AC Hotel Des Moines East Village — Hotel in Des Moines

During my most recent stay, attention to detail was virtually non-existent. Amidst a pandemic, I was hopeful that cleanliness and guest protection would have been at the forefront of the hotel's agenda. During check-in, at least 20 people crowded in the front lobby (1/2 of whom were not wearing masks) with no attempt to encourage or facilitate social distancing. During my stay, the entrance was never cleaned, and the elevators were trashed. Guests without masks were going up and down the elevator to go to the rooftop bar. Public trashcans were overflowing by 9:00 am the next day.

I called the front desk as the ice machine on the 6th floor was out of order. I asked if someone could bring some up or if there was a machine somewhere else. The response I got was, "Sir, you're going to have to get it yourself. We're too busy up here." And then they hung up. I went down to the lobby searching for ice, only to have a guest inform me the machine on their floor worked.

There was a knock at the door with someone stating they were from guest services two hours into our stay. I went to the door and saw someone with no discernable Marriott clothing or uniform. Around 10:00 pm, there was ANOTHER aggressive knock at the door with someone stating they were from guest services. I snuck to the door, and it was a different person - again with no Marriott clothing or uniform. I shouted for them to go away.

We stayed in room 601, a king suite. The room had a bizarre layout and was an echo-chamber, something we never got used to. TV cords were unplugged, hanging down the wall, and the toilet was broken. There was some mystery stain or spill next to the toilet and spots on the tile floor with sandy grit on them. The chairs in the "dining area" were also filthy with some mystery stain.

We hardly slept. The bed was so hard; I considered getting up and sleeping on the vinyl couch. The refrigerator emitted a bright light that lit up half the room, and the vent was right next to the bed, making a loud noise all night.

We were woken in the morning by a loud banging near our room. It persisted at about 20-minute intervals for the duration of the morning.

For a relaxing night away, all we wanted to do...

We used the AC Hotel for our wedding on 6/3/23. It was the perfect location, as our wedding venue was just up and around the block (Teachout Building - above Wooly’s Concert Venue). We had heard great things about the hotel, and we ourselves had been up to The Republic on Grand many times. I wish we could say our experience was good, but from the jump it was not. Dontrez, one of the managers, helped us book the room block. We opted for an option where we didn’t have to put down a deposit, and were told we’d get 10 rooms to start and could add from there as needed. We were not able to add what was needed (needed 10 rooms (5 double queens and 5 kings) but were only able to receive 5 kings. This may have been based on availability, but I wish he would have been more up front about it. The second blow was that when we went back to collect our leftover hotel goodie bags (the day after our wedding), half of the items were missing. Items like popcorn, Allspice mini seasonings, and bottles of water had been taken out. They were there less than 24 hours and the staff had taken our items…not cool… The final blow was that in the midst of cleaning our hotel room that we had stayed in (that also served as the groom and groomsmen’s getting ready room), along with a fun hangover and being slightly out of it, we had forgotten our wedding dress and suit in a garment bag hanging in the poorly designed closet. It was not until we went to do dry cleaning 2 weeks later that we noticed this. Fortunately, the AC Hotel had it still, but the shocking thing was that no one had contacted us advising we had left these two super important items in our room. You’d think with the knowledge that it was our wedding AND the items being a wedding dress and suit AND that we lived only a block away would have resulted in a courtesy call to let us know, but nope. They were going to hang onto it until it was legally theirs and they could give it to one of their employees, sell it, etc. Overall, this hotel is in a good location and has decent rooms, but the service was atrocious and we were very disappointed. Would not recommend if you’re someone who expects the hotel to do the little things and for the staff to not...

The good: Modern hotel rooms with good layout. They have plenty of space to spread out your luggage. ||||- If the garage isn't full, it's very convenient to park. ||The shower has a rain head and a wand. There is a small but functional fridge.||-The food at the Republic restaurant is good and prices are reasonable. I would stick to the more comfortable bar stools in on the inside of the bar. The outdoor chairs get uncomfortable after 15 minutes. ||||The not-so-good: ||-When i was there, the garage door was broken so people going to the rooftop restaurant would park in the garage so there wasn't any space in the garage on a weekend evening. They charge for the garage parking too. ||||-The breakfast downstairs has issues. It's $14. Includes sparse pastries and some fruit and if you're lucky, some yogurt. The food isn't replenished regularly. They put out a couple milks, a couple yogurts, 4 slices of cheese on a plate- which is very odd. I went towards the end of the service and the coffee was out. No one was around to refill it. The eggs were old and dry. ||||The seating in the breakfast area is annoying. They have sofas next to tables that are WAY too low so if you sit in them, your neck is level with the table. This doesn't work for eating. Your other choice are chairs with wheels on the tile. So when you sit down, the chairs roll all over the floor and it makes it hard to keep the chair close to the table. ||||-I was asked if I'd like housekeeping when I checked in. I said yes, but didn't see a housekeeper any of my 4 nights while I was there. ||||-As others have mentioned, the staff I interacted with were not as friendly as most other Marriott properties I've stayed at. ||||-The bed is on the stiff side so if you're a side sleeper, this can cause back and neck issues. The comforter on the bed is very thin and doesn't provide...