Brookings Inn — Hotel in Aurora Township

I'm left feeling there was much to be desired. I was recently unfortunate enough to attend a conference hosted at the Brookings Inn. The entire facility (including the rooms) smelled dank and reminded me of wet dog. Furthermore, the technological accommodations were abysmal (and likely not even from this millennium). The food and drinks featured at the conference were a far-cry from palatable; I purchased beer that expired in November 2022 and shortly after (somehow) they ran out of alcohol altogether. There were numerous rooms that appeared to have black mold all over the walls and most of the service staff was less than cordial. The lone bright spot in my atrocious experience at the Brookings Inn was Jeremy. Jeremy was a member of the housekeeping staff and he was delightful. Jeremy is marvelously handsome, ethnically ambiguous, and delightfully tender. Jeremy ensured there were fresh towels in my room at ALL times (even stopping by my room at early hours of the morning to make sure my towel needs were exceeded) and always made sure to leave delectable chocolate treats around my room. In addition to housekeeping services, Jeremy informed me that he provides massage therapy services to guests who would like to experience an "old-world" medicinal relaxation massage. After supple persuasion, I relented to Jeremy's offers and I am delighted to say I have never experienced such an intensely powerful spiritual experience. Shortly after 9pm I heard a soft yet un-yielding knock on my door; Jeremy had arrived with his table and assorted collection of deeply foreign massage oils and incense fragrances. Jeremy instructed me to undress to my preference (I chose to keep my undergarments on, which he was more than happy to accommodate) and then asked me to lay down on the table. While I had been undressing, Jeremy had placed candles and incense burners around my room to set a poignant yet professional ambiance. Once on the table, Jeremy began with my shoulders and arms and after a few minutes progressed to my traps and lats and then on to my lower back, thighs, feet, and then returned to my neck and finished with my chest and abdomen. He then asked me to roll back onto my stomach and placed hot rocks on my back and then began playing the didgeridoo for 20 minutes while the heat from the hot rocks permeated my entire body. To end the--quite honestly--unparalleled experience, Jeremy used a new oil to massage my scalp and left my hair feeling thick and luscious (I was primarily bald before this trip and now I have a much thicker head of hair--even my wife noticed a difference). The entire experience was deeply stress relieving and made enduring the--quite frankly--atrocious service at the Brookings Inn bearable. Thank you Jeremy and I wish you nothing but the...

It’s a former and dated Days Inn with decent potential, presumably bought by a local or “investor,” who seems to have not yet invested much into the hotel. Breanna at the front desk was extremely friendly and provided excellent customer service. The new restaurant attached, La Cantina, was DELCIOUS! The hotel price is low enough to offset the desperate need for deep cleaning, becasuee of its better-than-an-average-hotel pool. The “SplashZone” includes a lazy river, splash pad, and decent-sized pool (pool features two quaint water slides, only one of which was working). The pool was just painted so that looked nice. There is a nominal fee for hotel guests ($3/day or $5/2-day) or the public ($5/day). Hours are iffy and vary so ask the desk when it’s open or to open it up if it’s dark and empty but should be open (we had to ask staff to turn on lights and turn on the water features an hour after opening time...NBD).

Otherwise the hotel rooms and common areas, both outdoors and in, need much more attention with housekeeping: entryway tile at entry doors is very dirty, glass doors/windows need cleaning, bathroom grout needs to be bleached, hallway carpets needs to be vacuumed, wall stains need wiping down, dirty finger print door smudges need to wiped down, cigarette butts sprinkled across the asphalt with trash overflowing in the garbage cans. All details that, IF management addressed or IF management has the staff resources to delegate, would greatly improve the experience, even it’s visibly and older hotel. It’s almost humorous, actually. I went in expecting these conditions so I wasn’t surprised.

I’m giving the Brookings Inn four stars because of the affordability, because of Breanna, and because of its noteworthy attempt at a family-friendly atmosphere. I would normally never rate a place so well that is so badly in need of TLC, but it deserves better... I’m so hopeful and want to see it succeed. Also - There was this sweet little boy, maybe 8-9 years old, who must be along with his family who work there. He was so kind and even offered directions to my husband who looked lost while looking for the pool - without being asked to - very observant little lad. He was always smiling and happy. Wish I asked his name. I told him he has great customer service skills and to keep up...

The facial recognition software that automatically brings up your reservation when you walk in the door must have been down. The front desk lady told us we did not have a reservation. Once my wife started looking for the confirmation in an email the front desk lady said " found it, I just had to do a search for it" not sure what she was doing the first 5 minutes...

On the way to our room, we stopped by the pool to check it out, a little run down, but all in all, it is decent. There was a sign in the pool area that said pool heater was "temporarily out of service." The owner must have found a heck of a deal out of temporarily out of service signs as they are all over the hotel.

Once in the room, I had to use the restroom. After several flushes, all of the remains from yesterday's diet were finally gone. Thank goodness, cause I'm guessing if the hotel had a plunger, it would have been temporarily out of service.

Time to relax, watch a little TV, and cruise the internet... Guess what, 1 TV channel worked, and the wifi was not accessible from in our room, temporarily out of service I guess. We did go down to the front desk to complain, but we were just met with blank stares. Took a shower before going to bed. As soon as I reached for a towel, the towel rack fell off the wall.

Rooms again outdated, could use a good scrub down, but worked for a one night stay.

Went to get some ice to top off our small cooler on the morning before heading back to the kids' soccer tournament. Boom another temporarily out of service sign on the ice machine.

Good luck with everyone's travels! I would highly recommend spending a few extra bucks to stay at a different hotel in Brookings, SD. This...