 2 minutes, and the staff was friendly, but then again, so am I. We chatted and joked about the normal usual stuff and all was good. Checkout took a total of about 20 seconds, and was very easy.

The hotel was secure. Even though it was in middle of a cornfield, I felt fine there. The entrances are through the lobby, and all the other doors are locked. The rooms were clean. No dead insects or anything of that sort. You can tell that the rooms are aged, but they're not falling apart. The hotel cleans the rooms late, around two to three in the afternoon, and that was my only complaint because I was back in the room at the time.

Other than that, everything was great. The beds were okay to sleep on. The room lacked amenities, but it makes sense for the price. The cheapest way to get rooms is to go directly to microtel's site and use the special internet pricing that they have.

It has a small table that was enough for me to work on, and cable TV that was ok. The bathrooms were stocked with soap and some cheap shampoo -- no lotion, toothpaste, or anything like that.

There's coffee in the lobby (black tar with no taste, but I'm a coffee aficionado and a self-proclaimed critic. If you want good coffee, go to the gas station. Their cappucino's are excellent.). The continental breakfast was adequate -- bagels, toast, some odd pastry things, juice, cream cheese and all that fun stuff -- pretty much, you'll be hungry in three hours.

So, overall, it's a great place if you want to stay in the Champaign / Urbana area for a little bit and want a place to sleep. I was there for business at the University, and it was about a 10 minute drive, not including parking and taking a bus to the Union. If you are planning on spending a lot of time at your hotel, then you might reconsider because the rooms are small and you might feel as if you're stuck inside -- it's all a matter of preference though. If you want to be in the city, and go shopping and have restaurants within walking distance, this is definitely NOT the place to go. If you want a cheap place to sleep, and don't mind ordering in food or spending most of your time away from your hotel, I don't think you can beat this place. I didn't go out much for the 3 days I was there and I have no complaints about it.

I booked a night in mid-April 2007 at this Microtel, at the rack rate of $58, directly on the hotel's website. While booking I indicated that I would arrive at noon (official check-in is 3pm).

This hotel is along Interstate 57, and about 5-10 minutes drive to the rest of Champaign-Urbana. There is NO public transit to this location, and forget about walking the several miles from the mall, as there are no sidewalks. A taxi from the Amtrak station downtown to the Microtel cost me over $12, plus tip. About twice what a similar journey would cost in Chicago. That said, I knew in advance where it was located, and so this was no real surprise.

What was a surprise, however, was the brusque attitude of the desk clerk, who barked at me as I walked in, asking what I wanted. Let's see, a guy walks into a motel lobby with a suitcase and briefcase--what could he want? She immediately indicated that check-in was 3pm, and thrust a handful of paperwork in my face, saying "all these people just checked out!". Well the parking lot was totally vacant, so (1) I'm not surprised that people had checked out, and (2) I found it difficult to believe that there was no room ready. Then the desk clerk answered the telephone and had a very hostile and rude conversation with a guest who was trying to re-schedule their stay. Admittedly, I only heard one end of the conversation, but there was NO excuse for the attitude and hostility of her interaction. She went so far as to say that the hotel had no manager, and that the owner won't answer his phone, but here's the number... and the call actually was just forwarded back to the hotel, where the same desk clerk repeated her rude tirade. Yikes. I put on my sweet smile and pointed out that I'd requested early check-in, at which the clerk got huffy that nobody told her about it. But she did find a ready room. As I expected.

The room was miniscule, living up to the "micro" part of the chain's name. There was a 18" x 36" shelf acting as a work desk, and wireless internet is free. As is morning continental breakfast, and 24hr coffee in the lobby. The amenities were minimal, including a pre-triggered alarm clock radio, a plasic bucket for ice, plastic cups, a couple cakes of soap, and a small pouch of shampoo. No hair dryer, no conditioner, no lotion, no ironing board or steam iron, no coffee maker. Towels were coarse and small, but clean. The carpeting was vacuumed, but in need of a shampooing. The a/c unit worked fine, and the bed was adequate, though far from plush. The TV had static on most of the channels, but had HBO and WGN. Most of the space of the closet nook was taken up by a fairly large mini-fridge, which surprised me as an amenity for this hotel. I guess they anticipate guests with beer/soda and leftover pizza.

Honestly, my stay was not bad. I was offput by the staff who need courtesy training, but as basic motels go, this was ok. Next time I'll pick a motel closer to town, however.

I was a little put off by the ill-fitting slipcovers and folding chairs in the lobby. But the room was clean and not worn-looking. It was small, in the style of the European motels, and wouldn't do if you had two large suitcases, certainly, but we've learned to pack a "road bag" with just what we need until we settle in at our destination. The heating/AC unit in the bay window was topped with a long, thickly cushioned window seat long enough to stretch out on and read or watch tv, a very nice touch. Breakfast is mundane, but the front desk staff was cheerful and courteous. Good value for $50, but I'm sure they don't charge that on football weekends!

It's only about 10 min from Champaign's campus-town. For a short stay, this hotel is great for low rates. It is in the middle of a cornfield, but what do you expect when you are traveling to Champaign. The whole town is in the middle of nowhere. So if you are going to Champaign, it's a pretty good hotel and you won't get ripped off on rates for Mom/Dad's weekend.