Can anyone recommend good hotel to stay. First time visiting campus, arriving Chicago airport hoping to rent a car and drive to Illini day visit. My daughter got accepted Engineering. Hoping to see department, housing and talk about financial aid help.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn just across the street from the engineering part of the campus. It is just like any other Hampton Inn but the location is convenient. If available and you don’t mind spending the extra money you could stay at the Illini Union. A good portion of the Illini Day is held at the Union as well.
There aren’t any particularly special hotels to stay at in Champaign or Urbana. If you want to be able to walk to the campus, then you can stay at the Hampton Inn north of campus (on University, across from the Beckman Institute), the Towneplace Suites on Green St., or the Illini Union hotel on campus. Otherwise, there’s plenty of pay parking on campus ($1/h). You can also buy a day pass from the parking office next to the Beckman Institute. The engineering department is on the north end of campus and is generally much nicer than the rest of campus.
Downtown Champaign is cute, and an 8 minute drive to campus, so you can stay there too at the Hyatt. There’s a B&B-like hotel downtown (Champaign Garden Inn) that’s run by a very nice owner with two dogs. The food options downtown are better; the area around campus has more student-oriented food (fast food, sports bars, cafes).
I Hotel is a good, modern conference hotel in the business park. It’s a clean, comfortable hotel, but isn’t close to anything interesting though ‘close’ is relative in Champaign - with a car it only takes 15 min or so to get anywhere.
Thank you. Info is very helpful
Our preferred places include the Hilton Garden Inn, the Homewood Suites and the Hyatt Place. The Home2 Suites is also comfortable as is the Holiday Inn Express. So many good hotels 
We are out of state (if you hadn’t guessed).
We have a senior daughter in Engineering. Feel free to ask any questions. Hope you have a nice visit!
Thank you @mybstnw
Hope to get good information during Illini day visit especially financial aid. No scholarships and OO fees hurting us.
@mybstnw I will be travelling with my son (who has been admitted to engineering), wife, and daughter for the illini day. Was planning to stay the illini union. would you recommend staying elsewhere?
I’m an Illini grad from '82 and my daughter will be a freshman in engineering in the fall. The Illini Union is a great place to stay: centrally located and lots of activity in the building. Rooms are dated but adequate; it’ll serve as a good home base and is right across the street from the engineering campus and Campustown. You’ll also have designated parking, which is a big plus. Have fun and I-L-L!
P.S. to @oaksdad - be sure to ask for a Quad-facing room to get a good view.
@SDC9160 Thanks for the info. Looking forward to the visit
@oaksdad, @SDC9160 : I-N-I…Sorry for my delayed response. The Illlini Union is well located! I agree that it’s a great option as well. Hope you have a good visit!
HI - where would you recommend for lunch? My family is visiting as a junior. Should we eat on or near campus or check out the town after our tour?
We are joining women Engineering group for lunch, otherwise we planned to try lunch near or inside campus but it even became better
@NYC2018nyc There are many options for lunch. I suppose it depends on if you want to mingle with students, have a nicer meal, have certain food or sample school food. I’m a parent of a senior and honestly, the food was a big part of many of our campus visits. So, if you would like to see other students, then head over to Green Street. There are lots of choices and is always bustling with people.
If you are starving and you want to grab food and hit the road quickly, then eat in the union. There are students there too and you’ll see people studying as well in the Union.
Black Dog has bbq, brisket and ribs. It’s a drive and there are 2 locations. It is one of my family’s favorites.
Downtown Champaign is a drive, and is worth looking at even if you don’t eat there. Not as many students, so local people and profs. Our favorites in downtown Champaign are Big Grove Tavern (farm to table), Destihl (brewery with a nice atmosphere).
If you like ethnic food, there is alot to choose from. Maybe look at yelp. There’s a Korean place and sushi at Kofusion in a small section of retail in Urbana. It’s not far from the Union. Bring quarters if you plan to drive and park because there are meters.
Sorry for my lengthy response here Hope you have a good visit!
Thanks so much @mybstnw I know S20 really wants to get a feel for the students so we’ll probably do Green Street.
Thumbs up on Black Dog and Destihl. Green Street: on admitted student visit a couple of weeks back, we hit Green for lunch and a snack before heading home. Two real-student options on Green are Bangkok Thai and Cracked. Cracked is a must (Dirty Tots and the Chief burrito), and you can say you ate there if you catch an old episode of Campus Eats.
Thank you for all of your recommendations. Our trip for Illini day was great success. I stayed in Union hotel, main quad view recommendation was best. Loved it. Hit green street for eateries…Lots of options.