Ramada by Wyndham Grand Forks — Hotel in Grand Forks

I've been staying at the Ramada ever since I was a kid in the late 80's & now taking my own family. The hotel has always been clean, & the staff extremely friendly. Not sure what has changed, but this stay wasn't as pleasant. We checked into room 101 (Poolside.) we weren't able to turn the A/C on as it didn't work. We were moved to 105. A/C appeared to work, but the bathroom wasn't cleaned when we arrived, but that was looked after. We later went in the pool that evening, and my wife ended up going to bed before me. She asked me to turn the temperature up as it was cold in the room & couldn't get it to work. I couldn't get it to work either. It was quite cold so I just put another top on to warm up & go to bed, & shortly found out after that my side of the bed was lower than the other making it very uncomfortable. Cold & uncomfortable, I yet again went back to the front desk & told them it's freezing inside, & my 4 year old son was now awake and cold at 2am, so I insisted we get another room & make sure we weren't charged for that night. We eventually ended up in room 103. (First room I ever stayed in as a kid!) With the exception of the bathroom ceiling in the tub looking like it was about to cave in as a result of unfixed water damage, it was clean and comfortable. We all didn't sleep much that night, but was able to wake up shortly before the continental breakfast ended so decided to grab a bite to eat. Just as we were about to finish eating, whoever was running breakfast (Doug I believe is his name) turned the lights out as we were still at the table. My wife asked if that's supposed to be a hint & he replied, "something like that." We both replied with a firm "EXCUSE ME?" His attitude changed, & kindly said he just didn't want anyone else coming in as they were done breakfast. I spoke to him the next morning, & he was kind. Around noon, we decided to go shopping for the day, so went to the front desk to ask if someone can clean up the room & the girl working told us she will pass it on and make sure it would be done. When we returned after 5, it still hadn't been cleaned yet, so had to ask again. The pool/hot tub in my opinion is the best Grand Forks has to offer, & 5 stars isn't enough. The liner can definitely be repainted as it looks quite rough, but didn't change the fact that it's still an amazing spa like atmosphere. The staff overall seemed like they had better things to do than be there except for 3 of them. Rebecca, Brett & Sheridon made our stay worthwhile. Sheridon comped us for the 1st night, Brett did everything he could to make sure we'd be comfortable & Rebecca was just awesome! Give them all a raise, because they deserve it!! The Ramada has always been my only choice when I'm in Grand Forks & I'd like it to stay that way. The hotel needs a little TLC, & the staff can use a bit of a refresher in customer service, so I hope these issues are addressed, because I'd like my son to have the same great memories that I...

I'm giving this 5 stars for various reasons.

This is an older hotel. You're not getting a perfect 5 star room. However, I am not picky and needed a place for the night. Having said that, this was my experience:

My car broke down on the I29 10 minutes outside of town. I was able to get it to the hotel and have a poolside room for the night ( I have a 12 year old). He swam and did his thing. Kinds always love the extra vacation day. And this is how the staff went above and beyond:

#1. I needed some milk and they gladly got some from the kitchen for me. I can't remember his name but he was very friendly and very helpful. Jack? I think that's him.

#2. The next morning I made a bunch of phone calls to get my car repaired and was able to get it in by 8:30am but had no idea when it would be finished. I approached the front desk at roughly 10:45am and said I'm from out of town, car is broken down and being repaired, can we please hang out until it is fixed, the answer was an easy yes. Which made sense since it was a Monday and there was lots of capacity but regardless they were quick to accommodate. I don't remember her name (never looked) but it was Monday January 13th at 11am.

#3. My car was fixed by noon and by 1:00pm we checked out. We got home to find out we left a piece of luggage in the lobby. Ugh. What else could go wrong with this trip? I called the hotel when we realized we left it there in the lobby and of course they had it. And this is where someone went WAY WAY above and beyond. We live only 2 hours from the hotel. I didn't want to drive back and the cost of shipping would be ridiculous over the border to Canada.

Cue RACHEL! (Who I have since read another review talking about how amazing she is) and she really is. Rachel explained to me that she had family visiting her from my city this upcoming weekend and coming back Sunday. She said as long as I was ok with leaving our luggage with a stranger that she would be happy to send the luggage back with her family member and that I could get it Sunday.

It's only Wednesday and none of this has happened but after reading Rachel's previous review and now experiencing this with her my wife and I could not be more confident that she will come through and also I couldn't be more satisfied in all the ways the staff have gone above and beyond to help us with what originally began with our car breaking down and a lot of pessimism.

We were stuck. We got a room. Poolside. My boy and I swam (very warm pool and hot tubs), they gave me milk, allowed us to extend our stay, and then plan to bring my luggage to me personally.

THANK YOU TO RACHEL, AND ALL YOUR STAFF FOR TRULY BEING AMAZING! I have already told the story many times already.

The building is older. It is what it is, but your staff are what made this a great, GREAT experience....

First, the good. The room was clean, the beds were reasonably comfortable for a hotel at this price, and the lobby looked really nice. I only had one staff interaction, but it was pleasant.

Unfortunately, the overall experience was just not great. The room may have been clean, but it (along with much of the rest of the property) is in desperate need of an update. The decor belongs in, to put it as respectfully I can, a 1980s pornographic film. This aesthetic is the result mostly of dim lighting, an oversized black leather recliner, and a red leather headboard bolted to the wall. The biggest issue in the room itself though was that the tub drain empties so slowly that even a short shower ends with the guest standing in ankle-deep water. The air conditioning was also woefully inept at keeping the room a comfortable temperature. We visited in late September when daytime highs peaked in the 70s, and yet we couldn't get the AC to cool the room below 70. The unit was working, but it just didn't have enough horsepower for the size of the room.

Outside the room, the rest of the hotel looks dilapidated. The dim lighting of the room carries through the entire building, and the doorways and halls of the entire place are in dire need of renovation. The layout of the building is silly as well—after check-in, we were directed to walk through the arcade (ferrying our luggage past a sea of kids having a birthday party) to get to the stairwell to take us to our room.

Overall, I appreciate that inexpensive hotels exist. We booked last minute during what we later learned was the weekend of a relatively big concert in Grand Forks, meaning all the normal hotel options were either booked or priced significantly higher than normal. We elected to save a few bucks and stay here—we've stayed at other Ramada hotels before and had decent experiences. This particular hotel though, to be frank, is just not very pleasant looking and, like most Wyndham properties we've experienced, is simply not a nice place to be. The curb appeal is nonexistent, the interior is severely outdated, and the accommodations are not worth the...