Wyndham Hotel - OK For APS Members?

This hotel is right next door to the APS host this year. I he thinks it might be a dump, etc. I booked there today for two rooms. My son is now complaining we know little about it. Can someone who lives nearby tell us it's ok and safe to stay there?

Strange topic, but I'd like someone who may know the area confirm it's OK.

If you're referring to the hotels near GASS this summer, I assume you're talking about the Wyndham Garden Schaumburg Chicago Northwest. Never stayed there myself - other folks who've attended shows in that area might chime in with better knowledge. However, if you look it up on Google maps, it gets a 3.6 out of 5 rating and several of the recent reviews are quite negative.

Try looking at the reviews on Tripadvisor. Ignore the extremely positive and extremely negative ones. There, always, is some information hidden in the reviews.

I used to stay in various places located in the Hoffman Estates/Schaumburg area when traveling between MI & MN. Good halfway point that avoids downtown Chicago traffic. This whole area was OK, better than east of I280 (where traffic and getting around can be tougher). The Schaumburg area is a massive outer ring Chicago suburb with lots of hotels and shopping mall type retail. As Oracle and NSK say you'll find a wide (almost overwhelming) range of places around here on TripAdvisor. Wyndham Garden, from my experience, isn't bad. Beats Super 8 and Red Roof Inn. Spend $100 less at the show and upgrade your hotel to something with consistent good reviews?

All available online images make it look like a 2.5 star masquerading as a 3-star, so it depends what you mean by "OK" as personal standards differ. My experience with the Wyndham brand has been all over the quality spectrum. I view it a an economy brand that allows more franchisee variation in property upkeep and staff quality than Hilton, Marriott, or Hyatt. You get what you pay for and I would keep expectations modest if you book and stay.

Hotel reviews online are *SUCH* a crapshoot that it's hard to tell which ones to take seriously, especially in light of the overly demanding society we have become. Also, you have to be careful of peak vs. non-peak reviews as that can make a difference. Older reviews can predate remodeling or changes in management, etc.

Two years ago when I traveled back east to visit my mother, I unfortunately could not stay with the person I normally stay with for the week, so I had to get a hotel room at the last minute. To find ANYTHING in the area (fairly rural, central Pennsylvania) with a consistent 4+ star review average would have required spending $125+ per night, which I was unwilling to do. After much research and gnashing of teeth, I booked a room for the week at a hotel that had a 2.5 star rating, figuring I wasn't going to be spending all that much time there, and if it was a disaster I just wouldn't return.

It ended up being lovely. Yes, the decor was straight out of the 1970s, and the carpeting had been there at least that long, but the rooms were spacious and clean, every room had a refrigerator and microwave. There was 24-hour coffee and tea service in the lobby. The front desk was manned 24-7. The included breakfast was a full spread, including eggs, bacon, fruit, pastries, cereal. It was quiet and I will most definitely go back again.

What was interesting throughout my stay, I could see that there were numerous fleets of construction contractors staying there, as well as residents and visitors to the nearby Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center... lots of people in medical garb. People spreading out in the lobby around the buffet in the morning doing lots of paperwork and what looked like academic research. Several on-the-road salespeople staying there as well. It appears to be a bit of a hidden gem that bears ZERO resemblance to the subpar picture painted by the YELP, Tripadvisor, Booking.com, or Google reviews.

Including breakfast and all taxes and fees, I paid $58 per night. It wasn't the Waldorf Astoria, but plenty good enough for the likes of me...

There are a number of reviews that mention the smell of smoke, both of the tobacco and "weed" variety.

That would be a big plus in the curtain-sniffing world of British hoteliers.

The Schaumburg area is safe and clean , you should not have any problems . Lots of stores and places to eat . Should be a nice quiet hotel ,not a hangout or party hotel .

Well, I wound up calling the host hotel and managed to get into staying there.

I sure hope I feel better then than now; have been suffering from tree pollen fever since right after May 1. Thia has been the worst allrgy I have had in my life. .