Since the two decent hotels in Carbondale were booked for the Memorial Day weekend, I checked out Marion's offering. The Fairfield Inn & Suites looked fine - right off I57 and Highway 13. It was also booked full by the time we arrived, but it wasn't obvious anywhere but in the parking lot. The toilets were extraordinarily loud (water-saving commodes) and we could hear our neighbor flush, but we never heard anything through the walls or in the hallways.
The rooms were clean and suited our needs. No refrigerator or microwave, but there was a coffee-maker (stayed in a $290/night hotel in San Diego earlier in the year where you had to ask the desk clerk if you needed a coffee-maker!). The continental breakfast was satisfactory (the usual carbs, cereals, waffle-maker, sausage/egg/cheese biscuits and boiled eggs - large seating area with lots of newspapers.
For the price, it was fine. And, it's only 14 miles from Carbondale.
Only drawback was the real lack of interesting restaurants in the Marion area. Yes, there were the chain restaurants and fast food joints, but local joints were hard to fine (the b'bque restaurant next door was jammed pack). Ended up going to old haunts in Carbondale.
