I am a 25 year old female and came to champaign on a business trip. When I entered the room, there was this smell of cigarette everywhere although the room itself was a non-smoking room. Added to that, there was black powdery substance everywhere (on the carpet, also on the phone). The sheets and the comforters looked disgusting. The towels also were old and I didn't feel like using them, Thank god I bought my own. When I pulled the sheets, I saw stains everywhere on the bed. The bathroom was the only place that seemed OK (probably because people who stayed in these rooms didn't know the word "hygiene" and used the bathroom the least). The next day, I noticed many people outside my room drinking and talking loudly and I couldn't sleep. Since the rooms had internet, I looked up on tripadvisor to see the reviews on th hotel and was even more disappointed. The breakfast was also only mediocre. I shifted to another room on the second floor and it was much better (atleast better than the other room on the first floor). The hotel staff seemed nice, but seriously its high time they renovate the hotel and also increase the prices for staying to avoid all kinds of people staying there. Also, they better be strict about enforcing some policies not to disturb other people staying in the hotel.

We booked 3 rooms here for our 8 family members while on a trip to Champaign at the very end of December 2006.

The staff are courteous and helpful. The hotel is conveniently located just off the interstate. The continental breakfast was pretty good, with juice and waffles. The rooms are very cheap. This hotel is in DESPERATE need of an update.

All of the fairly small rooms are outside entry, and while we were there I observed a black male walking the hotel looking in windows and taking notes on a little notepad, while his accomplice waited in the car. The area has a very "ghetto" feel, and the empty parking lot beside the hotel (opposite where we stayed, fortunately) had a lot of undesirable traffic.

The room doors are very old and have worn seals so often they don't close properly. The electronic locks are horribly worn and do not respond to the keycard until you run them through several times.

Oddly, our room had a toilet paper dispenser, but the toilet didn't always want to flush, and my brothers' room flushed okay but didn't have a toilet paper dispenser. Every room is different. :)

Additionally, part way through the morning the water heater went out. Now, I can put up with a lot of irritation at a hotel, but no hot water is one thing I can't deal with. When we called to notify the front desk, they were very apologetic, but this hotel has a case of good staff working in deplorable conditions. EconoLodge should be ashamed.

Despite the excellent staff, I can't recommend this hotel.

Okay, at $39 a night I wasn't expecting much, but we were doing a budget trip so cost was the first consideration. The Econolodge delivered. :) When we arrived there was no running water in the room. Asked the front desk about it and it was *then* they explained that it was being worked on and would be fixed before 5pm. Could have told us *before* we checked in, guys... The room was clean and everything (bar one light) worked. The room had new AC and, to be honest, it was the best inroom unit I've ever seen: quiet, easy to use, and did it's job well. The room wasn't, despite what we'd booked and asked for at checkin, a non-smoking. We didn't realise until the next day just *how* non-smoking it was when we found our bags and other things now smelled of cigarettes where they'd laid the night before. Breakfast was okay - functional chain "continental" style and nothing more. Room also didn't have any lock except the door deadbolt, and given the area of town it's in, we would have preferred an internal chain there as well. All in all, functional and I'd consider it again if I was wanting to save money & desperate. Otherwise, I'd spend the extra $7 and stay over the road at the newer Days Inn (which I didn't know about when I booked) or some such.

What ever you do with your life, do not stay at the Econo Sludge. The only reason we stayed here was because it was the only place available in Champaign, IL. We were in town to watch the Badgers play IL in football and had no choice where to stay even though we made reservations 9 months before hand. We paid $150 a night for a hole. I have stayed in better hotels for only $50 a night.

First of all on our reservations it said we had 2 queen size beds. We only received one king and a pull out. Also on our reservation we requested a nonsmoking and received a smoking room. I was hesitant to even sleep on the pull out due to the cleanliness. The room was not clean by my standards. We even head a cigarette butt on the floor in our room. The room had a slant to it. It looked as the floor was going to cave in at anytime. There was little to no lighting in the room. Not all the lights worked. When you turned on the exhaust fan above the Jacuzzi tub in our suite, it sounded as it was going to break at any time. It also was falling out of the ceiling. I bet if we were to use the Jacuzzi tub the exhaust fan/light would have fallen right into the tub and killed us. Even worse the bathtub looked as if it was never cleaned in the past. I did not dare to walk with out shoes or sandals in the bathroom as well as the rest of the room. There was no hot water to take a shower that is if you dared to take a shower.

Not even an hour after checking in there was four to five squad cars at the hotel. That is how ghetto it was. I didn’t feel safe even before the police showed up to take care of some business. It looked as if our room, as with other rooms, that they have been broken into sometime in the past. I was not sure if it was safe to leave any of our stuff in our room while we were gone.

There is much more to complain about, but I think you get the idea. Whatever you do, DO NOT STAY AT THE ECONO LODGE!!! Find another hotel in a different town. Champaign in general is not a good place for hotels.