Costco — Mount Prospect

This Coscto smells and looks brand spanking new and along with Home Depot is one of the main retail anchors to the Randhurst Shopping Village here in Mount Prospect, which if you weren’t aware, right next to here is Palatine, which is home of the Weber Grill – one of the most popular camping brands in the universe. Apart from this little known fact, while this Costco is structurally placed in an odd manner, the parking options that it provides is quite generous with the quality of parking being top notch.

If you can get past the fact that you are stuck in a prime example of "suburban sprawl-meets-concrete jungle" and come packing some earplugs, then this place makes for an excellent lay-up. You’ll just want to watch when you enter and leave as shortly after this store opens, the traffic mayhem ensues, particularly on the weekends. In addition to the circulating mall security, there’s also great night lighting that offers up a very good sense that you are in a safe and secure location. Given that just behind this retail shopping village, you’ll be partially surrounded by suburban residential bliss, this place will be less noisy than other spots.

From an amenities standpoint, there’s a lot here in addition to being able to stock up on anything at this Costco, as nearby there’s lots of places like Jewel-Osco, restaurants like Meat Moot, Grade A Café, Surf’s Up and Chick-fil-A along with Home Depot in case you need tools or other supplies, Jiffy Lube and Just Tires if need some work on your RV or car and even a Costco gas station promising that at least you’ll be able to get the cheapest gas around (that is, if you’re a card carrying member). Should you need to quick escape to a nice slice of nature, there’s Busse Forest Elk Pasture, which while we didn’t spot any elk, we enjoyed some nice trail hiking.

While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot: 

Convenience: 4 

Safety & Security: 4 

Quality: 3 

Peace & Quiet: 3 

Amenities: 4 

Overall, I scored this location a 4. 

Happy Overnighting!