Starved Rock Lodge & Conference Center

The trolley ride, visit to the winery, dinner at Camp Aramoni and desert at the lodge were excellent. Everyone in our SOCU group were quite impressed with everything.

If you like the rustic look...wood headboard, wood paneling, hunter green, and burgundy decor, you'll love it. My room was on the first floor. It must have been an original room to the place because it smelled old and musty. My clothes and luggage stuck when I left. The food was OK, the service was alright. Would I go there again, no.

A couple friends and I went to lunch and show on Tues Nov 12th for Let Freedom Ring. My dad served in the Army and one of my friends had seen the performer Maureen Christine last year. I wasn't sure what to expect but lunch was really good and servers were very friendly. My friends and I especially LOVED Maureen and her husband and their music. Maureen has a really beautiful voice and was very charming, and the music she and her husband performed (we can't remember his name!) was varied from fun and enjoyable to nostalgic and heartfelt. One of my friends got up and danced in a parade line and many of us stood up during Proud To Be An American, and I cried for a moment thinking of my dad. Kudos to Maureen and her husband for this patriotic concert, and to the great staff at Starved Rock!

I’m not sure how this lodge got a 3-star rating. Maybe the amenities? We were pretty disappointed. We didn’t try the pool - maybe that was ok. General room decor: very dated, needing a full paint job and an update of things like electrical outlets/heater/a/c unit, etc. The light switch plates looked decades old, and there were cracks in the edges of the paint (wear and tear). It just felt old. Bathroom/shower: again, very dated. Toilet paper holder was on door as it was so cramped. Both rooms only contained containers of hand soap, and shampoo and body wash in the shower. There was no conditioner (I consider this to be very basic.) Towels were tiny and thin and scratchy (they wrapped around my side 4 tween, not around me) Bed: sprung mattress (obviously not new, though not sinking in the middle - we developed slightly sore backs), cheap uncomfortable pillows, and sheets that didn’t fit the bed. The king size bed had queen sized sheets that came off on the night (gross) and the double bed had queen sized sheets (floppy but not gross at least). Food: we only ate in the snack bar. It was probably the worst food I’ve ever bought. Child had peanut butter and jelly, and bread was close to stale (very very dry) and had a glob of what tasted like very cheap peanut butter) and (apricot?) jam which was ok but not much. The peanut butter and jam covered maybe 3/4 of the bread. I mean, how do you get pb&j wrong?? The peanut butter fudge tasted like sugar-flavored wax, though the chocolate fudge was a bit better. After the pb&j we didn’t dare try any more expensive food. Maybe this was 3 stars in the 1990s, but not any more! Advice to hotel - consider updating your towels and sheets/pillows and adding conditioner to the showers at the very least. Also, send some secret shoppers in to try your food in your snack bar and respond to feedback. I appreciate that updates are expensive, but you need to get the fundamentals right. If you’re going to charge $165 a night for a hotel, you need to provide a minimum decent service…

We had a lovely fall weekend here; the staff was very kind and accommodating. This location is just far enough from Chicago to make it truly feel like a getaway. We took a nice hike, lots to do in the area. The Sunday brunch was awesome, so many delicious options and a great value. A very charming place!

We visited the lodge over the holidays with our family from all over the US. It was such a wonderful experience. The location was perfect for all our families needs. The staff went above and beyond with helping us with some special requests. We ate most of our meals at the restaurant and the food was outstanding. This may be our new family tradition for the holidays. Can’t wait to visit in the summer time as well.