Hampton Inn & Suites Ankeny — Hotel in Ankeny

I was very disappointed in my stay at this location. Unfortunately my disappointment was not in the location, the rate, or the condition on the hotel/rooms itself but in three issues dealing with the customer service provided while at the hotel. The hotel and the rooms were very clean and in great condition and initially I was happy with my program's director's choice to stay at this hotel among the several others in the same location. My disappoint started with how I noticed the first front desk employee and the way she was speaking to other patrons. This particular patron had set up his camp stove in the parking lot and was making burgers and hot dogs for a group of people that seemed to be with a sports team. I'm not entirely sure of the conversation as I was just passing by but it was something along the lines of stop the cooking and clean up or be removed from the premises. The parents standing around the grill area were all in shock to be threatened in such a manner. Having sports kids of my own, I have seen many of tailgating in hotel parking lots to allow the team's parents and player to gather and get to know each other better. I did not feel the patron's grill imposed any threat and I was originally excited to see the fellowship of people around the grill and not everyone hiding in their rooms. The second issue was later in the evening when a few parents had gathered in the large multiuse room off of the lobby of the hotel to continue conversation and enjoy their mini vacation or travel trip for their kid's sporting event. The multiuse room was set up in a manner that would allow several groups of people to be able to gather and discuss trip plans and just relax. This was a great space to meet up before heading out or heading up to the rooms. The people in this room were told that the hotel had a 10pm curfew and the patrons would need to head to their rooms at that time. This 10pm curfew is too early for adults, I would understand if the staff didn't want kids in the area due to noise but adults can handle themselves in a better manner and should be able to stay up later and enjoy their trip (I haven't had a curfew in 30 years). When the patrons hadn't cleaned up and left by 10:08pm the same hotel staffer from earlier in the even once again threatened to have everyone removed from the premises. I have stayed at many hotels and never seen and threatened to be removed from the premises over such trivial things. When people have to travel, they want to relax, fellowship with friends and have a good time, not be threatened to be removed and lose their hotel room and money. These threats were beyond ridiculous and the front desk staffer needs to be retrained on proper customer service. Furthermore, adults should be allowed to fellowship in the multiuse room past 10pm unless they are noise or causing issues. The group of people mentioned above cleared and cleaned all their trash before leaving and no complaints were made due to noise or disruption. The third and final issue was that this hotel was not allowing any of the benefits for being a rewards member. I was denied certain perks and was told "not this weekend" as the reasoning why. Overall the cleanliness of the hotel and rooms could not overcome the disappointment in the staff's customer service and as such I have asked our program's direct to not book this hotel for any further sporting events for our...

As we were nearing Des Moines on a road trip, I started looking for a place to stay for the night. We are a family that needs 3 beds and that is apparently rare... At least on the night we were trying to stop... This was the only hotel we could find with an available room with two beds and a sleeper sofa. Now I'll admit I only look at the 3 major brands that I have rewards points with, but this was the only option on that list.

That said, I am so happy this is where we stayed. A major chain restaurant area (with a Target/Home Depot/Menards/& prob others too) is just a mile and a half north.

This hotel property is well lit with lots of security cameras (as opposed to the hotels that only have cameras pointing out the front), and we felt our car was very secure. The back parking lot entrance to the building was also well lit and NOT surrounded by bushes (I HATE when a hotel does that).

The interior common areas were also very clean and well lit. I especially love how wide and bright their stairwells were. Taking the stairs should not feel like your sneaking up the fire escape. The stairs in this hotel were open and inviting.

The front desk clerk, Taylor, was super friendly and helpful. I asked about bedding for the sofa and she described where to find the set in the closet and then said to call her if a comforter or extra blanket/pillow was desired. When I called later to say we did desire a comforter, she was again super.

The room was very clean and nicely appointed. We also really liked the layout. We had plenty of surfaces to open our various suitcases on. The bathroom counter was very large, which is extra nice when you have 4 people with all their own toiletries to spread out.

We had a bathtub, and even though it was not very deep, both my daughter and I enjoyed getting to take baths. My husband (6'6") and son (6'2") loved that the showerhead was high enough that they didn't have to bend over to get under it. They said the water pressure was good.

Breakfast was great. All the hot foods were actually hot and fresh.

Lest you think I only day positive things, I do have one complaint. I normally get hot oatmeal when it's available. I did not take any this time, however, because there was at least an inch of water sitting at the top. So it either needed stirred, or it was made too thin. I still left breakfast full and satisfied, but I'd bet the breakfast attendant ended up dumping a lot of oatmeal in the trash after breakfast.

Well done...

Checked in yesterday. Seemed ok. We were there for travel basketball for son. Had several teams in hotel. Room was ready at checkin by mid afternoon when we arrived between games. That was a plus. Room seemed ok, but not outstanding with respect to cleanliness. Was a urinine smell in the hallway at the elevator on the second floor. After games that day we retired about 10:30 pm. At 1:30 am, we were awoke to three new roommates. Seems the front desk decided to resell our room. Needless to say, my family and I were not happy. We were given a phone call about 5 minutes later from the front desk and an apology was given. Angie promised she would make it right and that she was going to inform the manager. This morning at check out, was informed by new staff member, the manager was notified, but was on vacation. She suggested he would call and make it right. Some how, I don't believe that will happen. Was vey surprised to see we were charged for a full night. NO CREDIT GIVEN! REALLY? I wonder if the other guests were given a credit for barging in on us? My advice to ANYONE thinking of staying here is to be careful. No one is empowered to make a decision at this hotel. The excuse of the manager being on vacation is a weak excuse. This was a prime opportunity for the staff to do a customer service recovery and make it right. A good gesture to truely show they were sorry for the error. My last piece of advice to the owner and manager is to empower your people to do the right thing. I took the liberty to share my negative story with several guest this morning at the hotel and all day at the AAU basketball tournament. I have NEVER written a negative review, but did feel this lack of respect of our sleep time and privacy was wrong.

ROOM GUESTS BEWARE. --- WOULD SUGGEST HANGING THE DO NOT DISTURB SIGN ON THE DOOR RIGHT AWAY AND AT ALL TIMES. This was a piece of information shared by a friend when they heard our...