AmericInn by Wyndham Hartford SD — Hotel in Hartford Township

My fiance' and I travel for a living and we stay in many hotels. I chose this hotel (even though it was off the beaten path of Sioux City) because of its high ratings and award winning status. I was very much looking forward to staying there for 4 out of our 14 night trip. However, I was very disappointed. Yes, it was new and clean. But the room they had us in was the smallest they had. For 4 nights (including our weekend off), it was very cramped. We had corporate lodging so perhaps that played a factor. However, we have had much larger rooms in other corporate hotels.

We had no bath tub and the shower was very odd. It had no door or curtain. You just walked in an opening and showered in a corner. It was too small for ADA so this must have been the designer's choice. Though it was a big shower, there was only one small corner dish to place all your toiletries. And the shower floor never drained fully. So if you used it to dry out your bathing suit, it ran the risk of falling into a never draining puddle of water to get wet all over again. There was only one vertical bar in the whole big shower. So it was useless to hang towels but maybe you could grab it if you needed support? The bathroom vent was in the shower so it was great at ventilating the shower but not so great at ventilating anything else.

We were on the 3rd floor and heard endless whistling wind for 2 nights until we figured out the window locks weren't completely engaged (engaging them finally ended the noise). The walls were very thin. I could hear my neighbors' normal volumed conversation in the room next to me, word for word. I could hear their floor boards creak when they walked around (we were on the top floor). Fortunately, the hotel was not that populated so we only had a next door neighbor 1 night of 4. The breakfast was hit and miss: good and fresh one day; dried out the next. Now the jets on the spa were the best I've ever had... Though the spa was over chlorinated 1 of our 4 nights. It was very quiet in the hotel however we were further away from the big city and there weren't many local dining options nor delivery (the restaurant next door did not impress our first night there). The Caribou Coffee across the street was nice and we heard no car noise though we were close to the highway. And I was very thankful for the elevator when we carried our luggage.

I am giving this hotel 2 stars because they set the bar high with their established high ratings and awards and I feel that they really dropped the ball on our stay. I would have stayed in Sioux City to be closer to better dining and attractions if it hadn't been for the lure of how exceptional their hotel was...

Booked a block of hotel rooms for our wedding, was quoted $160 per room and ended up being charged $180 for all of them plus tax. Next, when calling the hotel back to talk about this they said a manager would have to call me back. The manager never called me back. Called on this issue again only to find out that they did not have a block for rooms set up for our wedding at all. Confronted them about this issue because they charged my credit card for 9 rooms on Sept 29-30. Upon further investigation they did find 9 rooms blocked under my name and proceeded to inform me that they were booked incorrectly, but would fix them. Moving forward, guest proceeded to call me stating that they were no rooms blocked under my name at the hotel and they were not unaware of any blocks for our wedding. Called the hotel again to confront them about the price issue and the issue of the block, cause I thought it was already corrected the last time I called them, but it was not. The staff member who answered the phone (Maddie) was highly unprofessional and rude. Maddie, noted that the there was indeed still an issue regarding the rooms and the rates and that a manager would have to call me back. Once again a manager never called me back to discuss this issue which is a very poor customer experience. Called the hotel again to see how many rooms were left to be booked the week of the wedding and once again Maddie answered the phone and was rude/snotty with me stating she could not tell me that information and the only way I could figure that out is if I contacted my guests. From a bride stand point there is no possible way to figure out of my over 300 guests that attended our wedding on who was trying to stay at this hotel. Once again, extremely disappointed in the overall experience and how the staff handle all the situations. Last, I called the hotel again to cancel whatever hotel rooms were left the week of the wedding and talked to Maddie yet again and she said all the rooms were booked. I asked for an email to confirm this and she said she could not do that and that a manager would be in contact with me. A manager once again never contacted me. Finally, my husband went to the hotel to confirm that all the hotel rooms were indeed cancelled because they were linked to my credit card, only to find out that there were multiple rooms still linked to my credit card that Maddie stated were already book. I will not be staying with this hotel brand anymore and will be communicating with others this poor experience that was a big stress on our...

Avoid this hotel unless you like getting robbed. I found a miscellaneous charge on my card for $250 after staying here one night. Called the hotel and was told it was for smoking in my room which I never did. I might have believed it was an honest mistake if they just claimed to smell it, but I knew something shady was going on when they claimed to find ashes by the window.

I did some research, and as it turns out, this is becoming an increasingly common scam in many hotels, victimizing smokers and non-smokers alike. This incident seemed to follow the same pattern. By the time you find out about it it's too late to prove your innocence. So I guess all I can do is draw as much attention to this scam as possible and try to warn others.

UPDATE: In a response from the owner I am now being told that ashes were found on the TV stand. When I spoke to her on the phone I was told that ashes were found by the window. Both of these revelations sounded very odd to me since I never did anything in the room that would produce ashes, nor was I traveling with an urn. But either way, get your story straight.

My story remains unchanged: neither I nor any other person smoked anything in the room during my one-night stay. Why would I? I was on the first floor, just a short walk from the side door. I'm sure I stepped outside for a smoke a couple times before bed and at least once in the morning, which could be verified by checking the security camera footage.

I travel quite often and stay at lots of hotels on the road. I am always respectful of a hotel's no-smoking policy which is always made very clear when you check in, and I have never had a false accusation leveled against me like this.

But I suppose I am wasting my words here as I am clearly not dealing with honest people as the story continues to change each time we communicate. As the old Russian saying goes, the past is unpredictable.

So what is left to do? You can't appeal to the conscience of someone whose integrity is worth no more than 250 bucks. It's not even about the money anymore for me. I just really don't like being lied to. At this point I'd rather have an apology than a refund. If you made an honest mistake, say so, and all is forgiven. If you deliberately tried to cheat me out of $250, get it off your chest and all is forgiven. If you want to keep up the charade, then keep your 250 bucks. Buy yourself something nice, sweetheart. I'll see you next time I'm...