A couple of days into our Chicago trip, my partner decided he wanted to check out Lake Forest, which is 40 miles north of Chicago. We booked a night in a luxury hotel called The Deer Path Inn and set off for the day.

Lake Forest is the city he went to high school in… It’s also one of the cities where all the rich folk in John Hughes movies live. If you’ve ever seen Pretty in Pink and Breakfast Club you might recognize some of the suburbs portrayed in these movies.

We stayed at The Deer Path Inn. The Deer Path Inn is a high-end hotel in the center of the city. It’s an enormous Tudor building surrounded by suburbs.

The hotel is actually beautiful. The exterior is so quaint and cute, it reminds me of a fairy tale, where the world is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong.

The bus boys are handsome, warm and very helpful. The concierge is personable and thoughtful.

The inside of the hotel is massive, boasting three luxury restaurants and a beautiful courtyard in the center of the complex. The interior decor is humble but antiquated with its Tudor style. The inside is a labyrinth of hallways upon hallways and staircases. The dim lighting and the grandioseness of the place reminds me of the grand hotel used for The Shinning. Although, The Shinning is a scary movie, this hotel, by no means, is scary.

At one point we asked to rent out bicycles but were informed that they were included with our stay. We rode around the city and even made it to Lake Michigan.

The room:

The rooms are big. Ours had a king size bed. We had a beautiful foyer with a cabinet full of expensive liquors for sale.

The bed is comfortable and the AC worked perfectly. It almost felt like we were sleeping in a cottage in the English countryside. We had a view of the courtyard. It was nice indeed.

The restrooms are elaborately tiled and decorated. The lights are nice and bright. The shower was fancy and very modern.

The Restaurants:

There are three restaurants in this hotel, The English Room, The Bar, and the White Hart Pub each with its own style of United Kingdom warmth.

We ate at The Bar, which was fully booked. All the tables were full but the bar itself had several seats available. We grabbed two seats, had a few drinks and ordered a few good meals. I got a couple of lamb sliders, which are filling and delicious. The bartenders are good, attentive and very polite. The food came out quickly and timely. The decor is dark. The wood finishing and the leather polish on the seats made the atmosphere very masculine.

The only bad experience at The Bar is a rude hotel guest yelling at the bartender and eventually the manager because he was not okay with the restaurant being full and needed to be accommodated immediately. He literally wanted the manager to walk up to a random guest and throw them out because this man wanted to be seated now. Was this guy famous? No. Who was this guy? Just a pretentious man who needs his way because he has money. However, this is not the fault of the hotel. I stood their listening to him yell at the employees. I felt so bad, I wanted to apologize on his behalf. Alas, I did not, paid and went back to my hotel and called it a night.

The next day we had breakfast in The English Room. The English Room is in a beautiful sunroom. The floors are checkered and the china was proper. The view to the courtyard is very nice from here. I almost felt like Queen Elizabeth was going to walk in. It was great.

The breakfast itself is so-so. The coffee is stellar and just what I needed.

We only stayed here one night before driving back to the Chicago airport to head to our next destination, Montreal.

Let me break it down for you:

• $300 plus per night
• beautiful
• 3 restaurants
• bicycles included
• in the downtown area
• restaurants are great and beautiful

Would I stay here again? I think a one-night experience is all that’s needed. However, if you’re here for several days this might be a good place to stay. I thought it was too expensive for my taste, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.

For more information you can check out their website: http://thedeerpathinn.com/

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