IL Chicago South Best Western Inn And Suites Merrillville, IN

[comet52]

I got this last October as a 2.5* for a $53 bid. I was really disappointed. I thought of it now because I am going to Merrillville next week and will not bid less than 3* as all the lower level hotels in the area are lousy--I've stayed in several. I could not believe that Priceline rated this 2.5. There is little to distinguish it from the average Super 8 except for the fact that it's a bit bigger.

Very noisy - noisy in the hallways, noisy people who seemed like residents not overnight guests, chainsmoking in the rooms at the end of hall and never leaving them, noisy mechanical equipment, noisy a/c unit in the room. I could not sleep and that is rarity for me as I'm in hotels 100+ nights a year. A very low-end free breakfast, and desk staff consisted of a husband and wife from India who barely spoke english. Run down furniture in the room, clearly in need of a renovation and nowhere near the quality or comfort that I expect at 2.5*, like a Country Inn or a Hampton, etc. The joke was on me and I let Priceline know it in my follow up comments. I usually ignore the please comment emails but I zinged them good on this one.

They are going through some sort of star inflation in the last year as all kinds of properties are suddenly rated higher than they used to be, and marginal places like this one are being given ratings they clearly don't deserve. Makes me angry because if I wanted a lower end hotel at a higher end price, I would go use Hotwire!