Illini Tower

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409 E Chalmers St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
Added by Jopie, at 25 April 2017

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• Gabby Carreño

  09 November 2017

  I have been living at Illini Tower for the past 3 years and it is safe to say that the place keeps improving as the years go by. The staff pays attention to the residents' needs, and fixes whatever problem they might have, all while doing such an amazing job. The dining hall food can get repetitive, but we do have the option to cook our own meals at our own apartment and if you ask the dining staff nicely, they do take recommendations. As a business student, the location of Illini Tower is the best. The college of business is nearby so literally, I only have to walk for 5 minutes to get to my classes. Illini Tower is always hosting events throughout the year to try to build a better community for the residents to get them to interact with each other and participate in fun activities. If you're looking for a great place to live at during your college years, Illini Tower is an excellent option to consider.

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• Deja Hood

  09 November 2017

  Amazing staff! They have Resident Appreciation Week but lowkey every day feels like Resident Appreciation!!! The staff throughout the building is so attentive to the needs of the residents and anyone else that passes through their doors. You get that sense of freedom and responsibility better than in dorms/University Housing, yet it is still so family oriented. Great alternative to expensive University Housing pricing and more diverse food options! They also have a really rad movie theatre in the basement--Check it out!

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• Gabrielle Maloney

  07 November 2017

  Illini Tower is a great place to live. I have only lived here this semester and my time here has been very eventful. For the past two years I lived in University Housing and I loved those past two years. I made a lot of friends and I loved my RA. However, Illini Tower does offer more than University Housing. It is a central location on campus and is a few minutes away from the quad and green street. Illini Tower offers apartment style layouts with a living room, kitchen, and private bathroom. Also the dinning hall is great, they have many food options, offer the skillet in which dinning can make whatever you would like and there is a suggestion board in which you can put what food items you would like to see in the dinning hall. Illini Tower's staff is very friendly and always helpful. One thing that I love is they always have events going on for the residents, whether it is a movie night with free insomnia cookies or midnight pancakes in the dinning hall. It is a wonderful place to live and would highly recommend living here.

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• Starr Gibson

  01 November 2017

  This is a good place to live. The resident assistants are always having fun programs every month. I get to meet people from my floors and make friends. I really like the building wide programs because I meet students from every floor. The rooms are a nice size and we even have a bathroom in our room.

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• Becca Maxedon

  20 September 2017

  Illini Tower has greatly impacted my college experience. I have lived here for 2 years and made life long friends that I would not have met otherwise. The cafeteria has great staff and many options even when you don't like whats on the main menu. The rooms are spacious compared to other living options for Freshman. The new furniture is a great addition and adds a clean look to the building as a whole. I would recommend this building to anyone looking for an apartment style dorm for a GREAT price. I pay less than my friends who live in basic university dorms. Don't trust the old reviews. Visit IT

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• Darian Morgan

  11 May 2017

  I enjoyed my time here! The food was excellent and the staff was really nice! I made some of my closest friends here!!

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• Jeremy Gumila

  10 May 2017

  I just lived here the past year and it was spectacular! This is hands down the best place to live as a freshman for many reasons. The first is that Illini Tower has the best location in terms of classes. Plenty of my friends in other dorms have to wake up way earlier to get to class on time, and I leave significantly later than them and still beat them there. That being said, you get way more time to sleep. In addition, this tower has way better food than anywhere else for sure. They even have a suggestion board for food, so you typically find something you like in the Diner. Moreover, people will say it is not social due to tons of international kids, but there are still TONS of residents form the Chicago land area. I have tons of friends here, you just have to put yourself out there. Lastly, they give out tons of free stuff. Who doesn't like that? To be exact, I got 10 free frisbees, 4 t-shirts, 8 pairs of sunglasses, 12 necklaces, 12 plastic cups, 3 Starbucks gift cards, and a $150 VISA just in my second semester living here! Illini Tower is the BEST.

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• Alexis Arana

  10 May 2017

  Did not personally live here, but I stayed there every weekend! IT was one of the few dorms that actually allows guests to stay with you. They have a place to actually study and the rooms are nice. Illini Tower food is good and it has everything you need to study so you don't have to make late night trips to the library!

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• Tian Bao

  04 May 2017

  i really liked living at Illini Tower because of the location. it is very close to almost everything. there is also bus stops right outside of the building. i liked our apartment because of the kitchen and air conditioning in each room [in living room and both of our bedrooms] because most of the options for me as a freshman do not have that. the food is just okay thats why i picked 4 stars instead of five but it was no problem since we have a full kitchen. you do not have to eat at the dining hall every day and you can cook in your apartment with roommates.
  
  i also really like the events that u can win stuff at. they have parties for residents with food and prizes and music that are fun. i see a lot of posts from ppl complaining about how this place is not very social. i believe your dorm housing should be peaceful and sort of lowkey so that u can get a good focus on studies and classes. i did not mind that the building is mostly pretty quiet. besides they say ur time in college is what YOU make it. i do not think i would have had less or more fun living somewhere else.
  
  i also appreciate the RAs and the office people a lot. they are friendly and always say hello to my roommates and i when we walk inside the building even at night. they are also always working at the desk because it is open 24 hours and it is safe to live here because they keep doors locked for security at night.
  
  i would definitely recommend this place to others

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• Januy 1998

  02 May 2017

  The Cons:
  
  Social Environment: Illini Tower is not social at all. As a student coming fro Chicago I thought this place would be more socially interactive. There are around 60-70% international students that live here. I wish I knew this before deciding to spend my freshman year living here. It’s hard to interact with them because they come from a different culture, a different way of working, and cleaning. Which brings me to my next point
  
  Worst administration: I have complained so many times about my roommate issue. I have sent emails to the RD, but nothing seems to happen. That is the main problem every time you have a problem and you go to the front desk all they would say is “email info”, and than never get back to you.
  
  When I came for a tour I was told the building has these amenities and etc. My lounge only has 8 channels. The theatre room which they will show you and you’ll think woahh, that theatre room has been broken for half the semester. The lounges have ripped couches and thy would not replace it. Of course when your on tour they won’t tell you all, which is how they fool you to pay $1000 a month.
  
  Renovations: I was one of those people that was asked to move during FINALS weeks because the renovations on the top two floors could begin. Guess what? They still haven’t. I don’t think they ever will and even if they do its not a full renovation. From the email it looks like a replacement of some furniture and that about it. There’s no solution to the internal problems like the toilet, air conditioning, broken desks. It is upsetting as a student trying to focus and spend time on studying I had to spend more time time trying to move from one floor to the other because of these so called “renovations” that never happened.
  Broken Elevators: The elevators always break down, and its not because the “residents” do something to it its because they are already broken. There are 4 elevators but only 3 work, and out of those 3 sometimes there’s only 2 working. Today I had to submit my final paper to my professor and I couldn’t make it on time because of the broken elevator. Its upsetting because I am paying $1000 for broken elevators, bad food, bad room conditions.
  RA’s I don’t have an RA on my floor and I never knew what happened to him. Although we had 1-2 programs and that was about it I at least knew that as a freshman there was somebody I could talk to. Now there’s no one besides the 1 or 2 friends on my floor.
  Some of the RA’s are nice and like to talk, but there are some who show that they don’t want you to bother them. As an example this weekend I was walking past the desk and lights were off and the two RA’s at the desk gave me the dirtiest stare like they didn’t want me to be there. I didn’t understand why they gave me that look. I stood by the coffee section and an international resident walks up to get his package. He had an accent but I understood that he wanted his package. The RA working stated “you need to say you WANT your package with an aggressive tone and disgusting look. I was disappointed questioned is this how a “Resident advisor suppose to act?
  
  As I was sitting for lunch last week minding my own business all I hear is cursing. I turn around to see and it’s the RD. Yeah cursing is not a big deal, but I would assume that working as a Resident Director she would be more professional, but unfortunately not. It isn’t just with that I have complained multiple times about some of my floor mates who smoke. The Ra’s said they reported it and the Rd will take action, but nothing happens after that. I suffer from asthma and with the amount of smoking that happens her I can have an attack. It has caused several breathing problems for me and only made it worse. You would expect something to be done about your complaints but nope.
  
  They will say good things about the deals, the rooms, the amenities, but don’t be fooled.I just wanted to give you a honest review try to help out.

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