My family came from around the country to celebrate my 70th birthday at Starved Rock. This house sounded perfect: there are many rooms and baths, two kitchens, a lovely view of the Illinois River. All true. However, our stay was more proof of our resilience than peaceful retreat. Alongside minor issues like no dish towels, there was no hot water. At first, we thought we were too impatient for the water to heat. But it never did. There were 10 of us who wanted to bathe and get outside on a glorious October day, the only full day we had together. I messaged, then politely waited an hour before making more urgent requests for help. It was almost noon before we heard: broken boiler; plumber en route. I will spare the additional tedious details. We had hot water @6 p.m., an hour or so after the repairmen left. Stuff happens, as the owner reminded me, more than once. I’m sure repairs for a boiler that was broken before we got there were expensive, as she also said. But she wasn’t hanging around waiting for repairmen. We were. In return for our inconvenience, she offered a late checkout. Seriously?We did take a little extra time in a now-peaceful kitchen — after a hot shower! — before continuing on to Chicago. Fortunately, there were no diva types in our party. We had fun anyway. But we paid full freight for a half-useful property. Bottom line: if everything works, this would be a fab and funky place to stay. If not, you’re on your own.