Carleton Hotel of Oak Park Reviews

My experience at this hotel was great.Rooms are very modern. All staff at the front desk are caring and respectful. Highly recommended

First time here. I thought it was very very nice and comfortable room / environment. The restaurant breakfast prices are a little high.
I hope you will enjoy your visit as I did.

5/09/19

Stayed here again this time in the motel section of the hotel. Welcome to the 70 s. The decor is right out of the 70 s. I think you will be happy.

Stayed here in March 2014. The neighborhood is safe, and convenient to transit (green line), restaurants, and shopping. The rooms are a decent size, but we found the service to be miserable! We had two rooms. One room was never cleaned, even though we were out of our room from 9 am to almost 2 pm. In the other room, we ran out of toilet paper. This should be an easy fix, but when a person in our party went to the front desk to ask for more rolls, they were questioned extensively about whether or not they had checked all closets. Before handing over a roll, the front desk called our room to verify that we were, in fact, truly out of toilet paper. It was very strange, and the lack of kind service does not warrant the price of staying at The Carleton. Also, the lobby smelled strongly of fried fish during our entire stay.

Staying with family over the holiday. Have a 2 twin bed room. Fantastic room.

This hotel room and bathroom were beautiful. The detail of cleanliness was amazing. The breakfast was first rate. I had beautiful meals every morning. Will stay again.

Clean, quiet, very nice hotel. Did not get to experience the restaurant but it looked great.

Charming old hotel in heart of Oak Park very nice place

Boring. He is a ok hotel but I would maybe recommend to a friend or family member buy only maybe. Stay was ok but no pool.

This was a very pleasant surprise. Quaint hotel right next to the Metra stop. Perfect location for what we needed. 2 restaurants in the hotel. Clean rooms. Excellent customer service at the front desk. Highly recommend!

During this pandemic, cleanliness is #1 priority. This hotel has a very high recommendation from me. I'm about to plan my 3rd visit.

2 restaurants, lots of cozy nooks, clean rooms, and friendly staff.

Good location, very nice, spacious room with a walk in shower, extra bathroom sink/counter, and kitchenette with small sitting area.

Inexpensive and spacious, but definitely starting to show some age.

Great service, substantial menu, prices are spot on, good food

The salon where the event took place was spacious and very elegant. It was also very clean

Check in was easy and as you d expect. Location of hotel and parking are very convenient and easy access. Rooms are nice and have this classical French style. Unfortunately, I did see one roach in the bathroom but other than that I didn t see anything else concerning.

Overall, the stay was pleasant. The staff was very courteous and the service was awesome.The location was fantastic.I will stay again.

This is a very nice hotel with some historic charm. A perfect location within walking distance of downtown Oak Park and the green line Harlem station.

Incredibly friendly staff and a lovely hotel with great access to the surrounding shops and restaurants.

Nice staff, great location, and best of all free parking.

Stayed in the motor park area of the hotel very retro. Everything was great.

We were treated very courteously. The staff was extremely friendly. The room was very clean, and comfortable. I would recommend to friends!

Looked like a nice hotel, old as if it has been in oak park downtown for many years.

Interesting hotel. It is a good example of where a building has been upgraded where required. The elevators can hold four people that are friendly. The bathroom and kitchenette we had were very well done but the doors and room trim looked original. We understand the the retrofits would have some limitations but the bathroom light switch was by the bed. The bed was firm but did not cause any lost circulation. The sitting room outside the kitchenette was cute and functional. We only used the room so I can not speak to the rest of the hotel.

The Carleton is a nice boutique hotel. The building is very old and the elevators are tiny, but other than that it is comfortable and really has character.

The banquet facility was spacious and well appointed. The food was good!

Nice and convenient. My room opened to the outdoors. I didn't have any idea that would happen when I made a reservation.

Comfortable, spacious room. Attractive decorations, if a bit out of date. Immaculate landscaping outside. Friendly staff.

My in-laws stayed here, and were very happy with their stay. Great spot to walk to several restaurants and coffee shops and shopping. They are ADA , but rely on lifts for this option, so be prepared to add an extra 5-10 minutes for each time you leave the space.

Great location and parking is included, which is a huge deal!

Centrally located, inviting staff , ambiance and environment. Well maintained roooms and water is in plenty. WORTH EVERY PENNY!

I was there at a professional meeting, everything was arranged properly and hotel staff was friendly and helpfull.

Not worth the price. Repackaged used soap, various hairs everywhere, not clean, not comfortable, tiny accommodations, time consuming and inconvenient check in. We decided to grab a hotel room instead of commuting after a friends birthday party. Will probably forfeit the $145 spent for this room and go home to my own bed tonight. I do not recommend.

Stopped in to see an old friend for drinks and dinner. Clean and comfortable with tasteful elegance. A good place to stay.

So gracious, clean, comfortable. Great location, great rooms.

Great restaurant in the lobby. Close to good food and shopping.

The room itself has a wonderful look. The front desk and valet staff were all very helpful, polite, and quick. The cleaning staff also does a great job everyday as my room was always clean.

Stayed in the motor lodge. Staff was friendly and accommodating. Rooms were clean and adequate. The age of the buildings means the rooms are smaller and the ceilings low -- the bathroom and shower were especially cramped for someone of my height. These are minor concerns, however, and overall the stay was lovely.

Great service, location is perfect: the bar downstairs is amazing !!

Comfy bed and shower. Very clean. Easy access. This is the third time we ve stayed at this hotel and they've been consistent with their services. I recommend them.

We had very mixed feelings about our stay at The Carleton. The room was nice enough. It definitely had a historical feel, which was fun. It wasn't fancy, but it had a nice little kitchen area with a microwave and small fridge. The bathroom was nice, with a comfortable tub, but the water pressure was very poor. This may be due to a lack of modernization in certain aspects, but that lack of modernization added to the charm of the hotel. The air and heat wasn't centralized, and each room had an individual air conditioner, which took some time to cool the room to a comfortable level.

The service at the front desk was less than ideal. While the front desk personnel was never directly rude, they always gave an impression of having been inconvenienced by our approach. They were never sitting at the front desk. They were always hidden away in a nearby office when we approached.

The restaurants feature heavily in other reviews, but they are all able to be reviewed independently, and the hotel doesn't really deserve the weight of a positive or negative review of these places. Having said that, we ate at Poor Phil's and had a nice breakfast and good service.

The Carlton is a storied building. The stay and service was exactlt what I desired, no noise, impeccable location, adequate parking though sadly one of its two resteraunts was empty, which is a bit of a let down. The rooms for size ans location are spacious in the standard building, i did not stay at the motorcade. There are issues. Doors dont seal tightly, light still bled in from the hall. The water takes a while to get hot. Some of the paint and molding orncarpet shows bubbling or peeling. But i legitimatrly thought it actually displayed the grandeur of its age. I need to travel to the area for various reasons frequently for a while. I will likely be staying only here.

Worth an aside, the provided toiletree was far above normal quality.

Nice surroundings generously catered for a community event. Good food, nice people.

Great place, very nice rooms ,very clean and organized.Lovely hospitality and beautiful breakfast. Thanks.We will be back

They don't turn on the air conditioners in the rooms before a guest stays there so it was scorching hot in there.

Arrived after midnight (due to a delayed flight, bad weather in Orlando) to an unsmiling and less than welcoming front desk rep. He did get me checked in ok and I was able to find my room. However the room key did not work and after several attempts had to call the front desk rep. for help. I was able to get in after but the key remained the bug issue for the rest of the stay despite having new ones provided. Otherwise the room was comfortable and bathroom clean. Had reservations about the carpet but no surprises was had. The bright spot was breakfast in their restaurant. The service and food was great and is the reason for the 2nd star. I checked out early due other reasons but the front desk going out seemed even more unfriendly than checking in. Summary the front desk needs retraining in customer service.

I visited a friend who was staying there and the hotel is beautiful, the service was great and the staff very helpful & friendly. A true gem in Oak Park.

To much partying hard to find parking and extra complicated for wheelchairs to be accompanied

The Carelton of Oak Park is a old and beautiful place.It has been upgraded to perfection.is a hotel& motel with 4 parking lots,Two restaurants three banquet rooms a wine tasting room two elevators.Two public bathrooms.right off downtown,Oak Park.

Quaint hotel, Great little bar. Would definitly stay again

We went to an excellent wedding there and the service/food was great.

There were a few issues but the staff did everything they could to remedy the problems.

Nice place except the Wifi isn't so good and the elevator keeps failing

Nice hotel. Great location near the El and Lake Street shopping. Two nice restaurants on the premises. The rooms are a little small, but there's free parking and the price is decent for a Chicagoland hotel. We stay here every time we visit the kids at school.

If you are Blessed to have Jinny as a housekeeper, she is amazing

Nice rooms, great staff. Both restaurants-bars offer very good food.

Very overrated and underwhelming. The only attraction might be their location within th e historical district.

Great little hotel in Oak Park 2 onsite restaurants 1fancy & 1 casual both excellent

Very nice old hotel in a quaint section of town. Sadly, not a lot of businesses to visit nearby. But access to the L was nice and close.

My room was very clean and comfortable. Service was amazing. The breakfast was outstanding. 5 stars.

Wonderful weekend getaway place. Went to a reception and the food was phenomenal!

They are excellent in all aspects.The room was clean and well maintained.Would not think twice to recommend this place

Place has lost ground since our last visit. They have to decide if they are a road house or a hotel. E.G. Thump, Thump, Thump noisy "band" playing for either a wedding reception or a hill jack convention...could not end the noise until 11:30 p.m. per their front desk. We won't be back.

Nice hotel and great location. Has an old charm/ smell to it.

I travel 80% of the year so I have a great chance to see a range of hotels. The Carleton stands out but for the wrong reasons. To preface this review, I ordinarily don't write reviews unless I've had a terrific experience or an extremely lackluster experience. I've stayed at the Carleton twice, the most recent being last week. And it was a lackluster experience.
Positives:
-Great menu of TV channels (over 600)
-Nice vintage feel to the hotel and rooms. They're not fantastically modernized but that's okay because that's not their intended niche.

Negatives:
-Service. For 2 days I had no internet availability. Initially I thought my laptop had failed but realized this wasn't the case. For a businessperson no internet is incomprehensible with the level of work I do at night.
-Service. The restaurant (Poor Phil's I believe) service was terrible. The male bartender was too busy trying to be rico suave with the ladies than paying attention to my order. Terrible experience.
-Service. I just got off the phone with the hotel because I was trying to cancel next week's reservation in order to make a reservation elsewhere. The female on the other end was terrible--she made me feel like I was the one at fault because SHE couldn't find my reservation (even after I offered her the confirmation # from the hotel's website). In any case, that would have been fine except for the pure level of disrespect after the cancellation. She corrected me about the reservation and then just hung up on me. Not even a "have a good day" as I was about to say before I heard the dial tone. More unnerving is the fact that it was as though I was no longer a reserved customer that she felt it unnecessary to be polite anymore. I will NEVER stay at the Carleton again and will tell all visitors to the Oak Park facility I work at (there are many because it's one of the largest private companies in the world) to not even consider the Carleton.

The price point the Carleton charges demands supremely better service. I've stayed in glamour-less hotels with amazing customer service and had incredible experiences. A hotel like the Carleton which charges the amount it does and has the historical background should do a much, much better job providing the right level of service mentality to its clientele. There are too many hotels out there fighting to impress their customers that I can't give the Carleton a rating anything higher than 1.

Beautiful hotel, very spacious rooms. Walking distance to many great restaurants.

Great location and history. This building is beautiful inside and out. The staff are top notch.

Good service, and fair rate, it is far from Chicago loop, but easy access via train.

Beautiful Hotel, friendly staff and I love that "go back in time" feeling when peeking in their different conference and ballrooms. The food downstairs is pretty good as well

The staff was very helpful and professional. The room was clean, spacious, and the shower was wheelchair accessible. Wish they would have had a complementary breakfast but they do have a restaurant in the hotel that's open for each meal.