Mark Twain Hotel

I’m bummed to have to lower my rating of the Mark Twain. As I stated in my previous review, my wife and I are currently long distance and meet half-​way once a month or so. We had been staying in Davenport to plan our wedding. But now that are married and got our honeymoon done, I was excited to stay at the Mark Twain again!
First thing, it’s no longer pet friendly. This was one of the biggest selling points to this hotel. I bring my dogs along to our trips. Even though the Mark Twain is still listed at pet friendly on most booking websites, they informed us that pets are no longer welcome (though they allowed us to have our dogs stay with us this one last time). This alone will probably keep us from staying here again.
They still give the drink tickets out, which is nice. We stayed Saturday night and Sunday night. Saturday, the restaurant/​bar closed at 10pm! Sunday, the bar isn’t even open! So I guess if you want to get a buzz on early in the day, the tickets are useful. I wanted to get a couple drinks later Saturday night, so we had to go to another establishment.
Finally, the staff this past visit were just not as nice as they had been previously. One gentleman was just rude to my wife when she went to see if the restaurant was open.
This past weekend will probably be the last time we go to the Mark Twain. Which is too bad, because it had been my favorite hotel.

A decent, cozy and comfortable hotel. Visited Peoria for work and had my accommodation arranged at this hotel. Location is pretty good –close to the Riverfront and other activities in Downtown Peoria. The room itself is a little old but very comfortable and spacious. Bathrooms are very clean. You get 2 vouchers for drinks at their bar :) (for local beer/​wine drink). The restaurant has a good selection of food but we only tried the Pizza which was decent. Breakfast selection is impressive and the entire staff is pretty friendly and helpful. Would definitely stay here if I visited Peoria again.

Billed as «Peoria’s Premier Boutique Hotel,» the Mark Twain is neither premier or boutique. It is simply old. Booked on
, my room absolutely does not live up to the photos they post. No quaint brick walls in my room, instead I have old pine shelves that scream Knotty Pine Motor Inn. I booked for two nights and was given two complimentary drink tickets and the bar is beautiful with stained glass lamps and exposed brick walls. Maybe the drinks were supposed to put a gloss on the small, dismal room. Didn’t work. Also, rush hour traffic noise coming through my hermetically sealed window this morning made me feel like I literally awoke on the side of the interstate. Breakfast buffet is typical complimentary breakfast food. Nothing to impress. Also earned a free night stay on
, and because I am here for another day I didn’t want the hassle of moving to another hotel. Guess what, they don’t accept rewards nights. My advice, save a few bucks and look elsewhere. Not worth the money and a true disappointment.

I loved my stay here. The first night I stayed in the Deluxe room (only room available). It was quiet, nicely decorated, clean & the beds were extra comfortable. I love the built-​in desks & robes that are available in each room. Also there was a nice leather chair for relaxing.
Each guest gets two free drink tickets, which was a nice surprise. Redeem them at restaurant bar that’s adjacent to the lobby.
Oh, the lobby here is pretty great, by the way. Walls covered with books and dark wood woodwork + desks is a great head nod to Twain.
And don’t forget the free breakfast which was exceptionally filling: made to order omelettes (someone else makes them, not you), hot foods, cereals, bready eats, fruits, yogurt, juices and hot morning drinks.
The second night I stayed in the Studio room and this is the room I would stay in every single time. King-​sized bed. Great natural light. Unique modern bathroom. Exposed brick wall and great view.
The only tough thing to handle: 7:30am and there’s repeated knocking on doors in the hallway. It was housekeeping. That is ridiculous, to me, and should definitely be started at 9am. Waking guests up with your eager efficiency is not advised.

Recently my wife and I stayed here for a family wedding. I was immediately impressed at check in when they gave me not one, not two but FOUR free drink tickets (two per person) for that evenings happy hour. They also gave us tickets for complimentary breakfast which included a omelet and waffle bar for the next morning. Room was clean and very well laid out with a mini fridge and microwave. Hotel is centrally located to everything and they even accept pets. Will definitely stay there again the next time we are in town.

Super clean great hotel! Comfy beds, good views and close to everything! Free shuttle service and breakfast! Yum made to order omelets and belgian waffles!

Thoroughly enjoyed stay there. Free drink tickets (although bar was closed while we were there), clean rooms, friendly staff, decorated with sophistication. Would stay here again and would recommend it to others. Complimentary breakfast was also huge plus.

This was a nice hotel to call home for the night. Nice space, bathroom, facilities, and conveniently located in downtown Peoria! Sadly didn’t get to spend too much time here, but for the time I did, it was a good one!

They had me at «here are your free drink tickets.» Seriously — it was the nice hospitality touches and lack of nickel-​and-​diming that contributed to making mine a pleasant stay. The rooms are fine, if on the small side (I didn’t notice the thin walls other guests complained about). The staff is great, pleasant and falling all over themselves to help guests out, overboard apologetic for any problems («no, really, it’s not your fault the lobby printer ran out of paper… please put down the sword…»). And the freebies/​included perks are really nice and appreciated — decent included breakfast, free appetizer, free coffee in the Mark Twain-​themed library, and the copious free drinks of the review title.
As an added benefit, the restaurant at the hotel is really quite good. It makes things much easier knowing I can just head down there and be confident of a pretty decent meal with good service.
All that said, there are a few down sides that kept this from being a 5-​star review:
1. The cancellation policy is not in step with other business hotels — you can only cancel up until the prior day, after which you eat the entire cost. (I think they do this because they style themselves a «boutique» hotel, which is a stretch).
2. The rooms are really kind of dark — it’s fine if you’re working at the desk, but otherwise the rooms have the lighting level of a haunted house. Just one more lamp would have made a big difference.
3. The décor is a tad on the shabby side — the rug in my room was a tad worn down, and my naugahide-​covered desk chair had a big gash in the arm.
But I think the reason none of that stuff really bothered me is that I’ve tried the cost-​equivalent alternative in Peoria, which is the Marriott Courtyard. If you want to know why I think the Mark Twain is Buckingham Palace in comparison, check out my Courtyard review.

If you’re passing through and need a place to crash, I say go for it. Definitely opt for one of the «updated» rooms. It’s an old hotel in a questionable area. There is a building somewhere nearby that plays bird sounds late into the night… no, not the pleasant kind of bird sounds that you want to go to sleep to, but the kind of bird sounds that make you feel like you’re in the deleted scene from Jumanji where they go to the Amazon Rainforest and have to run for their lives to escape dinosaur sized carnivorous birds with opposable thumbs who will pick you up with their freak human hands and bite your head off. Yes, I’m serious. The noise from the highway is also very, very loud… not to mention the blaring music from the cars stopped at the red light below.
You’re walking distance to a nice strip with restaurants and bars down on the river. Again, questionable area so tread carefully. The restaurant downstairs was always good if you wanted to eat well without having to wander into the streets. Would I stay there again given a choice? Not likely. But if I had to choose between staying a week at the Mark Twain Hotel once a month for the rest of my life or flying only Spirit Airlines for the rest of my life… I’d go with Mr. Twain. Just too noisy for me.

**AVOID, AVOID, AVOID**
Really Unilocal?!THIS is a boutique hotel? Let’s try a 1970’s Holiday Inn with a questionable paint job. Filthy, rundown, and a very sad excuse for a hotel. So disappointed in my fellow Unilocalers!
In addition to the deplorable cleanliness, the uncomfortable beds, the cheaper than cheap linens… the best part?! The FAKE BIRD SOUNDS that play ALL NIGHT by a neighboring building that can be heard in conjunction with the semis blasting by the highway next door.
Don’t even get me started on the horrendous «restaurant» attached. Two bartenders who were more interested in their terrible wine comparisons than they were in giving any level of service.
See attached pictures…
P. S. An exposed brick wall does not make something boutique. Ugh. Get me out of here!

Relocating– spent last night in Peoria at the Mark Twain. It is a great hotel– décor, staff, restaurant. They also allow pets; they accepted our two 50lb+ dogs.
We ate in the restaurant. The food was good (pizza and seafood carbonara). But, the service was the best we had in Peoria in four years we lived there. C? was a great waitress. She had a real command of the menu and the specials. I felt comfortable that she knew the food and wasn’t just going through the motions.
Staycation at Mark Twain or visit Peoria for its museums, sidewalks and ships.

This hotel impressed us tremendously. It will be where we stay from now on when we need a hotel in Peoria. Independently owned and operated with a down home feel while maintaining a high class look. If you’re looking to impress people, or just have a relaxed fun night out, stay here.

Nice hotel came here for a residency interview at college of medicine nearby. It has nice amenities and free drink tickets!!! Good free breakfast.

this is a wonderful boutique hotel. good restaurant. great breakfast. nice room. friendly service. good location. i hope all the «brand name» hotels are booked up the next time i come to peoria.

Cozy but very nice rooms, well decorated and has all the amenities, friendly and personable staff, plus free drinks and free breakfast
I would highly recommend for couples. Perfect walking location to the river walk/​downtown area

Awesome hotel, great breakfast, unique boutique style rooms, loved the exposed brick… but agree with other reviewers who say the heating/​ac unit is VERY LOUD… and the bed is ROCK HARD.
The staff, however, is awesome… and gave me 3 feather mattress pads to soften my bed (sadly it was still hard… they said the mattresses are all the same and were made locally).
The complimentary breakfast almost makes up for it, but not quite. I won’t be able to stay there again due to the lack of sleep on the very hard bed…
Would love to stay again if they got some sort of gel/​foam toppers for the beds!

Another hidden gem in Peoria. The outside isn’t the most stunning of buildings, but the amenities inside are nice. I’ll write an additional review for the restaurant.
I got a good night sleep in a comfortable bed. A great stay and a great value.

We’ve stayed at the Mark Twain a few times and enjoy it due to the downtown location. There is a nice restaurant/​lounge on site, and if you book through the hotel you get some drink tickets to use in the bar. Score!
If you get bored with the on site offering, you can easily walk to Ulrich’s Rebellion Room or Martini’s.
The hotel rooms are clean and the Century rooms are small, but nice enough. The room we had with exposed brick walls once was my favorite.
The hotel is pet friendly, which is another reason why we like to stay there.
This most recent time we stayed, one of the elevators was out of service and the hallways leading to the rooms were very cold.
Once the final bill is tallied, the price seems a tad high (keep in mind that about $ 20 of it is taxes), but when you throw in the value of the wireless, which works, free parking, the free drinks and free breakfast buffet, the perks make up for the cost a bit.

I was pleasantly surprised by Mark Twain Hotel. Charming, clean, great décor, and awesome amenities. They have good wedding packages for anyone looking to tie the knot in Peoria. They have a nice, cozy Mark Twain library, as well as a restaurant/​bar downstairs. Just do yourself a favor and book a room here.