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.
