Mark Twain Hotel, Peoria

My boyfriend and I decided to rent a Deluxe room for our New Year's Eve 2008 stay. The room was beautiful, clean, and had a fantastic view of the city! We awoke to a free continental breakfast that consisted of sausage, bacon, eggs, danishes, bagels, made to order omelets, and belgian waffles. The hotel also provided a complimentary shuttle anywhere within 5 miles of the hotel! We also received 2 free drink tickets per person to enjoy at the bar. The room also provided Bath & Body works brand body soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotions!The staff was extremely polite and I would definitely stay here again!!

Where shall I start? To be fair they did take our last minute reservation but now I know why……no one else wanted to stay there. The room was ok if you don’t mind paper thin walls that allow you to hear everything that is going on in the other rooms and hallway. It isn’t too bad if you don’t mind a sink that doesn’t drain when you are trying to brush your teeth or a freezing shower in the morning to wake you up, because there is no hot water. Well at least they have a coffee maker in the lobby, but don’t get up too early – you can’t use it until 10:00. Wait…. you better get up early so you can go stand in line for 15 minutes at breakfast, only to have them tell you when you get to the front of the line, “It’s 10:00 and we are no longer serving breakfast.” If you decide to go to the front desk to make your dislike known, you’ll most likely be compensated with “Sorry, we are out of food.”

Free drinks, free dvd rentals at the front desk, clean room, perfect for traveling on business. The location is downtown Peoria so there are several restaurants within walking distance, but Uno's in the hotel is pretty good. I've stayed at many hotels in Peoria and this is probably the best...

This hotel is the best in Peoria hands down. Anyone looking for clean classy hotel this is the best you are going to get in Peoria.

Very nice, clean, recently remodeled. Rooms were average but sufficient. Staff were helpful and friendly. Breakfast was average.I would stay here again. Very close to the riverfront. Shuttle will take you where you want to go.

This place is wonderful. It is very quaint yet luxurious. We had a great view of the river and bridge. We enjoyed the DVD player and surround sound. The room was very clean and had every amenity wanted and needed. The staff was very friendly. The two drink tickets a day and breakfast were great. I was very skeptical after reading other reviews. I think people are very picky, and compared to other places I have stayed in Peoria, this is wonderful. I recommend staying here and will only stay in this hotel on any return trips I make to Peoria.

I recently had a wedding in Peoria, IL. We were going to be hosting many out of town guests from Chicago and Iowa, and were hoping that the Mark Twain would be a nice place as we had heard about its recent renovations. In addition, my fiance and I also booked a room here for our wedding night. We were quoted a rate of $150 for the night of our wedding for a room slightly better than the average. We asked for a discount due to having over 20 rooms booked in our block for th wedding party, but were told no. The night before the wedding, we helped some guests check in and also confirmed our room, and our rate. Upon check in on our wedding night- we were told our rate was not $150, but $300, and that we were unable to cancel our room because it was not 24 hours notice! As I stand there in my wedding dress while my fiance tries to sort out the problem, the desk manager says he will do nothing for us, and if we don't pay- he will just charge the credit card we used to hold the reservation. This was an unreal bate and switch! After several minutes of arguing wiht the front desk, trying to right the situation, or get confirmation of a cancellation- the desk called the police on us. THat's right- midnight on my wedding night standing there crying in my big dress with the POLICE ready to remove us from the building! In the end, we were leaving for our honeymoon the next day, so the situation is still being resolved. We have contacted the better business bureau, and hope to hear back soon about resolution. This hotel put a large damper on my wedding night. I urge everyone to stay away from this hotel.

I'm a business traveller and have the unfortunate pleasure of going to Peoria every week. First, there are not any "nice" hotels in Peoria. I've stayed in them all around Peoria: Hampton Inn, Radisson (disgusting), Pere Marquette (rooms looks like it's from a set of an adult film), and our belove Mark Twain. Yeah, Mark Twain is perhaps the lesser of the evils in Peoria. But that doesn't say much. Every room smells (I've stayed in at least 20 different rooms in the hotel). And I actually stay in their Deluxe rooms. The AC/Heating is either way too hot or way too cold. The bathroom are horribly cleaned. The staff are a bunch of 17 years olds who really don't care about service. The beds are comfortable; but the comforters are disgusting--yellow/brown stained--YUCK! I heard there's an Embassy Suites that will be opening up soon. I can't wait...Mark Twain will be out of business, since it will not be able to compare to the standards of a Hilton family establishment. BTW, the Mark Twain is over priced. Which is fine for now, cause as I mentioned, the alternatives are not that good. Seems like Peoria is a nice city, but the Chamber of Commerce needs to do something about the hotel situation, cause my perception of Peoria is horrible because of the lack of choices/quality of hotels in the area. Stay at the Mark Twain but don't say no one warned you!!

As this hotel was near a reception site, for a wedding we were attending, and we were from out-of-state, we opted, even after reading the reviews, to give it a try. Not a good decision! I am a smoker, and it was nice to find a hotel that would accommodate my needs, however, upon a cursory inventory of the room, found absolutely not one ashtray. I attempted, many times, to contact housekeeping, but their number was always busy, so I hopped onto the elevator and went to the front desk...they requested them to be brought to our room...one hour later, still no ashtray(s), so, another trip down the elevator...oh, did I mention we were in one of the furthest rooms from the elevator?, and yet another request. This is when I found the ditsy desk clerk had us down for a room different than what she had issued us. (Possibly explaining the ashtray situation...or not!) This still resulted in no ashtray...as we left for dinner, I suggested they just have one brought to the desk...I'd p/u later! Our view, from our pitifully dirty window, consisted of scummy a/c water; a/c unit with lots of broken glass (?)...and a construction site. Oh, we did have a fine view of the I-74 bridge. The carpet was stained & dirty; the chair pad, as well; our ice bucket was smeared, inside, with previous patrons' meal, or?, and still had moisture left from melted ice; speaking of ice...no machine on our floor, had a choice of going to 3,6 or 8. Upon arriving at the 3rd flr. machine...it was found out-of-order, had to go up to 6. Not very convenient...at all! The door knob to the bathroom was filthy, the room dusty, and, if you've ever begun an experience such as this, you begin to pay attention to all details...now you're on the hunt. I will say, as another has mentioned, if you just give all, a cursory glance, it looks good, but once you begin to really 'look,' all is not what it appears. Their complimentary breakfast was nice...they had many choices, and the eats were tasty...however, you sure had to wipe off your seat, from crumbs and other unnamed debris, and the tables weren't of the cleanest, either. All in all...I must dissuade anyone from staying here...I was not pleased with the 'blond' either, finding her inefficient and rude...Mr/Ms/Miss/Mrs...manager...either re-educate her, or give her walking papers, she is not a plus, but a huge minus! There are great bones here...the atmosphere is pleasing...but, you have a long, long way to go before anyone with 'taste' would want to visit your establishment, again. And, at such prices, one would hope to have a much better experience...way, way better! I can not, in good conscience, recommend staying here...no, not at all.

I think the other people in these reviews may have had one of the old rooms. They are renovating the Hotel right now, so there are a few rooms that are not up to par (first and second floors). The other rooms are great. Awesome beds, DVD players with surround sound, DVD's for free in the lobby, and twe drink tickets to be used at the bar or for drinks in the morning. Breakfast is better than average, and the location (outside of road construction which will be complete in October of 05) is great, plenty of food and entertainment. Give it a chance, and fork out the extra ten or twenty bucks to upgrade, it's well worth it!