Centerstone Inn & Suites Carlyle was legitimately the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. I realize…read moreyou can't expect much from a 2-star hotel, but our experience was totally inexcusable. We traveled to Carlyle as my husband was competing in a triathlon at Carlyle Lake, and this was the only accommodation that still had rooms available. This is where the nightmare begins... 1. We arrived at the hotel to a hastily scrawled note at reception stating there was NO HOT WATER. Had we known this before our arrival, we would have demanded a refund and booked accommodation outside of Carlyle- even if it meant driving an hour to and from the triathlon! To make matters worse, when the female manager called me to confirm our reservation ONE HOUR before we checked in, there was zero mention of the issue. This is despite them having had no hot water for a whole week (and likely to be without for the rest of the month). I brought this up with her, to which she replied, "sometimes these things slip my mind". They offered a pathetic 20% discount to be refunded onto our credit card (which had already been charged before we arrived) "sometime next week", but it would take a while as they had "no idea how to do it". Why charge our card the full amount in the first place? Why not charge us the discounted amount....? STRIKE ONE. 2. We then entered the room to find 3 dead cockroaches on the floor. STRIKE TWO. 3. I then walked into the bathroom to find a pile of dirty, used towels on the floor. STRIKE THREE. 4. The carpet was filthy (dog hair, dirt, food) and looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in weeks. 5. 1 of the 2 TV's didn't work. 6. Every surface was covered in dust and dirt. 7. The pool that was advertised on their website was closed, and half filled with black, stagnant water. 8. The bed linen had cigarette burns in it and the pillow cases smelt mouldy. Based on our experience so far, we didn't trust them to give us clean pillowcases, so we walked across the road to Walmart and bought a pack of 2 for $5. Best thing we did all weekend. 9. Management was an absolute joke- rude, unhelpful, dishonest, and downright shameful from start to finish. Upon checkout at 6am the next morning (we couldn't get out of their fast enough), neither of the managers were there so we dealt with one of the employees who was very kind and sweet! I felt so sorry for her as she stood there in tears explaining to us that she had been left there alone all night despite only having started the job 4 days prior... Not only that, she'd been working since 6 o'clock the previous day and was feeling the wrath of all the disgruntled customers while the owners sat back at home and counted their money. What these managers did (a married couple name Raj and Pam) was not only cruel, but also illegal. We never met the husband, but from our experience with Pam, I literally can't fathom how this place is still standing. A few other noteworthy things we learned from our stay: - These owners took over the hotel a couple of weeks ago after the previous owners left, and despite knowing it would not be ready to house guests (no gas/hot water, unclean, dirty and broken facilities etc.), they decided to take everyone's money and open anyway. According to an employee, this was because a large group had already booked months ago for a local wedding and the triathlon was on too. Talk about greedy and unethical. - A family with a disabled son had booked an accessible room and when they arrived, were told there wasn't one for them. There are no words.... - An employee watched as Pam (the female manager), knowingly double-booked rooms over the phone for poor unsuspecting people, while also failing to communicate the lack of hot water on the premises. - When we checked out initially, the inexperienced employee on shift didn't know how to print off a receipt or any other relevant paperwork (which was understandable-she'd never been shown how to!). We returned a few hours later after the triathlon to speak with the manager and request a receipt for the room, in addition to written confirmation that we would be receiving a partial refund. But of course, the manager did not know how to print off any documentation! It was at this point I realized that unless I asked for a check to be cut then and there, I'd probably never see my money ever again. After some back and forth, I left with a check in my hand, which I immediately banked to make sure it wouldn't bounce. Overall score: MINUS INFINITY STARS

If I could give it less than one star, I would. The "breakfast" was a joke, there was terrible…read morecoffee and a waffle maker. The pool was disgusting, completely full of bugs. The worst part tho, was the beds. We checked out mattresses for bed bugs, luckily there was none. What was there though, was unbelievable. Underneath the corner of the mattress was a large piece of bread. You read that right,bread. We can only assume they didn't change the sheets from the previous occupant because they would have noticed this GIANT PIECE OF BREAD when they pulled the sheets. When asking the staff about it, they came up and changed the sheets, removing the nasty loaf. The manager had left by the time we did all this and the desk attendant was very quiet and said we had to speak to his manager in the morning. So come next morning, we confronted the manager, and instead of being kind and listening to what happen, he threatened to sue us for LIBEL as he verbally harassed a 20 year old girl in our party. Do not stay at this hotel.

Why Carlyle? Well, as it turns out, my s.o.'s mother's family is from Hillsborough originally…read more(though all spread out to more urban areas like Chicago and Saint Louis these days), and there was a family gathering here for a day and a night (until we high-tailed it back to Saint Louis). It's on a lake, and the rooms are comfortable, and there's free wi fi (woo hoo), so it's just fine. Best thing about Carlyle is the D.Q. in town (vanilla dipped is where it's at), though the ribs at the resort restaurant were quite good, actually. The miles and miles of incredibly flat farmland were interesting, too.

This is easily the best hotel within 30 to 40 miles. It is only a few years old. The rooms are…read morespacious and clean.The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. There is a free hot breakfast always featuring sausage or bacon and eggs, a waffle station, yogurts, granola, juices, and more. I typically stay with my family when I'm in the area, but now that I've discovered this hotel, I always stay here. It is easily worth the money to eliminate the stress for both my family and myself of having me crash on the sofa or take over one of their beds. Do your family and yourself a favor. Don't stay at their house. Stay here.

If you want a nice quiet stay with a friendly staff and a great breakfast, this is the place to…read morestay. Every member of the staff was friendly and made us feel welcome. The room was very clean and nicely decorated with pictures of hot air balloons and trains. The complimentary breakfast was among the best we've had. They have a menu posted for what will be served each day. Hopefully you'll be there when they have biscuits and gravy. Overall, it was a great stay and we will definitely stay here again while visiting relatives in the area.

We spent five nights at the amazing Timmermann House in Aviston, IL. The innkeeper, Sandy is the…read moreultimate professional. Such an authentically nice person. Her husband Andy, also so lovely, has great stories and made me want to sit and talk to him for days!! :) This place is a gem and MUST VISIT destination. The house is pristine and decorated so beautifully. The hard wood floors are immaculate and the bedrooms are super inviting and cozy. The house is a wonderful place to stay but then you go to breakfast and you are transported to culinary heaven. Chef Sandy is brilliant. Her food is perfection. She makes different dishes each day of your stay based on your preferences she obtains when you book your trip. The food is always fresh, mostly from their own garden. I can't even describe how amazing our whole experience was. The house is located very near many townships but it is so quiet and peaceful tucked away on a nice plot of acreage. The yard is massive and landscaped so beautifully. The minute you arrive, everything is just perfect down to every detail. I recommend booking early and request the bedroom with en suite bathroom. The king size bed is so comfortable and the linens / towels are 5 star hotel quality! The house has a beautiful outdoor deck overlooking the yard with shade cover. I could go on and on but really this was the best hospitality we have ever experienced. 10 out of 10 definitely would recommend!!!

We just booked our third stay at Timmermann House. Wonderful accommodations and excellent hosts…read more Visiting family members it is such a nice option to relax, and enjoy the beautiful garden, at the end of each day! We have moved from OK to AL and still find this our favorite! Scott & Nancy look forward to this visit!

BEDBUGS Last month, my partner and I stayed for four nights…read morein room 213. The room was fine enough, whatever, a hotel room. The staff seemed hard working, and the breakfast was better than we expected. On our third day staying at the hotel, my partner noticed some itchy insect bites. The next night, as she was falling asleep, she saw an adult bed bug crawling on the bed right near her face. After we captured it, we soon found and captured another adult. We handed a bag with both insects, alive, to the front desk. The hotel, to their credit, gave us another room to stay in for our final night. I wrote Best Western corporate asking for a refund. They referred me to the local franchise. The local person claimed that they had not discovered any other evidence of the bugs and refused our request. Lame.

Very clean recently remodeled. Breakfast included waffles and other hot items. Overall very…read moregood for the price.

SHITTY! VERY overpriced for what you would get! I didn't end up staying there! The girl running…read morethe front desk, she was a young girl, dark headed, at first I thought she looked so sweet, but she had no knowledge what so ever and was kind of rude and was kind of hurrying us along! So much that I was like "ya know what ... just forget it! I've changed my mind & i don't want to stay here tonight!". So me and my friend, we left and got a room over at the Quality Inn! They were at least very polite to me and didn't rush me at all! and their prices were awesome as heck!! I'll stay there next time too! SKIP this overpriced HOLIDAY INN bullcrap rudeness! She also had her meth-head boyfriend in there (i later found out that his name was Justin i believe and i guess her little child also). but it looked to me like he was dealing drugs out of that place! Cuz he sure had a lot of 'company' in & out of there!

Conveniently located just off the 70 highway. Nice greeting from man at front desk. Clean room…read more Free breakfast in the morning from 6am to 9am.

Bed Bugs & Ticks in a pet free non smoking room - I stayed one night and woke up to a tick crawling…read moreright in front of my face and then when I got up found bed bugs all over the bed and under the pillows. I did throw the sheets back prior to climbing into the bed and there was no sign of either. GM has not responded to anything - Front desk clerk told me "most guest bring ticks with them". It has been multiple days with zero resolution other than "we can comp the room" forget all the luggage that was thrown out and lost day of vacation because of dealing with this. DO NOT STAY HERE!!!

Located in a semi-isolated area off the highway, Comfort Inn & Suites at Greenville I-70 was…read moreincredibly ease to access for a one-night stay late at night while traveling and was super secure thanks to all the lighting. The room was quite spacious with comfortable beds. Staff was super friendly.

This Drury Inn is our favorite one of all.It has the look and feel of a 5 star hotel from the…read moreimpressive reception area to the massive room which is spotless with very comfortable bedding. We have never stayed at any other hotel that provides complimentary drinks and dinner in the evening.The breakfast is also very good. We will be returning to this hotel on our long road trips from Michigan to Texas in the future.

Pleasantly surprised. The staff was friendly and helpful. The breakfast was a bonus and had…read moresomething for everyone. I would stay here again.