Country Inn & Suites Portage

As soon as we entered our room, the front desk called to make sure everything was as expected. The general mgr. stopped by the breakfast area each morning to make sure the staff was treating us as expected and to share his extensive knowledge of the area. The rooms were fantastic, the free breakfast was very good, and the kids absolutely loved the pool area. We will definitely make a return visit.

I would highly recommend this hotel. The rooms were nice and big. The bed was comfortable. The hotel was very clean. The staff was friendly and helpful. Good continental breakfast with a nice, big flat panel TV and a gas fireplace in the breakfast area. We will definitely being staying here again.

This hotel has to be one of the best hotels in the whole of the Mid North East. It has every amenity that you could ever possibly need. The Room was huge, it included a pull out sofa bed which gave the impression that you had two king size beds. The swimming pool was amazing, the kids pool had a huge frog slide to play on. Staff were great. I just can't praise this hotel enough.

This is a wonderful hotel. It is right off the intersate - very easy to get on and off.

Check in was quick and very friendly. I love the chocolate chip cookies at check in. I also like the book exchange. A nice touch.

The room was clean. We had a double room - temperature was comfortable when we arrived. Bathroom was clean as well - with extra toiletries if needed.

Breakfast was also good. Well-stocked and the tables and serving areas were clean.

Can't beat the Country Inn in Portage. We would go back in a heartbeat!!!!

As soon as we entered our room, the front desk called to make sure everything was as expected. The general mgr. stopped by the breakfast area each morning to make sure the staff was treating us as expected and to share his extensive knowledge of the area. The rooms were fantastic, the free breakfast was very good, and the kids absolutely loved the pool area. We will definitely make a return visit.

this place is awesome great rooms,pool area and breakfeast..

staff was kind and very helpful,the rooms are big we also had a pull out sofa 2 tv's, the maid service was execelent...nothing bad in any way to say,very clean and nice,family oriented

Best hotel experience I've had for the price. Everything was very new and clean. I even received a call shortly after entering room from the front desk asking if the room was to my satisfaction.

The kids loved the pools (one kiddie with a couple water features and one adult). Twice while using the pool, I witnessed employees enter the pool area and straighten the area and replace towels.

Breakfast was very good and the employee working in the area was very quick to replenish food.

I highly recommend this hotel.

My daughter, granddaughter (teenager) and I attended a wedding for my nephew the 27th of June. We booked a room at the Country Inn and was very happy with the accomodations. From the check in to check out everything was great. The room, breakfast, pool, front desk clerk, and housekeeping was right on target. I work for a Country Inn so I always look really close at the accomodations, the way the staff treats guests and the way the property is kept up. I will have to say the large room and the pool area beats my Country Inn, but the Inn also enforces the high standards of the Carlson Hotels as we do.

We stayed at this hotel with 2 kids age 3 and 7, they loved the pool with slide and everything. Very nice, clean, new hotel. Free breakfast was typical for Country Inns.

Just got back from a weekend excursion for a wedding in Northwest Indiana. The bride selected a hotel that the wife and I had previously seen being built off of I-94. I had assumed that it was going to be a Wingate based on the frame of the layout, but to my surprise, it turned out to be the Country Inn & Suites. The area is a new business park with a convenience store/gas station, two restaurants (Long Horn Steakhouse and Quaker Steak and Lube), at least one hotel (Country Inn & Suties), and several other business, both retail ( Outdoor World, Bass Pro Shop and a seafood restaurant in one location) and warehouses, both existing and being built . Everything is new and the roads are not marked well yet, but it is not difficult to find anything. The area is attempting a comeback it appears. Just on the other side of the highway is a rather old Days Inn, old and small Denny's, and a hotel that is closed and falling apart (although the land is prime and the structure is salvagable, but probably best to tear down and start new - wish I had a real estate license, oh well.) So it is hard to say why this location has been chosen other than the obvious proximity to the docks off of Lake Michigan to the Port of Indiana. The area is not unsafe, but I would be sure to bring in your electronics in case any influence decides to spill into the suburban area.

The hotel itself is gorgeous. It looks like Carlson has found themselves a winning formula with the Country Inn & Suites design specs. Everything about the hotel oozes with charm and a "be our guest" attitude. A nice size front desk was almost always duly staffed. They serve cookies (not warm, but conveniently portable in plastic wrap) even on the weekends. They have a area in the lobby where you can borrow a book to read and they have a pretty nice selection. There is also a nice sitting area in the lobby and rocking chairs on the "porch" area. However, since the hotel is 100% smoke free (and they make it a point to tell you about the $100 fine for smoking inside the hotel) the porch area seems to be dominated by the smokers, so we just hung out inside. There are two sparkling pools (and they be sure to give the adults the last hour of swim time), large exercise room (although the business park is a nice setting to jog on weekends), guest laundry, and decent sized meeting facilities (where the rehearsal dinner took place.)

The hotel is also amazingly quiet. Although there was a baseball team, our wedding party, plus another that I could identify and the hotel was completely sold out, it was almost earily quiet at the hotel. I only saw my neighbors twice, when we checked in, and right before we checked out and never heard them altough they had an infant as well.

The rooms are also very, very large. They are about as wide as a typical room, but the layout is loooong. That allows for them to stretch out the furnishings in pretty good arrangement. Our room had a King Size Tempur Pedic mattress (had never slept on one before, but I can see why so many people want them) a large desk and lamp, three cushion sofa (which I believe was a queen pullout), a plush easy chair, dry bar with microwave (small), mini-cube fridge (dorm size cube fridge), tiny closet, and standard hotel bathroom.

The touches in the room were nice though. The sofa was very comfy unlike most sleeper sofas. I fell asleep on it twice. The area in front of the sofa was allowed for us to put the infant's Pack N Play far enough away from the bed so that she would not see us and think it was play time, but still out of the way of the path to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The vanity to the bathroom sink and the bar that contained the micro and fridge was a very pleasant, thick granite slab, shaped and polished to perfection. In addition, the country wood trimmings made the room feel homey. Plus, the color scheem was brilliantly modern and did not feel overly country, yet it still managed to reflect the warm rustic feel that Country Inn is famous for.

The only drawback to the room is the closet. The clothing bar was not high enough to hold my wife's bridesmaid dress (is that an oxymoron? Maybe matron of honor dress?) Instead we used the curved shower rod which was more than adequate. I'm still so used to a small hotel shower, that I do not noticed the curved shower rods in the rooms, but for the purpose of hanging extra long clothes, in did a splendid job! If we were staying more than a weekend, there would be an issue for more than one person wanting to hang up garments. However, there is plenty of drawer space but you will need to take out the extra blanket and pilows out of them to use them.

Breakfast was more than adequate and the selection has seemed to become the standard of complimentary breakfasts: Make your own waffles (two stations with automatic dispenser), two hot items (mini-pancakes and sausage links both mornings), bagels, breads, pastries, hard boiled eggs, yogurt (Dannon), fresh fruit, fruit cups (Dole, I think), milk (and skim upon request in a carton), four juices, coffee 24 hours, and all the condiments. They seemed prepared to open up more space even though there breakfast space is larger than most hotel lobbies. There also was a flat screen TV with the local Good Morning enter-your-city on (I think they get Chicago and South Bend stations in Portage.)

They have an internet access only computer in their breakfast room and I never inquired to their business capacities so this just a review of that computer. It seems to malfunction and seems to be a standard setup of Country Inn & Suties. It uses Mozilla Firefox, while not a bad program, is not as powerful as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. You can only check web based email and pop windows just pop up in the same window. Security is questionable on this computer so I would not do any financial dealings on it. However for checking email, it was adequate and served its purpose.

Front desk was polite and helpful. My reservation, check-in and check-out were just as expected. They offer the fast check-out where you can review the bill that they place at your door and just dial zero and say, "I'm gone!"

Overall, I expect this hotel to easily please its guest for years to come. In addition to the suite we had, they also offer suites with seperate bedrooms, large two room suites, and several whirlpool suites. So when journeying to the Indiana Dunes State Park or maybe looking for a cheaper alternative to staying in Chicago, I would look to this hotel when in the area.

We have stayed at this hotel many times in the family suite and it's our children's all time favorite hotel. They have a regular and children's pool--both terrific and those beds are great. Love it. Love it.

My husband and two children and I stayed at the Country Inn and Suites, Portage,Indiana property on June 9, 2007. We had a 1 bedroom suite (2 queens in the bedroom and a sofa sleeper in the living area). The room was clean and large enough to accommodate all of us. There were two tv's--my husband and I could watch our own and the kids could watch what they wanted! Also, the bedroom has a door that separates it from the sofa sleeper area, so while one of the kids stayed up a little later and watched a movie, my husband and I could shut our door and have our own privacy. Another thing I noticed was how quiet it was.

At the front desk, there were complimentary fresh-baked cookies: oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter. What a nice touch! There was also complimentary coffee/decaf/tea and hot water in the lobby area all the time.

The checkin was flawless and my request to be in a room on a high floor, away from the elevators was honored. Everyone from the front desk check-in person to the cleaning staff was friendly and efficient. The pool area was great: very nice hot tub, two pools (one is more of a kiddie pool and isn't very deep--it has a cute frog slide and "water sprayer-type" devices that kids would enjoy plus a "waterfall" that comes out of big pipe! ) The other pool is more for swimming in and is deeper, but does have a water basketball hoop mounted at the end and several kids were enjoying that.

There is a small exercise room that my husband enjoyed working out in. The hotel has a nice "porch-like" area with several rocking chairs: perfect for sitting in and reading the morning paper while enjoying your coffee. Inside the lobby, there is a nice sitting area with a shelf full of books that you can borrow during your stay.

There is a Longhorn Steakhouse next door and another restaurant, The Quaker Steak and Lube (steaks and wings are their specialty) close by. There is also a brand new sporting goods store called "Bass Pro Shop" nearby.

I would definitely stay in this hotel again. We were in town for a high school graduation and were trying to find a hotel in Merrillville. Everything was booked and this property is about 15 miles north of Merrillville. I am SO glad we stayed here instead. It was away from the hustle and bustle and everything about it was great. Great customer service and very well-run. You won't be disappointed if you stay here!

This was like a dream! Incredible value, huge suite for the price of a regular room, temperpedic mattress, clean, new - smelled great. Friendly staff, nice lobby. We fled a nearby hotel because of the filth and stumbled on this oasis.

This hotel is wonderful. The staff goes above and beyond to be friendly and accomodating. The rooms are spacious and brand new and clean. The rooms have a refrigerator and microwave. The pool area is very family friendly. The one foot kiddie pool is huge with a frog slide and waterfall. The hot tub is really big. The regular pool has a basketball hoop at one end. There is a Longhorn Steakhouse right next door (a little pricey though). Cabella's is right next door. The hotel has a library, a game room, an exercise room and a complimentary hot breakfast. The mattresses are therapeutic foam -- very comfortableI. I highly recommend this hotel.

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites in Portage, IN on a weekday in June 2008. We had booked a regular one-bedroom suite, but when the front desk worker saw we had two adults and three children she offered to upgrade us to a family suite at no additional charge, which was a pleasant surprise. The suite was great. It had a king sized bed in a bedroom and two twin sized beds in the main room. The hotel provided, at no additional charge, a crib for our 16-month old. The beds were very comfortable. Each room had a TV and a closet. There was a fridge and a microwave. That was a pleasant surprise and the room was great.

The pool area was amazing for a regular hotel. It had a regular pool and hot tub, but the highlight for us was their kiddie pool. It was very shallow throughout (about 1 ft deep), had a frog slide in the middle, and water spouts around it, which could be turned on or off by the guest. Our 4 1/2-year-old, 2 1/2-year-old, and 16-month-old all enjoyed it for hours.

There was a dinner social the evening we were there. We were served complimentary dinner and drinks, and the standard complimentary breakfast in the morning.

The hotel is within 10 minutes of the Lake Michigan shoreline. We enjoyed going to the beach even though the water was freezing. The kids had a blast in the sand and waves at the shore (they didn't go swimming).

Overall, the hotel was great. We were treated well, the hotel was quiet, had many ammenities, and was affordable. We were very pleased.

We stayed on a weekend with our three kids on a getaway to Chicago. Beware if you're watching TV with your kids. HBO is among the offerings and was mislabeled on the channel guide as PBS. TV is getting less family friendly by the day, but a black spot on our weekend was our kids' first exposure to the F word 3 times just switching channels. I was ready to toss the TV out the window!

The hotel is 17 months old according to a housekeeper. The staff is friendly. The pool is area is a great setup for kids of all ages because one pool is shallow and the other a bit deeper. It was a little on the cool side in the pool area, but nothing a soak in the hot tub can't cure.

Breakfast is excellent with a wide variety of cereals, fruit, yogurt, etc. Maybe this is getting picky, but the only thing missing was the lack of good gourmet coffee. The coffee wasn't bad, just not great.

Rooms are very clean, new, and tastefully finished. Be ready if you come on a cold day like we did. It couldn't have been over 60 degrees in the room and it took about an hour before things felt comfortable. After that it was fine. There are digital thermostats.

All in all this is a very nice hotel. Just be careful if you're trying to guard your kids from verbal sewer on TV.

We read the reviews before we stayed here and they all sounded so great--and it was a great hotel. We had 3 teenagers with us. The hotel is very spacious. We had a 1 bedroom suite which was fantastic. There was a separate room with a pull out sleeper sofa off of the main bedroom with a door that closed and it allowed the kids to watch tv in that room if they wished. One night they went down to the breakfast room which was pretty large and sat on the nice sofa there and watched the large screen tv. There was also a computer in the breakfast room where they could check their e-mail.

My only complaint was that one day we were gone all day at the beach and came back and somehow our room was not cleaned and we had no clean towels and needed toilet paper. The next day, they didn't restock the empty tissues. Seems like their housekeeping could be improved. The pool is open until 10 and then from 10-11 it is adult swim only, but no one seemed to come in and check and there were quite a few noisy kids in there, so we did complain about that. They need to come through and check it if they are going to offer adult swim only. The fitness room was very nice. It seemed to take forever for them to get us some towels. On the weekend, the breakfast room is incredibly busy and gets a bit chaotic at the breakfast bar. And they have a great front porch but only 4 rockers. They need to add some more chairs.

All in all though, it is a wonderful place to stay. Your right next door to Quaker, Steak and Lube - you've got to take the family there-an incredible place to eat, and the Bass, Pro store is a great place to go over in the evening. The beaches are all close-within 10 minutes or so, so it's a wonderful place to stay when going to the Dunes!

Stayed here for 5 nights while working in the area. I used to stay at the Radisson in Merrillville, but they have instituted a "no food or drink" policy in their rooms. I have stayed in hotels all over the world and I wish they were all up to this standard. Really nice pool facility. Stayed in a room with king bed, sofa , microwave, fridge, and wireless internet. The only downside is that there are no stores close by for groceries etc. It will be great when the Bass Pro Shop next door opens in Feb. Rate includes free breakfast and all rooms are non-smoking. I will definately return to this hotel.

This hotel is new, just opened in late July or August 2006. Stayed 1 night in a family suite.

Overall, this is a nice facility, with nicer common areas, bathroom fixtures, bedding, etc. than I might normally expect in this price range and this sort of location (i.e. along the Interstate). Of course everything at this time is brand new.

The free breakfast is OK - - a little lacking on hot items, though they do have a waffle-cooker. Did not use or visit the fitness/pool area.

Note a short drive is required for other services in the area, though there does appear to be a restaurant under construction next to the hotel.

Fuer Reisenden nach/von Chicago kann ich dieses Hotel nur empfehlen. Die Preise sind angemessen, and mit dem Schwimmbad und kostelosen Breakfast ist die Uebernachtung hier ein echtes Schnaeppchen. Die Standard-Zimmer sind gross genug fuer eine vier-koepfige Familie, und kommen mit Kuehlschrank und Mikrowelle. Die Verkehrsverbindung nach Chicago ist auch sehr gut, da es sehr nah an die Pendlerzug-Station. Von dort kommt man fuer unter $6 (einfach) nach Chicago, und zwischen 9 und 16 Uhr fahren Kinder kostenlos.

Dieses Hotel ist wirklich jeden zu empfehlen. Ich kann nicht sagen, in wie weit Deutsch dort gesprochen wird, aber die Personal waren alle sehr freundlich.