On our recent trip to Chicago, Chloe and I spent a couple of nights at the La Quinta Chicago O’Hare and here’s our report.

Dog’s-eye view: All of La Quinta’s properties are pet-friendly, and the desk clerk very matter-of-factly checked me and Chloe in. There was no extra fee for her, and I did not have to sign any kind of pet policy form. Our room was conveniently located near an outside door, so taking Chloe for walks was easy. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much scope for walking — there are several large patches of grass around the hotel and the neighboring Spaghetti Warehouse, but the area the hotel is located in does not have any sidewalks, so those patches of grass are it.

What I liked: The hotel was clean, pleasant and a very good deal. There is free wi-fi and a complementary breakfast every morning, featuring cold cereals, toast and bagels, fruit, and a make-your-own waffle station. The pictures of the rooms and the hotel on the web site (click on the first link above) are accurate. And this is a minor point, but as a pet owner, I really appreciated it: The beds are on platforms, not legs, so I didn’t have to spend all of my hotel time on my knees retrieving Chloe’s ball from underneath the bed.

What I didn’t like: It’s a bit too much of a stretch to call the La Quinta Chicago O’Hare an “airport hotel.” It takes about 15-20 minutes to get there from O’Hare, which also explains why you have to wait awhile for the shuttle bus to show up at the airport when you call to request it. (On the bright side, there is a shuttle. Also, I kind of expected the hotel to be farther out than its web site suggests, so that wasn’t a problem for me.)

Next time? We would certainly return. Although it’s quite a distance from O’Hare, it’s a great value for money, clean and safe.

La Quinta Inn — Chicago O’Hare
1900 East Oakton St.
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
T: 847-439-6767