Gateway Motel, Oak Lawn

It was actually a decent motel. However, when we opened the door to our room with the kitchenette, IT STANK TO HIGH HEAVEN!!! The room was very clean but it had a terrible smell. But it was the New Year's weekend & money was tight. So we went to K-Mart & bought plenty of candles. It wasn't a bad stay once we got past the smell in the room.

The Gateway has been in Oak Lawn since I was a kid, in the 50's, and it has that old-fashioned charm that you rarely see in urban areas--it's the kind of motel you find when you're on the road, in the middle of nowhere. It's family run, and the desk clerks are all friendly and informative. It's clean, the AC works great, good size TVs, comfortable beds, and all at a great price. It's also close to amenities like a strip shopping mall, a Walgreens, and last but not least, a WHITE CASTLE! You can walk to it in 5 minutes and get a sack of sliders!

The Gateway Motel is OK, I guess, but dont believe them when they say the nearby Metra Station is only 15 minutes from downtown Chicago. Its more like 35 minutes. The Metra Station is only four blocks from the motel, but its a long four blocks. If you are driving to the station be sure and park in the tower. Park on any nearby street and you will most likely get a ticket...or be towed. That's because Oak Lawn is infested with "parking snobs": Strip shopping centers that rigerously enforce "customer only" parking or residents that have have weird "no parking" times posted on their streets. And no wonder. Just take a look at some of the yuppies coming off the trains dressed up to the nines. You can almost smell the money. The traffic on 95th Street is absolutely horrendus. You'll be pulling your hair out trying to make a left turn. There are no turn lanes so you take your life into your own hands by trying to cross six lanes of traffic. They have free wi-fi but it kept fading out. I had to call every couple of hours to reset it. The refridge and microwave were nice. The motel was clean, but some of the guests were quite noisy. The walls are quite thin and you can hear everything. In the room below us, some guy was pounding his girlfriend into oblivion. Try explaining that to your 10-year old daughter, who asked 'Why is that lady making all those funny noises?" Luckily I had a box fan that drowned out most of the orgasmic howls, so I dodged a bullet that time.

I have stayed at this motel a few times in the last year. The rooms are clean and comfortable. The wireless internet and over 50 tv channels are a plus. Microwave and refridgerater in the room helps keep your food budget under control. I needed directions around town and the office staff was helpful with bus and taxi info. The housekeepers are friendly and always willing to give extra supplies if you ask for it. I know i'll be staying there when i am in town.

We stopped in here Friday night after finding a hotel in the ghetto. For $30 more, decided safety overrode value. The location was ok. A couple miles from midway to take train downtown and navigate between the trains and taxis. The room was clean. Fridge and Micro was handy. Upstairs had kitchenettes but we didn't need that. The only bad thing was the a/c was for show. It did not work and my cousin found a crack pipe inside of it. The owner is going all out to update and bring everything up to par. I would stay here again. Police cruisers make rounds. If you require wireless, don't get a room that goes into the corner. 16 is not a good room to have either. (for internet). Unless you have you're own router

I love this place, the staff is friendly and so nice. Even tho its a little old fashion, the price was great and free coffee and cookies in the morning.. The room was nice and had internet and cable tv. We also had a fridge and microwave. We will be back!!!!!