It is easy to get mesmerized by historic looking exterior and the renovated interior. I certainly…read morewas, I had to do a double take on whether or not this was still part of the Hilton family of hotels. The Hotel Royer has been a popular choice for myself as of late whenever I am in town as it is a very solid option in terms of locale, price point and amenities. Whenever I walk in, I immediately notice two things. First off, the decor really brings together the theme of the hotel. I felt as if I was being taken back a few centuries to some royal kingdom, with portraits of historical figures, and furniture that is modern to the touch yet antiquated to the eyes. I also notice the smell, it is clean smelling and inviting. It certainly beats the musty cigarette smell you get at some places. The rooms in general are pretty good. The beds are comfortable, the lighting is decent and the space is typically pretty clean. The bathrooms are okay in my opinion (I am quite particular about this aspect). Sometimes the showers take a while to heat up and the toilet paper is pretty low quality. I think the weakest part of the rooms are the fact that some rooms do not have a desk. I think this is a big miss, as someone who visits on business a lot, it makes doing work in my room impossible sometimes. Additionally, the WiFi is super inconsistent, I found my devices being disconnected at will! In terms of amenities, I think the Hotel Royer is much better than the average Hilton. While there isn't the complimentary breakfast, they have their own restaurant, a well equipped gym and a pool. They also have a bar and their own banquet hall, for big events. The hotel is well located, in a walkable area and not too far from campus. Overall, I am a bit weary to select this hotel on future trips where business is important. However, if I am looking for a relaxing and quality stay, then I know the Hotel Royer will have me covered!

The mattress:supportive The sheets: luxurious…read more The pillows: cloud like The towels: thick and thirsty The toiletries: plentiful and nicely scented The water pressure: excellent The decor: modern while preserving the original. The parking: free and easy as pie The neighborhood: walkable with many wonderful independently owned businesses I really like this hotel. I have stayed here several times. Like some of the other reviewers, I remember it as Jumer's Castle Lodge. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band stayed there in the 80s and I will never shut up about it. I think they have done a really good job with the remodel. Highly recommend.

Coordinators were personal and very professional while attending to every one of my requests. The…read morespace was beyond beautiful and the atmosphere was so elegant! The staff took care of all the details to help make my ceremony and reception was a best experience of my life!!

Where do I start?! Chris Chestnut is an absolutely AMAZING person and Events Coordinator!! From the…read morevery start of planning the reception to us walking out the door at the end of the reception, HE WAS THERE!!!! He's reliable, beyond thorough, oversaw absolutely everything that had to do with the reception, even staying for the whole night!! He and his staff decorated everything sooo beautifully, and were extremely pleasant to work with!! The Refinery is a perfect place to have a reception, or any event!! 1,000 out of 10 our family would DEFINITELY recommend!!!!

I have stayed at the I hotel twice in the past three years. The staff is friendly and goes the…read moreextra mile to help guests with various requests. The rooms are beautifully decorated and beds are comfortable. The rooms are clean! The continental breakfast far exceeds what is offered at other hotels in the area

Of all the hotels in the area, if you're looking for clean and spacious, this is it. We had 6 rooms…read moreand only one had a few stray strands of hair left over from previous guest in the bathroom tub. Otherwise, rooms were clean and impeccable. Service was fantastic. They initially gave me a room with no bed (likely the living room area for a suite) and they immediately fixed the problem. Once I got into my room, it was relaxing and wonderful. The king rooms have a walk in shower and the twin queen bed rooms have a bathtub/shower combo. I mention this as those traveling with kids might prefer the tub option. Every room has a mini fridge. Traveling with little ones here is nice because they can offer a microwave in your room if requested. Made a big difference for us traveling with a young one. The gym is small but they do have a peloton bike among other equipment like free weights and other cardio equipment. Complimentary breakfast has warm savory options like egg burritos both with and without meat. They also offer oatmeal, fruit, yogurt and bagels with plenty of refreshments. Parking is free and easy to find. There's also a complimentary shuttle to take you to places on campus if you have no car. There are also bikes at the hotel to get around. All in all, we enjoyed our stay as did our guests for graduation.

The Regent Ballroom is by far the best dance floor for miles around! Their weekly Friday night…read moreBallroom Dance is the perfect way for beginners and new dancers to get floor time to build their skills in a truly welcoming community. For more advanced dancers there's a monthly Saturday night dance where we can burn the floor! Dance classes at several beginner levels, fun line dance class seems to appeal to older single senior ladies, plenty of ways to get up and get active.

We've taken ballroom dancing lessons there. What a delightful thing to learn! David and Ellen, the…read moreowners, are excellent teachers. It is great fun, not at all embarrassing, and something we look forward to each week. As an anniversary present my wife and I just bought each other another round of lessons. We've started putting the weekly dances on our calendar to exercise our newly acquired skills. This is a university town, and most of us spend our time trapped in our frontal lobes. So doing something entirely different, in which we move to music, is a joy.

The IL terminal staff were amazing at communicating with me the entire time. Wendy was absolutely…read moreamazing! The caters communication was good 2 weeks prior to the event, trying to contact them anytime before that was pretty impossible. Not a good thing when planning from out of town. Also the food was amazing at the tasting but when it came to the event it was not the same dishes we sampled. That was was a huge upset for us especially after we talked it up to our guest.

We had originally booked our wedding reception at the CityView at Illinois Terminal. We had worked…read morewith Wendy to do the showing and the booking. Unfortunately do to the COVID 19 pandemic we had to change our date and ultimately cancel not only because of the pandemic but also because my husband is military (living out of state) and couldn't travel during this time. Throughout the entire planning process, pre-covid and during pandemic changes, Wendy was absolutely amazing to work with. She answers all communications super promptly and was extremely understanding and sympathetic when we had to cancel. Without much explanation we were able to cancel and get our money back. I am extremely disappointed that we weren't able to have our reception at the CityView at Illinois Terminal but am just as much grateful for Wendy and her warm spirit and understanding throughout it all! Would definitely recommend based on our experience.

Great location, nice service and good food. The ambience was wonderful. The patio was even nicer.read more

Very good service, solid menu, good drink choices and a great Sunday brunch. Typically crowded, but…read moretables typically move pretty quickly.

This was such a great place to go and enjoy a night with friends. They had everything set up when…read morewe got there. The artist took it step by step and walked around to help everyone out. It was so fun to see all the variations of the same painting. I am not an artist but I am so proud of my work. I will definitely be back!

The staff was amazing! There was a snow storm and they were very understanding and helpful! Would…read moredefinitely recommend

We used Palace Events for our wedding and were very happy with how everything turned out! Our…read morewedding reception was held in a machine shed, so we needed some elegant decor to dress it up. Palace Events provided drapery, lighting and a chandelier, which created the perfect setting! Courtney was the coordinator we worked with and she was polite and very organized. She also was proactive in seeing an issue with the lighting and fixed it before I had to mention anything. In addition, we used their Standard Photo Booth and were so glad we did! Sam was easy to work with and created the perfect photo design for our wedding! There were many options, including videos and GIFs--our guests had a blast with it! Overall, we're very pleased with Palace Events and are happy we used them for our wedding! *Professional photography by Miranda Malliet Photography

Overall not a bad hotel to stay at. The positive was the shower pressure which was impressive…read moreespecially since we were on the top floor. The hotel definitely needs a remodel but overall compared to other hotels in the area it was fine. Breakfast was ok. Bed was comfortable. The room was clean and the rate wasn't bad but there were no UofI teams in town which I think greatly affects the rate.

Breakfast was awful! Might as well go to McDonald's next door, dishes were dirty, stuff was broken…read morein my hotel room, pool is NOT heated like it says on the website, ice cold. Staff was nice and accommodating so 5 stars but won't be coming back to this hotel.