Graduate by Hilton Evanston

Exceptional

It was fine

Liked: Clean
Disliked: No free breakfast, for the price that’s charged it could provide breakfast, so many other hotels provide breakfast at half the price.Also hated that you have to move your car every two hours between 9am and 9pm.

Good

This is a "Good" hotel,...

Liked: The location is excellent insofar as it is in a peaceful neighborhood, close to many restaurants, Northwestern University, and public transportation. The decorating is historic/old style and to us at least, appealing. For the most part the staff was friendly (the maintenance person that assisted us was excellent!); the breakfast in the restaurant was of good quality, but the selections are limited and the prices are (not surprisingly given that it is in a hotel) on the expensive side. Overall, the current rating of 8.5 seems about right IMO.
Disliked: While our experiences at The Graduate have been generally positive- and we would stay here again, so none of them were "deal breakers"-there were a few missteps worth noting. For example: 1. When we checked in we asked if they had umbrellas available and were told somewhat brusquely that there were not "because guests kept stealing them." While I appreciate that would be a problem, the comment seemed almost accusatory. (I swear, we never borrowed an umbrella, much less stole one! :) Perhaps the hotel could check out umbrellas and charge the guest/deduct from the security deposit that is required if not returned?; 2. On two different occasions in two different seasons the heat in our rooms in different sections of the hotel did not work adequately. When we reported it to the front desk we felt that each time we were given the run around to some extent. On both occasions we were supplied with space heaters to partially remedy the problem. Given the price and level of this hotel- despite the fact that it is a stately, older building- it seems that they should remedy the underlying issues rather than apply a band aid of sorts; and 3. While checking out I noticed that there was an incorrect charge for valet parking on our bill and brought this to the attention of the receptionist. (I was especially surprised to see the charge given the fact that the receptionist upon checking in specifically asked if we had left a car with the valet and we responded in the negative, but the charge was for that very same day!) I understand that mistakes happen, but I was a little put off by the fact that rather than the receptionist taking my word for it, she said she had to check with the valet. Again, this seemed accusatory. Moreover, the charge remained on my credit card for several days and I was required to write several emails- finally to the management- before receiving an apology and explanation that an incorrect entry resulted in the hotel's error.

Poor

Liked: Nice atmosphere
Disliked: Facilities in general were quite poor and old. Conditioning wasn't operating properly, beds were old and with pits in the middle. No breakfast, no tea in the room, was expecting more for that price.

Very good

Exceptional

Exceptional

Liked: Beautiful hotel

Exceptional