Ramada Inn Mt. Prospect: Sensory Overload: Great Hotel Write-Off
Written: Sep 23 '03 (Updated Sep 23 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Service
Cons: Noise level, and not very close to O'Hare.
The Bottom Line: There are better options at the O'Hare airport. Don't bother staying here.
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| arathi's Full Review: Ramada Inn Mt. Prospect |
It was with a feeling of unease that I boarded the United carrier to Chicago from Seattle on August 3rd, last month. Our (my son and I) itinerary was to fly to Chicago from Seattle, and thereafter fly Air India from Chicago to Bangalore, India. Having said our goodbyes to my husband, who was to join us in India after a couple of weeks, we boarded the plane. After taxiing for a couple of minutes, the plane came to a sudden halt, and the pilot announced that the flight would be delayed indefinitely due to bad weather in Chicago.
Nine hours later, five on the runway of Seattle airport, and four hours on air, we reached Chicago’s O’ Hare airport. We had missed our Air India flight to India. At the Air India counter at O’ Hare, we were told that the next flight to India was a couple of days later, and that we were on our own since it was not their fault that we had missed out flight. But they offered us a discounted rate to stay in Ramada Inn, Mt. Prospect for the next two nights.
It was already midnight, and my son and I were both really tired. When a few other passengers, who had also missed their flight to India, told me that they were heading to Ramada Inn, Mt. Prospect , we decided to join them. It was under these circumstances that we got to stay at Ramada Inn, Mt. Prospect , a hotel that I would have probably not chosen otherwise.
Location :
The Ramada Inn Mt. Prospect is located 10 miles from the O'Hare International Airport. We were told that a shuttle would take us to the hotel, which went back and forth from the airport to the hotel every 15 minutes. After waiting for about 30 minutes, when there was no shuttle in sight, a few of us decided to hire a taxi to take us to the hotel. However, two days later, when we had to return to the O’Hare airport, the shuttle operated as promised.
The hotel is also a short walking distance from the Randhurst Mall, which was our refuge for the two days we stayed in this hotel.
Room :
The first thing I noticed upon entering our room was the bright green carpets! I was later informed that this hotel was located very close to a casino, and I figured that the interiors of the hotel was probably fashioned after the casino; hence the strong emphasis on sensory overload.
Our room housed two twin beds with a night stand in between, a workstation, a dresser with a mirror, and an oversized armchair. Except the beds, no two pieces of furniture were of the same style, nothing matched, pinks abounded in this room, the furnishings were bold and flowery, the armchair was for some strange reason a shade of mustard, and not to mention again, the carpet was a bright green. It was strangely thrilling to be in this room!
Adding to the visual sensory overload was the noise level. The building was really old, and you could hear everything that went on in the corridors; I did not sleep well in this room.
The bathroom was actually a relief, with its all white interiors, and its standard functionality. This was the usual synthetic tile, and vinyl space. The towels were not fluffy, and nor was the toilet paper. However, the bathroom and the room were reasonably clean.
Service :
When we checked into the hotel, it was 2 AM in the morning. I was with another Indian family (my co-passengers) who had a one year old. The little one was hungry, and was howling for milk. The hotel's restaurant was closed and there was no milk available there. The manager of the hotel, who lived close by actually drove home, and brought warm milk for the little boy!
The Ramada Inn Mt. Prospect staff was a warm and helpful lot. Since we had nothing much to do for two days, and mostly hung around the lounge, I got to chat with quite a few of them. They were genuinely friendly, and chatted with us very willingly.
Restaurant :
The restaurant was located on the ground floor of the hotel. My son and I had breakfast in this place on both the mornings we stayed here. We opted out of the breakfast buffet, and ordered out of the menu. The food here was hardly remarkable, but I chose to eat breakfast here because I wanted to be adequately caffeinated before venturing out anywhere.
I noticed that the lunch and dinner menu of the restaurant had some Indian entrees, probably because of Air India’s patronage to this hotel.
We ate lunch and dinner in the mall located near the hotel.
Final Note :
Our discounted price at this place was $60 a night, which is what i had expected to pay for a place like this. Other than its service, the Ramada Inn Mt. Prospect, has nothing much going for it. Even if you were forced to stay at the O’ Hare airport for a couple of nights like I was, there are better options; located closer to the airport than this hotel, and at similar prices.
This is a contribution to the Great Hotel Write-Off. Please read the others, and find out how you can participate by following the link below.
http://www.angelfire.com/moon/lyagushka/index.html
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
arathi
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Arathi Srikantaiah
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Aditi was born on Oct 9, 2004.
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