Needing a place for one night after being in Chicago, we settled on Merrilville because it's far enough away from Chicago to be outside of the incredulous traffic that is Chicago. We're also Hilton loyalists, so that made the choice easy and Hilton Garden Inn is our favorite of the Hilton brands.Located not far from I-65, this location is relatively easy to get to. It's nestled toward the back of a large retail area and backs up to a large, empty field and some woods.We arrived late afternoon and checked in the day before (room selection) and chose a room on the back side of the hotel, towards the large, empty field and the woods, figuring it'd be quieter than the retail/street facing side (it was). We stopped to check in and get physical room keys (Hilton's digital key is great...when it works). The young lady behind the counter was awesome. She was friendly and didn't mind chatting for a few minutes. She made us feel pretty welcomed.The bar and restaurant were closed (on a Sunday evening), so dinner had to come from somewhere not on the property. Not to worry, there are plenty of chain eateries in the area, but it as far as we could tell lacked local food establishments. Outback did the trick, but we were hoping to stay in after doing an obscene amount of walking throughout the day.Our room was clean and tidy when we got to it. We had to adjust the temperature because it was about 66° when we arrived. The bathroom was a bit dated in its appearance and for some strange, annoying reason the bathroom door automatically closed all the way. Every time. Aggressively. As it it was running a race.The lobby was bright and spacious, as most Hilton Garden Inn lobbies are. We never made it to the pool, but without a hot tub we didn't really have a reason to.Checkout at this location is noon o'clock, which is nice because we like to sleep in. All in all a good stay. If we're in the area again we'd gladly consider staying here again.