What a treat! My wife surprised me with our first overnight trip without our 2 1/2 year old son. I was not told where we were going and truth be told, I had my doubts when we pulled up to the because the building does not itself look anything special. The lobby is on the second floor (22 steps) and our room was on the next floor (18 steps). We went with the third floor so that we would have very little "hallway noise".
Joel (owner) checked us in and was explained nearly every detail of the room (#305) including showing us how the shower worked. We had a beautiful queen bed, fireplace, decent view, human carwash shower (Kohler top of the line). He bought the place nearly 20 years ago and took a lot of pride in the details of the renovation.
The renovations were beautiful - it was comfy, elegant, and cozy. The remote control gas fireplace heated up the room a bit faster and more than we expected necessitating us to turn on the air conditioning. The TV was decent with a reasonable selection of channels - nothing spectacular but there at least was a DVD player in the room if you want to enjoy a movie together that doesn't have to begin after putting your child to bed at 8:30pm. The bed was comfortable - a nice firm pillowtop although my wife noted that there was a "ridge" in the middle. I slept like a rock and thought it was a great mattress. The bathroom had a beautiful (unheated) tile floor - keep the socks on in the winter. The shower was a key feature of the room although we left a note for the owner that the door leaks and we didn't want to flood his office below. I'm not sure if the gasket along the hinge of the door wasn't sealing but water came out the door even when the door was firmly closed. The doors could use a inner deadbolt or latch for better security - not that we felt anything but very safe but it was the first hotel I've stayed at in a long time without the latch. Being in a very old hotel, I was glad to see the owner had not skimped and there was a sprinkler system in the ceiling with working smoke detectors.
We did not eat dinner in the hotel restaurant since brunch was included in our room rate but the place looked packed when we returned from dinner elsewhere around 7pm. Brunch was much better than decent but a step below great. The champagne toast was a nice touch and there were clearly some regulars in there. The omelette was good, the eggs and sausage were very good, and the cherry was fine. The guy at the next table had the banana cream pie - that looked spectacular and I will try it next time.
The pictures online do the rooms justice and they are very very clean. I rate them well above the Pfister in Milwaukee and a couple Fairmounts (DC and Seattle) I've recently stayed in. For anyone in the Milwaukee/Chicago area looking to get away to somewhere quiet & cozy, this is worthy option - close but it feels like you're 500 miles from home. Some friends told us about this place and we will share it with others. Thanks, Joel!
