Pheasant Run's indoor New Orleans
I’m in St. Charles this week to conduct training for my company. This trip, I decided to roll the dice with a Hotwire hotel: the Pheasant Run Resort. I’d read mixed reviews of the hotel on the Internet, with some really hating the hotel and others really liking it. After a few days here, I have to say I really like it. The place certainly has some character!
I arrived Sunday evening (what some call Super Bowl Sunday), and was shocked to find the hotel practically deserted. Expecting to find guests in the hotel bar, watching the game, instead I found one couple – and I almost overlooked them. My coworkers pointed out that greater Chicago in February isn’t exactly a vacation destination.
The hotel is very large, and the combination of nighttime, the feet-high snowdrifts outside and the expansive, empty ballrooms quickly got me thinking of the Overlook Hotel in the book and movie, The Shining. I began to make jokes on Facebook about how I was the only one here, aside from Lloyd the Bartender.
What was really creepy was finding the recreated “Bourbon Street” in a hotel hallway. It’s like a movie set. The empty, fake street with blues music playing in the background and lifeless animatronic band players staring over the fake balcony give this place a creepy feeling. Finding my way around has been a challenge, too. Labyrinthine hallways link the hotel. It’s my third night here and I am still finding parts of the hotel I didn’t know existed. This ain’t a chain hotel, that’s for sure!
Your money's no good here, sir.
The room is a decent size, with fairly new carpeting, paint, drapes, and bed. It’s quiet, too. The bathroom is a bit small but it’s manageable. The desk is scuffed up but not a big deal. The place has real character.
My biggest complaints about the Pheasant Run is that breakfast begins too late: 6:30 AM. That’s tough for a business traveler who has places to be, though I understand that the hours probably work better for the typical resort guest. The other complaint is the broken WiFi in the hotel. The guest room WiFi is inoperative, causing me to do any serious Internet use downstairs in the lounge.
Would I stay here again? Yes, I’d have no trouble staying here. It’s been pretty interesting just walking around the place and discovering something new. It’s not often in my travels that the hotel itself becomes the topic of conversation, but the Pheasant Run Resort clearly has some stories to share.