"Hal welcomed us as soon as we walked through the office door and was courteous and very helpful to recommend dining and shopping options in nearby Galena, IL. When we saw our room, I immediately knew that we would be happy at Hawk Valley. It was spacious, clean, and the bathroom was huge. The flat-screen TV is a nice touch. The property has a great little pond, and we spent a couple of hours each day sitting by the pond in the Adirondack chairs and drinking a bottle of wine from nearby Galena Cellars. The location is about 8 miles outside Galena, so the only other sounds we heard were from the nearby farm equipment as the farmers were harvesting their corn for the season (and those were a bit far away, so it wasn't a loud sound, by any means). Breakfast was quite yummy - and Hal makes wonderful homemade English muffins and pancakes. Those who are into stargazing will love the very dark skies in the area...we saw the Milky Way with absolutely no trouble. All in all, we were exceedingly pleased with our stay, with the property, and with the service we received. We highly recommend Hawk Valley and we definitely will be back!"