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Carleton Hotel
Rating Details »
1110 Pleasant St
(between Maple Ave & Marion St)
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 848-5000
(between Maple Ave & Marion St)
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 848-5000
- Nearest Transit:
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Harlem (Green)
- Price Range:
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$$
9 reviews for Carleton Hotel
Deciding to have my wedding at the Carleton was one of the first decisions I made after getting engaged, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made over a year and a half of planning!
We held our ceremony and reception at the hotel, since we had a decent number of out-of-town guests and I didn't want them to have to deal with driving. (And how awesome is it to be able to party all night and then just be a short elevator ride away from your room?) I know I'm a little bit biased, but my wedding was BEAUTIFUL. Everything turned out better than I ever could have hoped for. My vision for my wedding day was executed exactly; how many brides can say that?
Annie Mammoser is the wedding coordinator at the hotel, and whatever they're paying her, I'm sure it's not enough, because she is amazing. Anything I wanted or needed, she was on it. She made sure all the little details were seen to........ I did not spend a single second worrying about anything on my wedding day. Even everything leading up to that (the tasting, meeting with linen rental vendor, multiple walk-throughs with my florist) was stress-free.
The space is really beautiful (love the chandelier and the bar area), and it's nice to have it all to yourself (rather than being one of several weddings at a larger hotel or banquet hall). We took some beautiful pictures in front of the Marion Street entrance, and all the extra seating area made for a really fabulous cocktail hour. (The only thing I'm kind of bummed out about now is that I didn't get to have any of the awesome hors d'oeuvres we selected since I was so busy taking pictures and saying hi to everyone.)
As far as cost goes - totally a bargain! 102 people for dinner, copious amounts of alcohol and hours of dancing cost us less than $10,000. Try doing that in downtown Chicago. (Not to mention the two complimentary nights in a suite that we were given. The room was amazing, and it was really nice to be comped like that.)
I've now been married for a month, and my friends and family are still talking about the food (really, really delicious!), the candy buffet (set up by Annie, perfectly!), and how much fun they had (possibly due to 5 hours of open bar). A perfect setting for one of the best days of my life (so far).
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My wedding has happened. It happened at the Carleton and it was fantastic. The most fantastic wedding I have ever been to; I am so proud to say it was mine. Annie Parker, special events coordinator extraordinaire, oversaw this event with care and love and attention to every detail - as if it were her own. Annie and I have gotten to know each other pretty well over the past year or so. I have emailed her daily for weeks at a time with silly questions and requests and advice and she has always responded with clear, thorough responses and always with our best interest in mind. The staff at The Carleton deserve some recognition. I had quite the crowd -- the most bottles ever consumed at one event. Yup, that's us! We had a few scenarios that would've thrown the average banquet staff off their game, but not this one! I can't say enough about the conscientious effort to make my wedding the best it can possibly be. The food was amazing -- we had chosen honey mustard crusted chicken, rib eye and salmon. All deserving high marks. All the guests that made mention of the food were pleasantly surprised with the quality AND quantity of these dishes. The rib eye was the most consumed entree and this piece of meat was something to be expected at a high end steak house. Very nice. Our room was beautiful, clean and large. We had 12 other guests booked at the hotel and all were pleased as well. Poor Phil's is the bar and grill which I have reviewed in the past, but will mention that they serve a great breakfast! Several guests enjoyed the morning after here.
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/29/2008
I have never actually stayed here...yet! I am getting married at The Carleton in October of 09 and… Read more »
We booked a block of rooms for our wedding this July at the Carleton. The hotel was very pretty and our room was spacious and had lots of character. Dana, who I worked with to book the rooms, was very helpful and returned my calls promptly. The best part was that by 10 of our guests booking their rooms at the Carleton, we got our room free!
The only reason I didn't rate this a five is because I felt that the rooms are overpriced for the service, location and what the hotel can offer.
My uncle came for a visit over the weekend, and stayed at the Carleton because it's convenient to my apartment (only 4 blocks away!) I was truly impressed when I saw his digs... Nice, huge room with a separate kitchen and dining area, which reminded me of a renovated studio apartment. Beautiful furnishings!
I took a shower while there, because the water pressure sucks so bad at my place that I'll jump at any chance I can get to actually *rinse* my hair! I promptly stole all the toiletries - "sea fennel" shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and soap from Gilchrist & Soames. Very nice :-)
Best of all, their service to my uncle was impeccable. He had ordered a room with two beds, since my mom (his sister) was planning on staying at the hotel with him for the weekend. When he got there, they'd given him a room with only one bed. (Apparently, his original room was right over the ballroom, where they were having a wedding with a loud DJ). But instead of just switching him to a different room, they comped him a 2nd single room for my mom. A+ for good customer service.
Additionally (and I'll review it separately), I'm a big fan of their pub and grill, Poor Phil's, on the lower level. Good drinks and killer breakfast!
I stayed at the Motor Inn section for one night prior to an interview.
Staff was very helpful, prompt, and had a good sense of humor. There are two parts to the hotel - The Carleton and the Motor Inn sections. The Motor Inn section was very old timey hotel and reminded me of the ones i've stayed in in northern Wisconsin.
I could not find the thermostat in the room but that may be because I'm an idiot... the room was a comfortable temperature anyway so it didn't matter to me.
Internet is free but for some reason it didn't work at all. I had to use the internet at an attached restaurant (also free). I couldn't pull up directions the next day because they were both down and it was really frustrating.
I don't really know what else to say about the place. There was a big bed, a TV with cable (thank you espnews!) to keep me company. There was enough soap that I could have showered 183 times and not made a dent in it. Very spacious room. Parking was easy (I came back after 11pm and still had a spot).
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Beautiful ballroom and bar area. Great ambiance. We had about 65 people at our wedding reception and suprisingly the ballroom wasn't too big, however, since the bar area is down a little corridor, people pretty much ventured to the bar to drink and lounge after dinner/dancing. It was intimate, people we're able to meet and talk. Since we had a small party, everyone could fit comfortably into the large bar area.
The food was from Philanders and it was awesome across the board- the fav main dish was the beef and tilapia. YUMMY!
We received a complimentary room which worked out well, we used it as our home base. It was close to the reception area and was very well kept with a old fashioned flair.
I'm very happy with how the reception turned out, I think the hotel is great for smaller weddings and is a wonderful place if you want to get away from the typical Holiday Inn reception. Our course it comes with a price tag, but it was worth it!
One more side note for wheelchair users: I was concerned since a couple of the guests are wheelchair-bound and the hotel reception area is actually on a couple levels. The hotel isn't accessible with ramps throughout, but they have lifts throughout to accomodate even larger electric wheelchairs. I was surprised the lifts were insulated very well because you couldn't hear the noise in the ballroom.
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I worked at a wedding at the Carleton last week. It is a gorgeous petite boutique hotel in downtown Oak Park. The ballroom is perfect for a wedding between 100-150 guests.
For the cocktail hour, the hotel used a small banquet room as well as a bar with two small rooms right off of it. The only thing that I disliked is that some guests were walking through the cocktail hour to get to their rooms on that side of the hotel.
We had a teeny little dinner (18 people) here the night before the boy's Bar Mitzvah, and some of our guests stayed here. A lovely hotel with gracious service. You won't get a pool and fitness center, but the location and charm more than make up for it. Dana and Annelise gave our small-scale event the same attention and service that they'd give to a 200-person wedding. The food was was tasty, though not very inventive. The thing is, that you won't get away cheap. There are room charges on top of the food charges, which is why we had the main event at Maggiano's.
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I love this hotel.
My fiance and I had our engagement party here and everyone loved the food and the atmosphere. The food is excellent and the service is great.
The outdoor seating at Poor Phil's is lovely in the summer. We often ride our bikes here and sit outside for lunch when the weather is nice.
We have stayed in their suites a couple of times and love their oversized jacuzzi tub.
