Hilton Garden Inn Ames — Hotel in Ames

I am giving a 5 Star review despite having the worst night sleep I've had in a long time.

Upon arrival, the grounds, interior, hallways, and our room were very clean, modern, and well kept up. First impression was fantastic. Our room was hot, but after a full day of mental anguish (we were there for emergency veterinarian care), our entire family was exhausted and we simply reduced the thermostat and went to bed. Throughout the night, the fan was extremely loud and the temp fluctuated between desert and walk in cooler. Earplugs didn't help with the fan noise, but the problem was it wasn't on constantly so we didn't get "used to it".

At checkout, we mentioned the fan to the front desk, and were made aware we should have called in the night and they would have gladly switched our rooms. The front desk person delivered this message very skillfully, as it was received as more of a disappointment the hotel missed on an opportunity to make things right, rather than making me feel foolish for not taking that action.

The manager (Initials MG) happened to be there, and struck up a friendly conversation with my family and me. This man was born for hotel management. I had observed him conversing with many guests that morning, and when he spoke with us, he demonstrated a genuine interest in our story (where we were from, why we were in Ames, etc). Anyone can be "nice", but this level of genuine interest can't be taught, you either have it, or you don't.

He offered to knock down our rate for the fan. I was expecting $20/$30 bucks or so, as I'm aware the hotel industry is struggling with the pandemic. When he offered to meet us half way, I was floored. In hindsight, it was absolutely the right move (remember, I mentioned he is born for hotel management), but in the moment it had a significant "wow" effect.

Should we find ourselves in Ames again, this is our place. I will also be advising traveling colleagues about my experience here.

Note: I learned something about the window heating/cooling systems found in many hotel rooms. When the weather gets extremely cold like it has been, they can knock out of calibration resulting in "weird" temps and excessive noise. Sounds like its fairly common, so it's not out of line to ask...

First, I will be willing to change my review if I could have found a way on Hilton's website to send this location pictures taken today...

I was at this hotel for meetings today. I can say that it really disappointed me that it is obvious that safety is not a priority for this location. Please see the pictures I have attached. Yes, we recently had snow (on Saturday morning, the 12th, BUT today is Thursday the 17th. The first picture was taken at 6:30 am this morning of the sidewalk at the back entrance, the hotel manager was informed of the safety of the snow (both in the front and rear of the hotel at 7:30 am. The other pictures were all taken at 4 pm this afternoon. Yes, we had 5-6 inches of snow on Friday evening into late Saturday morning. So, yes I can understand if all of the snow wasn't removed from the sidewalks and handicap ramps on Saturday afternoon, or even on Sunday, due to snow companies having limited help. BUT again, this is Thursday, it hasn't rained or snowed since Saturday, just got cold. Still not a reason to not clear the snow from all walk-ways or even in the parking lot. Yesterday when I was there, I went to get out of my vehicle and slipped and fell on the ice in the parking lot on the south side of the building. Thankfully I didn't hurt myself badly, otherwise, I would be contacting a lawyer!

Secondly, all of the glasses there were put in the meeting room for us to use all had watermarks on them. We removed them from the table and put them on the counter and did...

I stayed here for a week and I checked out on Friday, but accidentally left my very special water bottle there. It was a one of a kind water bottle bedazzled pink, and white cow print stainless steel tumbler with a stainless steel straw that had a cowboy hat as a straw cover on top of it, got it at my friends bachelorette party. Everyone compliments me on this water bottle and accidentally left it there when I was carrying my three bags out from my business trip. I called immediately after I left and told them that I had left the water bottle there and they said they’d leave a note for the housekeeping team. I told them I would be back on Sunday night so on Sunday I called and asked if they had found the water bottle first and they said they didn’t know how to check the lost and found but to call back on Monday when their housekeeping lead was there so they could check the lost and found. I tried calling on my way home from work, but no one answered twice and then I decided to drive there to check when I got there. The lady at the desk said she didn’t know how to check the lost and found either but she a binder that somehow might say that something was left and she said nothing was left in the log so I’m assuming the housekeeping team saw the water bottle and thought it was awesome and decided to keep it. They didn’t offer to do anything for me And I’m pretty upset because that bottle was pretty special. I didn’t find anything really nice about the hotel and the gym was always out of...