Hotel suffers from incompetent staff, rundown facilities, inedible and expensive breakfast. At check in to room #803 the following were inoperative: Television (no picture), Internet access (did not function), toilet (flush mechanism disconnected), and door lock. This place should be an embarrassment to the Best Western organization.

Booked this hotel through hotels.com and was required to pay in advance. Upon arriving, I was informed that my reservation was canceled. I am still fighting hotels.com and BestWestern to get my money back.

Right in the middle is where I rate this hotel. Not the worse place I've been in, not the best. I was there for our 'counter-culture' reunion, which is to say it's not the official hoopla but a nice gathering of friends.

I think the prices are way higher than they should be for this place but I'm sure they would say they are competitive. One of my group went to the exercise room, which featured broken equipment, the pool was not only closed but DRAINED (and had 'lovely' lawn chairs on the bottom - I guess to make sure no one would swim in it) and the breakfast buffet, which currently costs an additional $7pp, is a JOKE.

In it's favor the rooms were clean and they were VERY quick to correct their mistake of putting us in a smoking room.

Other than that, if you can find another place, you might want to consider it.

I stayed the Best Western University Plaza because of its location and its price. I was actually working in downtown Chicago but could not find a hotel room under $400/night. The Best Western is located about 2 blocks (5 minute walk) from the Evanston - Davis St METRA station (commuter rail - $3 and 20 minutes to downtown Chicago) as well as the CTA station (subway - $2 and about 30 minutes to downtown Chicago) at the same location. My 3 night stay averaged about $150/night. The hotel is also located on the edge of downtown Evanston, which is a very nice town since it houses Northwestern University. There are LOTS of good and diverse restaurants in walking distance around the hotel.

Unlike the other reviewers, I thought my hotel room was very nice. It was large with a king sized bed, a desk, a loveseat and coffee table, and tv armoire. The bathroom was clean, and the shower head was strong. I didn't think the room needed an overhaul or looked "tired" as the other reviewers have commented. The room was quite comfortable.

I did not utilize the staff at all, but they seemed friendly on check-in. I did not eat at the restaurant either, but I don't see why you would when there are so many excellent choices to eat so near the hotel.

The fitness room had your typical treadmill, bike and elliptical. It had an older weight machine too. If you're into cardio, you're set. If you're into actual weight lifting, you won't find much here (although you rarley do see fully equipped fitness rooms in hotels at this price level).

Again, my main drivers for staying here were location and price, and the Best Western University Plaza is perfect for both. It's not the greatest hotel I stayed at, but it certainly is comfortable and convenient. There really was not much to complain about it all.