Having already spent about 7 weeks in Illinois while on our 5 year, 50 state road trip, our final stop in the state was Litchfield, a small city of ~7,000 people. We'd picked this location specifically because the Hampton Inn Litchfield offered great value when staying on … [Read more...] about Hotel Review: Hampton Inn Litchfield, IL
Hotel Reviews
Hotel Review: Candlewood Suites Springfield IL
After spending five nights in Springfield IL at a spacious home we found on Airbnb, we stayed in the city for another five nights, except this time at the Candlewood Suites. The hotel was good value using our IHG Rewards Club points, so we figured it'd be a good way to save … [Read more...] about Hotel Review: Candlewood Suites Springfield IL
Hotel Review: Hyatt House Chicago/Schaumburg, Illinois
After leaving Marion where we visited Little Grand Canyon, Garden Of The Gods and the Franklin County Historic Jail Museum, we headed back up to northern Illinois. We'd originally planned to stay in Lisle at a hotel opposite The Morton Arboretum. However, Shae found out that … [Read more...] about Hotel Review: Hyatt House Chicago/Schaumburg, Illinois
Hotel Review: Super 8 Marion, Illinois
After leaving Naperville, we headed about five hours south to the relatively small city of Marion. We picked Marion as it placed us in the center of southern Illinois and close to everything that Shawnee National Forest had to offer. Marion is near the slightly larger city of … [Read more...] about Hotel Review: Super 8 Marion, Illinois
Review: TownePlace Suites Chicago Naperville, IL
Shae and her mom's birthdays are a day apart, so her mom and stepdad came to visit us in Illinois so that they could celebrate their birthdays together. One of the things they'd planned for their birthdays was an introduction to mermaid swimming class - tails and all! One of … [Read more...] about Review: TownePlace Suites Chicago Naperville, IL
Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago IL
To celebrate our 14th anniversary, Shae and I decided to book a three night stay at the Kimpton Gray Hotel in Chicago. We had three free night certificates from renewing our IHG credit cards and the Kimpton Gray seemed to offer the best value based on the room rate during our … [Read more...] about Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago IL
Review: Country Inn & Suites Manteno, Illinois
When exploring our options for using hotel points in Illinois, I noticed that the Country Inn & Suites Manteno would be good value. Neither of us had heard of Manteno before, but when checking Google Maps could see that it was near Kankakee State Park, so there was at … [Read more...] about Review: Country Inn & Suites Manteno, Illinois
Review: Candlewood Suites Peoria At Grand Prairie, Illinois
We decided to stay six nights in Peoria on our 50 state road trip as we got a great deal at the Candlewood Suites Peoria at Grand Prairie using our points. It turns out that six nights was about five nights too long as Peoria was pretty boring. Still, that's not the fault of … [Read more...] about Review: Candlewood Suites Peoria At Grand Prairie, Illinois
Review: Crowne Plaza Madison, Wisconsin
The seventh and final city we visited in Wisconsin on our 50 state road trip was the state capital - Madison. Several months before our visit, the Crowne Plaza Madison had been included on IHG's PointBreaks list. That's a list IHG releases every three months with dozens of … [Read more...] about Review: Crowne Plaza Madison, Wisconsin
Review: Quality Inn Eau Claire, Wisconsin
When looking for somewhere to stay in Eau Claire WI, there weren't any good options for using our points. There were a couple of nice-looking properties on Airbnb, but they were pretty far outside the city. In the end, we found a fairly good rate at the Quality Inn Eau … [Read more...] about Review: Quality Inn Eau Claire, Wisconsin