President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, Springfield

Hotel is President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center The hotel room we have is 633. We pulled up in front and were greeted by a friendly valet who got us a cart, answered questions about parking versus valet service, even volunteered that you can park on the street overnight for free until Monday morning. I took the chance that parking on the street within sight of the hotel would be safe. But first, I checked in. I offered my debit card, but the concierge told me that the card would be charged $100 in excess of the room charge and that I would receive any unused funds within two weeks after leaving the hotel. I hadn’t heard of this before, but I don’t travel much. It could be odd, it could be routine … I wouldn’t know. Whatever the case, the concierge was at all times helpful and friendly. I checked in with a credit card, then loaded up the cart and went to the room. Having read online reviews about the cleanliness of the room or lack thereof, I looked around. The carpet was clean and the condition of the room was good. I don’t know when this hotel went up, but it wasn’t any time during the past 20-40 years. Still, it’s well maintained. The bathroom was clean. The only problem we found was a burned out light bulb in a lamp next to the bed. We had a light supper at Bennigan’s, across the street from the south side of the hotel. The restaurant was nothing special, but the waitress was nice and … after we left the restaurant and were walking away, the waitress came running after us with my ball cap in her hand. That’s going the extra mile! On the 25th, we got up at 7:00 am. We found a café within a couple blocks walk and had a good breakfast there. We got to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum early, sat outside in the wonderful morning sun until the line dwindled, then went in to buy tickets. $10 for Sandy (Adult), $7 for me (Senior). We saw everything in the museum, didn’t visit the library. It took us about 2½ hours for the whole thing, including grazing in the gift shop. We could have stayed longer, but felt we had no reason to. We went to Oak Ridge Cemetery to see Lincoln’s burial site, thence to his temporary site of about 6 months (before he was buried in his present location). We headed downtown to Cold Stone to get ice cream. We drove to Lincoln’s house and looked over the neighborhood, went through a couple houses. After all this we went back to the hotel to rest before going out for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant called Saputo’s Italian Foods. Well, we were turned away at the door (our choice) by the owner saying that the wait is 45 minutes. By the way, although we were in room 633 at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center, I was able to get on line via the Hilton hotel’s connection, since they were right across the street. 3 bars out of 5 much of the time. One factoid you don’t hear from the hotel is that you can park on the street for free from Friday after 5 pm until 8 am Monday. We found 3 or 4 parking places at different times, each within 1 block of the hotel entrance. We didn’t know whether it would be safe, but it was. We experienced no damage, nor did we see any evidence of damage to other vehicles. I saw a couple weeks later that my credit card had not been charged anything, as I had made reservations on line earlier and the charge was made then.

After reading the reviews here I had a sleepless night knowing the next day we were leaving to stay there. What a pleasant surprise when we arrived. Staff was very profession, lobby was spotless and pool was clean. You can't stay at a place that is renovating and complain of dust. Which we did not see. Yes it is older and that must be taken into consideration also. However as for the train noise, I'm sorry but no matter where you stay right down town you will hear the train. There are train tracks on both sides of the city. Our room was clean as well as other areas of the hotel. We went on a package deal which was well worth the cost. It was convenient to all historical sites. We were disappointed that the city closes down mid afternoon. It would be a quaint little city if someone was willing to put some time and money into it. Don't expect a 5 star hotel when paying for less. Thank goodness it was better than my nightmares the night prior to going there.

The location is great with being able to walk to most things. Paying for parking, coffee and a breakfast roll, dirty common areas, dirty bread spread and headboard, dirty elevator buttons, carpets needing to be cleaned and swept were all it took for us to say Never Again... The Museum is just wonderful as are the state park services, and some of the local food places like Tealicious were also wonderful. Glad we took the trip from Ohio but again would stay someplace other than Abe's Hotel... ha ha

If you're looking for a place to stay that is near all the Lincoln historic sites, this hotel is perfect. It is within walking distance of the museums, the Lincoln home, and a short drive from Oak Ridge Cemetery. There are no mircrowaves, and the in-house dining could have been a little cheaper, but over all, it was a great place to stay.

I have stayed at this hotel roughly 8 weeks out of the last year. In that time frame I have learned that a) if you ever leave anything at this hotel you will NEVER, EVER see it again, regardless of how important it may be b) You should always check your credit card statements, because you will get random charges from the hotel for nights you didn't stay there, and c) If you have any special request related to receipts or billing do not expect the hotel to take any sort of urgency in your request. They don't care. No matter how much money you have spent there.

The Abraham Lincoln Hotel is conveniently located close to most points of interest. A small map can be obtained in the hotel lobby. The staff is very friendly, which I think is a big plus. When travelling alone and or by amtrak, it is a good place to stay. The trainstation is within 5 / 10 minutes walking distance. For those of you that want to do some shopping ( grocery wise or something else ), better take a cab. That is not to be found near the hotel. Some minor comments could be made about the cleanliness of the hotel. For instance the coffee / tea maker hadn't been cleaned in a long time. So making a decent cup of tea was impossible as the water came out brownish. But not to worry, Starbucks is right accross the streat.

Our first experience was with very rude staff at the front desk while checking in. Then we went upstairs to a dated, dirty room. They only had double beds - no queen beds - and the beds were very uncomfortable. Our toilet overflowed and no one ever did come to fix it before we left. The pool area, workout room, and hallways were filthy and everything seemed very drab - no pictures on the walls or decorations. The lobby looks nice but that was it. I'm sure there must be a better place in town to stay.

Although the lobby of this hotel is attractive, the rooms are old, the bed was extremely bad, the room carpet was stained, ... the towels were nice and fluffy - that is the only good think I have to say about the rooms. I will only stay here when the Hilton across the street is booked.

Location-great for downtown/museum action. Not as "busy" as Hilton - across the street. Bar time, happy hour, was hopping! Good drinks. Restaurant; food very good, wait-staff low on training. Rooms; beds may need replacing. Great view of city from upper floors. Lots of trains, so "live with it"! Will go again...

Did you know you have to pay to park each. They made me feel like I was a burden on them at the time. The lobby is nice, but misleading to the rest of the hotel. Our rooms were old, old, old, and also didn't seem very clean(probably cause they are old!!). The only things that they have going for them are the food in the restaurant and location. Personally I would not pay that much again for what I receieved. Plus you have to pay for breakfast, and rates are higher than they should be. This town is not that big and it is not real hard to get around in, I will stay somewhere nicer and newer on my next visit.