Illinois Beach Resort & Conference Center

Tons of potential but I would never go back until the place is completely renovated. Outdated would be a compliment… It’s also dirty and smelly. It rained while we were there and our room leaked… I can’t even begin to describe what I found under our couch after searching out the origin of a mysterious odor. Service was slow from the restaurant to the maids. The breakfast service and food were the only positive… THE ONLY

Incredible views and bueatiful area. Only wish the rooms were the same. Motel 6 has better accommodation. My key deactivated 4 times and did not leave hotel. Stayed on first floor had to go to third floor for ice! Really? NO TV SERVICE AND ASK ABOUT FRONT DESK HUNG UP ON ME TWICE!

I am only giving this place 2 stars because it has so much great potential. Lets begin at booking the room, my cousin was getting married at they had group rates, I called booked 2 nights and gave my credit card to hold. My aunt was then speaking to my sister and said we had only been booked 1 night, thank goodness they were not fully booked and we got it corrected. Once we arrived the we noticed the camp ground was nice and well kept then we checked in our room, and this is when it got bad. The room was noticeably dirty, the carpet was old and there were several questionable stains on the walls and closet doors (i wish i was kidding.) The bathroom was very spacious but the shower water pressure was like a light rain. The food was, edible, but the wedding food was fantastic. The staff was nice but unprofessional in front of customers, we did not care about that, but we were not the only customers there. The resort has great walking trails along the water, and a very nice beach. I would come back only if they did a full renovation. Note to the owner: Stop paying for 5 star reviews and put the money into cleaning up and renovating the resort, it has unmatched potential to be an unforgettable resort. It has been a dream of mine to help remodel a place just like it, my inner design nerd came up with so many ideas! Seriously contact me :)

I reserved a room about a month ago for a friend’s wedding at the «resort». The reservationist on the phone was nice and I had high hopes. About a week away from the wedding, I realized check in time was at 3pm and the ceremony started at 3:30pm. Considering the hotel is pretty much in the middle of no where and I was coming from about an hour away, I decided to call to arrange an early check in. I called the day before and was informed they could not guarantee an early check in and that I could try calling the next day between 9am & 10am. I waited until 10:30am the day of check in and the reservationist was just as unhelpful as the one the day before and told me I could call back after noon. At this point, it was late enough and I needed to plan my day so I decided to drive up there in my dress and hope I would still be presentable after the hour drive. I really think the hotel should be more accommodating for Friday weddings beginning at 3:30pm and arrange earlier (2pm maybe?) check ins for guests requesting one. This was strike one on my hospitality scorecard.
I checked in a few minutes before 3pm and the front desk agents weren’t overly friendly but I wasn’t expecting much at this point. I headed up to my room via the super slow elevator. The hallways are dingy and lined with old fashioned carpeting. Messy housekeeping carts were in the hallways along with a microwave (which was still there when I checked out the next day). My room too was old fashioned and the carpet looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in quite some time. I dropped my bag and headed down to the ceremony. The ceremony overlooking the lake was beautiful! I’m sure this view alone seals the deal for many couples choosing to have their weddings here. It was 90+ degrees so we couldn’t wait to get back inside for cocktail hour.
At no time during the ceremony did I see someone from the hotel check in on things nor was there someone there at the end to direct us back inside. When we got back to the lobby, no one knew where to go and so we asked one of the bartenders. He had no idea where we were to go and said he would find out. We were then directed in to the dining room and an adjacent room where the bar was located. The bartender lacked personality from the start and it almost seemed like he had no interest in working that evening. I asked if there was a sparkling wine option available and he said it was on the table (I never get why it isn’t also offered at the bar — sparkling options are available that cost the same as a bottle of red or white). Supposedly there were about 6 different hors d’oeuvres being served but I only saw 3 and tried 2. One was a fruit skewer with a yogurt dip (literally vanilla yogurt from a container) and the other I tried was some sort of cone shaped dough filled with meat? We referred to it as a hot pocket but it lacked flavor and came with a salsa on the side. There was also a spanikopita being passed near us but we were never approached by a server offering it. It was disappointing we didn’t get to try more items.
Dinner service started off with a salad. I can best describe it as a typical banquet garden salad (iceberg, tomato, cucumber) with shredded cheese and cranberries. The salad was sloppily presented but I’ll admit, I have high standard when it comes to food. Entrees were next. I ordered the filet and was presented with a strange looking piece of meat with a heavy gravy over it, mashed potatoes, and green beans almondine. Nothing had flavor so I added quite a bit of salt. I also had to cut the meat quite small since it was tough and difficult to chew. From what I hear, the salmon with a dill cream sauce was probably the route to go.
During salads, the kids table located behind us was served their dinner — chicken fingers and fries. I turned around and talked to my friend’s kids and one asked me to get her something to drink so I checked on a few other kids and headed to the bar for 3 kiddie cocktails since no servers were around and I didn’t want to leave the kids waiting too long. I know the bar is closed during dinner service so I nicely approached the bar and kindly asked the bartender for 3 kiddie cocktail for a few of the kids. His response: «the bar is closed… but I guess I can serve those». Strike 2. You work in the hospitality industry — be a little more hospitable! If he would of said «of course, no problem!», I would have returned after dinner with a nice tip but I decided I was done tipping him at that point.
Overall, my experience at the «resort» was underwhelming. The old fashioned rooms (that were also quite pricey for Zion at $ 150/​night), unfriendly staff, and sub par food are extremely disappointing since this hotel has so much potential considering the beautiful views of lake michigan.

I am giving this place three stars because I really want this place to see a turnaround and be great. It has a lot going for it, and on the hotel’s part I had very few complaints.
I only ever saw it in the dark/​twilight, but yearned to see it in the daylight. I arrived around 10:00 pm after an afternoon of fishing and a late dinner elsewhere. I checked out at 4:30 am the next morning to go back out fishing. I stayed here as part of a pre-​arranged package through my charter fishing company, so I didn’t choose the hotel.
The hotel itself looked nice in the lobby, and there were one or two large events going on in their ballroom that looked nicely done. The glass-​sided ballroom was really elegant and gorgeous at night. They have a beautiful courtyard next to it. It’s right on the lake. It has a beach. There is SO much potential and I’d consider hosting an event here myself. They have nicely furnished amenities, a fire place — it really looks like it would be a nice place to come and live for a few days.
The check-​in staff were friendly, we didn’t interact much though. They had a convenience stand with all kinds of travel size items and flip flops and whatnot next to the check-​in desk, which was a nice touch.
We went up to our room and hit the sack. There were two beds, a small table with two chairs, a dresser/​TV stand with TV and actually a sanitized remote. Sanitized! I was so thrilled to see that, but never had to use it. Like others have said, the room was pretty plain and bare, with few outlets and wallpaper that had clearly seen some moisture damage at the top.
HOWEVER, I WILL STATE IN CAPITAL LETTERS THAT THIS ROOM DID NOT SMELL LIKE MOLD OR MILDEW AT ALL. I have stayed in rooms for $ 300 a night that stank of mold, but not this place. It was very clean and neat and the bathroom was average, as expected. No complaints there. Everything worked. The bed was comfortable.
My neighbors, however, were THE worst. People started coming back from the party downstairs around 11:00 or so, and kept coming up until at least 1:00 am. This is fine, it’s to be expected with a wedding going on… but I could hear them like they were in my own room. And they were shouting and yelling, and there were small children making lots of noise, and being scolded by their parents («Put on your SHIRT!») and people were SLAMMING doors, repeatedly. Like they were doing it on purpose. I know that sometimes doors are just slammy-​sounding doors. But come on, even if you’re drunk… it’s 1:00 am! Try to have SOME consideration. Sound proofing would be an EXCELLENT investment here.
I maybe slept 3 hours before getting up to fish. No, I did not call the hotel to ask them to do something about it because I figured they’d have no recourse and I couldn’t even tell which room (s) were the culprit (all of them, probably). So that’s not on them. But it was awful all the same.

Recently had a wedding there, and loved the outdoor atmosphere for the wedding. The food was amazing.
The rooms however are overpriced, and in despite need of a major update. Stains were all over the carpet, there was wallpaper on the walls, and it had tears in numerous places, broken light switch in the bathroom, very limited number of accessible outlets for plugging stuff in. There was no ironing board, and after requesting one, it came with these nasty stains all over. The coffee maker only had enough crème/​sugar for one person. The beds were comfy, however appeared lumpy when entering the room. I would say a complete demolish and rebuild should be in order for this place for the lodging area.

First let me be SUPER CLEAR. The people who work at this hotel are SUPER nice and SUPER professional. They can only do so much with the outdated hotel they must try to keep clean.
100 percent of my frustration goes to the OWNERS or OPERATORS of this hotel.
My complaints:
1)Rooms are outdated and thus are starting to look like a cheap motel 6
2)The pool is dirty because it is not only the hotel pool, it is being used as a HEALTH CLUB too. This also makes the pool filthy with hair and bugs
3)Bathrooms are super outdated.
4) Wifi as out a lot of the time
5) Stairwells were really old
It just has an over all feeling of being outdated and uncared for. I get a sense that the place is going to close down or be completely revamped.
My Compliments: (Why I gave two stars not one)
1)The Staff and workers are very nice and hospitable. They were so nice to my son
2)The price and availability are very nice. (I guess it is a trade off)
3) Location is perfect
4) Lake is beautiful.
So that is my review. I feel bad being so harsh, but this place has so much potential. I guess if I got all that I wanted it could turn out to be another Starved Rock (and never have availability.)
Again the EMPLOYEES WERE SUPER PROFESSIONAL AND NICE! I only have a beef with the owners. The property is so amazing yet it has the feel of a Super 8 Motel! It feels a bit dirty and not clean. If you have an house and don’t buy carpeting for 20 years, it is going to look filthy no matter how many times you clean it. That is the problem with this place!

Staff is friendly, view is great, but the hotel is so out dated! It’s like flashing back to the 70’s it has potential to be nice but they need to put some money into it. There are so many other places I would go back to before coming back here.

Never even acknowledged us as we stood at the hostess stand waiting. Looks like a mess anyway. Used to be great.

No stars but they MADE me pick one sorry. I drove quite a ways to check it out and was extremely disappointed. Walking up there were empty beer bottles all over, mattresses hanging over one balcony, Very run down, dirty, tiles in the ceiling missing, blinds missing, carpet not in tact with the floor, the honeymoon suite I wouldn’t leave my cat in overnight :(… AND I’m not that picky!!! Or do I ever go on Unilocal & say anything so you know it’s bad. So bad I literally want to cry because I had the wedding date on hold. Thank the good lord I decided to make the drive first. Also the woman was nice BUT had ZERO enthusiasm about my soon to be marriage OR the place. Had literally nothing good to say. ZERO

I have lived in the area all my life, but have never attended a wedding here before this past weekend. The décor of the reception hall was gorgeous, the view of the lake was breathtaking and the buffet dinner was delicious. Kudos to Illinois Beach Resort’s chef, wedding consultant and decorators, and all of your staff. Everyone went out of their way to make this a truly memorable event.

So when I first arrived I checked in. Check in was fast and easy. I had a groupon. Then went up to the room via the one elevator. Once on the second floor I immediately notice out dated décor. I then opened the door to my room. It’s a large room with two queen beds and view of the pool. Bathroom is out dated and doors are pretty banged up. The keurig coffee maker was a nice touch but only had enough cream n sugar for one cup. I called down to the front desk and they told me I can come down and get some. So much for customer service. Anyway the room has a flat screen 32 inch and a mini fridge. It has a sitting area for two. What really put me off was the so called restaurant. The food was very bland and pricey. We had the Friday night fish fry. After dinner took a walk on the beach which is right outside the hotel. That was nice but it’s very dark. Then to the pool. The pool is huge and goes to 8 ½ feet deep. The hot tub fits 5 and the sauna is very nice. There is a large arcade area which is nice. Free tanning bed and pool game is $ 1 so over all this place could use a update and some customer service and a real restaurant before calling themselves a resort.

So sad, this place has potential. To sum it up, old and dirty. The beach was nice, unfortunately we had to bring it back to our room with us, there wasn’t anywhere to wash all the sand off before you entered the so called «resort», so we just washed off in the bathtub, only it’s was clogged (probably with sand).
The room was just old and dirty feeling. Wallpaper coming off, gross lighting, our bed skirt was filthy, clearly hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. The sheets were clean, but the beds were extremely uncomfortable.
In the restaurant the staff is very friendly unfortunately they weren’t busy but still very slow.
Needless to say, we will not return.

The surrounding area of this hotel (wouldn’t call it a ‘resort’) was beautiful. The beach/​lake access and hotel amenities were awesome! Beach, lake, giant pool hot tub gym… Etc all very nice. The bar was good though the food was pretty standard, but nothing to complain about. The rooms were fine if you were just looking for a place to crash. Beds were nice and they kept it clean. Could definitely use an update in the shower and décor area, specially for the $$. But no real problems, and view and surrounding land made it well worth it. I would definitely camp here next time!

The name resort is a little misleading. Modern resorts are much larger than this establishment. It’s definitely a nice hotel, with nice indoor pool and some beautiful spaces for weddings and photos.
But it is also very dated. It’s architecture is clearly a 60s style and it looks like that couldn’t be fixed easily. But that doesn’t excuse the rooms and hallways and lobby interior being left in the 60s. It needs some TLC and a facelift. But it was clean and the staff was considerate.
The restaurant didn’t impress me at dinner. But the breakfast buffet was up to snuff.
Overall, not a bad spot but we didn’t review their wedding pricing. If it isn’t very reasonable, there are nicer venues.

Since I moved to Chicago, I had been looking forward to visiting this hotel. I thought it would be a great place for a weekend getaway, not to far from home. We will not be back…
My fiancé purchased a living social for a 2 night stay including sparking wine and chocolate covered strawberries, $ 40 toward dinner and breakfast for 2. Sounded like a fantastic deal!
Jason, who checked us in is great. Excellent customer service. Heading up to the room, the elevator is dingy and extremely slow. I wondered when it was serviced last.
The room was nothing special, worse than a best western. First my guy had called earlier in the day to request a refrigerator and they said it would be taken care of. No fridge… Jason informed us that they can bring one up but it’s not standard. We declined, not a major thing, but if they said it would be taken care of, then I expect them to follow through. The sheets and blankets were clean but the bed was hard as a rock! I slept horribly and woke up sore. The light in the bathroom flickered, there was a large weird wet spot in the middle of the carpet and you had to ask the front desk for coffee for the keurig. Internet service is useless, signal wouldn’t last long enough to even check email.
The food was ok. My omelet was good but the potatoes were dripping with grease. The view of course is lovely. We ended up deciding that staying another night would be more painful then heading home. We only stayed 1 night.
Overall, food us decent, staff is wonderful and that’s it. If they are going to call this place a «resort» and charge as much as they do, I expect more than just a view. I would consider staying here again only if they slashed their prices or did some major upgrading.

Great getaway if you live near Chicago! Very relaxing environment out on the beach or in the pool…
Great Customer Service
Great Pool
Clean rooms & Sheets

Our Living Social /​Groupon /​thingamajigger really paid off at Illinois Beach Resort and Conference Center. May I explain? Cheers!
When my boyfriend mentioned he’d purchased the two-​night dealio for us to enjoy for my birthday I promptly began my civic duty as a woman and started digging up any review I could get my grubby paws on – you know, I needed that dirt. I was a little shocked to see so many mediocre to POOR reviews! After a little more digging, I discovered IBRCC had undergone a shift in management (I think …) and had taken great pains to improve the quality of their amenities and staff. Worth the gamble, I thought forgivingly.
The approach to the conference center itself is serene. Peaceful. Idyllic, even, in a midwestern kinda way. We trundled through marshes and tall grass, passed by streams, cattails and woodland, before we made it to IBRCC’s doorstep. Upon first glance, it seemed … retro. Kinda like someone tried really hard to keep up with the Jones’s back in 1955 and then moved on after the styles changed. Retro though it seemed, the grounds were also well kept and clean.
We arrived an hour before check-​in and they pleasantly offered us our room. Boyo originally wanted to get a queen or king bed but booked two queens as that was all that was available at the time. Microwaves and mini-​fridges are available upon request, and — being young, hardy, Milwaukeeans — we requested a fridge to keep our precious cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon cold.
After we’d thrown our bags haphazardly into random corners of our room, I went for a walk around our new digs. AND NOTICED THE OTHER ROOMS NEAR OURS THAT HAD BALCONIES. Back at the front desk, I asked if it would be possible to upgrade /​downgrade /​swindle our way into a room with a balcony. Poof! Done! Soon we found ourselves looking out over IBRCC’s courtyard and then onward to Lake Michigan. No fuss from the girls up front, all genuine smiles, and the gentleman rerouted to bring our fridge to a different room refused my tip.
We also received $ 40 towards dinner for two. I didn’t expect much because the dining room looked more like god’s waiting room and their menu was a snoozefest. Our steaks — which were freely brought up to our room for us even after we insisted we could do so ourselves — were much more than we anticipated, and our server (Joey, I think?) sent up a complimentary slice of sexysexy chocolate layer cake for my birfday!
The weather was EFFING COLD while we were there, and blustery to boot, so we weren’t able to enjoy their outdoor amenities; however, a short (and shivering) walk along their beach revealed tidiness, ample and comfortable benches to perch upon and smooch, a firepit, an adorable gazebo, and more well-​tended grounds. Avoiding frostbite (at the end of May … have I mentioned that yet?), we visited their pool and had to pick our jaws up off the ground. IT WAS HUUUUUGE! And clean, and equipped with lots of comfy chairs, and blahblahblah. Awesomeness. Jacuzzi? Woulda been better if girl scout troop #666 hadn’t put a monopoly on it, but whatever. I’m a hater.
There was a bit of a slightly unpleasant hitch when we tried to use our «Breakfast For Two» voucher on the last morning of our stay. We waited in the restaurant and … no server. We went back up to our room to call down our order and … no answer. I had to call the front desk to place our breakfast order, which was a little weird, and the young man who answered didn’t seem pleased to be taking my order, but shrug? Manlove’s pancake sandwich was devoured, my bacon’egg’croissanwich was exactly what it should have been. Nice.
I’ll also note that their free wifi situation was spotty at best, so this nerd-​on-​the-​go made do with out. Barely.
Finally, the surrounding community looked a little like it was «rode hard and hung up wet» so to speak. Like it’d seen some better days. The main drag, however run-​down, boasted plenty of conveniences and curious-​looking bars and shops. I wouldn’t call this a tourist town but surely still was interesting. If you’re looking for somewhere to eat beyond IBRCC’s restaurant, I *HIGHLY* recommend the Tipsi Monkey. Ask for Raj and tell him Jessica sent you.
(Oh. There’s a decommissioned nuclear power plant on the lake just a couple miles north of the resort. It’s visible from the car when you’re making your approach to the resort proper. It’s been two weeks since I visited and I have not sprouted any extra toes nor started erratically glowing at intervals. Worry not, friends. Another Unilocaler suggested we go check it out at a distance but it wasn’t in the cards, and that’s probably for the best.)
I highly suggest checking in at IBRCC during the week as we did.

Got a great deal from Living Social Escapes for a 2 night stay here. This is a great little place to escape to from the city and it’s only about an hour away from Chicago! We got a bottle of champagne and a delicious plate of chocolate covered strawberries the night we arrived! ($ 1.50/strawberry if you want to order more which we did!).
While the hotel is old, it is clean and my friend and I had a wonderful girls weekend here! The restaurant is amazing, so accomodating, and most of all has delicious food! We had breakfast here (they serve HUGE yummy pancakes!) and had ribeye steaks for dinner!
Inside the resort, they have a nice little pool as well as a full workout center in the basement. Outside is nature and peaceful quiteness! There’s a long stretch of beach, lots of hiking trails, and even a nature center nearby!
We can see how this would be a nice place for weddings and a go to place for weekend getaways when the weather gets consistently warm! I can’t wait to go back!

I had a great experience getting a cabin at the White Pines Inn at White Pines Forest State Park and was excited when I heard about Illinois Beach Resort on the lakeshore at Illinois Beach State Park. It lived up to my expectations. My girlfriend and I rented a room overlooking wild Lake Michigan with a balcony and king size bed for about a hundred dollars in April. We hiked in the state park and saw critters. There was a pool and all kinds of work out /​game room stuff– that we didn’t use. The nature was what brought us. In the middle of the night I sat out on the balcony and listened to the waves. It was warm for April and still.