Pros: great, safe location close to shops, restaurants, Northwestern, and lake. Our huge 2 bd/2 ba suite included an immaculate kitchenette with a chandelier, a huge living area, and a walk-in closet, for less $$ than 2 rooms at the Hilton Garden. Free wi-fi, free continental breakfast (good and fresh), and homey touches (assorted books in the room’s bookshelves). Staff is wonderful. Despite a conference staying there, it was surprisingly quiet. Nice, peaceful breakfast nook area with fireplace doubles as bar at night with good drinks.

Cons: needs updating, starting with the slow, tiny elevator’s stained carpet and scratched walls. Wallpaper in the hallways needs replacing, beds are rather mushy. In our room classic, timeless furniture clashed with other furnishings that are dated/worn beyond salvation, and a faded picture sat in a broken frame. There are no King beds, just Queens & Twins, though there is plenty of space for a roll-away twin or two. One of our 2 showers had no lighting. Hot water ran out one morning. Some windows whistled in the wind. It was tricky regulating the heat in too-warm rooms at night.

Parking is a block away, but validated for free.

The Homestead is for you if you seek a spacious, homey place with some character at a very reasonable cost. If you prefer modern uniformity, not so much. It wouldn’t take much updating to bump the Homestead to 4 or 5 stars easily; it has great bones! Of course, then they could charge boutique prices.

2 nearby places we recommend:
Bennison’s Bakery, 1000 Davis Street is worth a stop. Great cakes, brownies, and much more. About 4.5 blocks West of The Homestead.

Gigio’s Pizzareia, 1001 Davis St. Good, cheap, thin crust pizza by the slice or pie, and tacos. Pizza AND tacos?! My teens were in heaven. Across from Bennison’s Bakery.

The Homestead was perfect for my 2 week business trip to Evanston. I stayed in a one bedroom apartment that included everything I needed, living room, full kitchen, bedroom and more closet space than I knew what to do with. The location is perfect! It's just a short walk to downtown for shopping and dining. The staff at The Homestead are very friendly and helpful...some of the best staff I've encountered in my business travel. I loved the historical architecture of the building as well. They also have a very nice fine dining restaurant, The Quince. Try their New York Strip...excellent! I highly recommend The Homestead for your next stay in Evanston.

The Homestead offers an affordable option in a convenient location for a Chicago suburb. We paid $126 a night (including breakfast) which was a lot cheaper than a lot of the hotels we looked at. It's quirkier than what you'd get at a chain hotel but if you see the quirks as charms you'll probably be well pleased with the place. The hotel is close to Northwestern and it reminds me a lot of my old-fashioned and elegant college dorm - academic and overly heated but still cozy. The heat was impossible to regulate so the room was really hot in contrast to how cold it was outside. The room and bathroom were on the small side and felt "lovingly used" as opposed to worn-down. The furniture and decorations were pretty and enforced the ambience of the ivy league. Parking is available at a big garage a couple blocks away which the hotel validates, which is great. The neighborhood is very pretty. It's an easy walk away from plenty of restaurants, grocery stores and shops and getting to public transport that will take you into the city is also easy. Breakfast ended a bit early for our taste but we are not morning people!

The Homesteader, located on a lovely street on the Northwestern campus, offers a quiet get-away in an old-fashioned, genteel setting. Built in 1926, the hotel offers a variety of rooms, great location, and fine service. It's also attached to an excellent restaurant, Quince. The "lobby," such as it is, is a small room with windows, a small bar, and a great fireplace. Some rooms allow pets!