Roosevelt Inn — Hotel in Keystone

Our room looked great like the pictures and was nice, however, our room smelled musty like smelly feet and hotel procedures/operation were a little different than most other hotels. — We think the bad smell was either the carpet or one of the drains. We tried airing it out and spraying air freshener but the smell still lingered. However, the place was cleaned and we didn’t see any dust/dirt lingering around.

The room didn’t have any tissues. We are lucky we had some.. but imagine if someone has to blow their nose and the only thing they can find is washcloths…

The light outside when the windows shades were closed was still relatively bright. Outside the balcony, tourist lights shone to our window. We used towels on top of the curtains to seal the light leaks.

There was a nice amount of wall plugs, and an extender on the alarm clock, but an electric-heavy traveler might wish for more.

We were happy we didn’t stay on the second floor because the kids screaming in the pool and the arcade noises there were pretty loud, however, those rooms do close for bedtime, (so the noise wouldn’t persist into the night). The pool was a nice temperature but was very small and had people in it the two times we checked.

The check in window and check out time and breakfast time seemed a little inconvenient compared to other hotels we’ve stayed at. Give or take an hour. It was odd check in time had a ending period and the desk isn’t staffed for the night. Also, breakfast was served on real plates with cutlery. It was kind of pleasant to have real plates but we didn’t notice it until that morning. If we had woke up a few minutes before breakfast and were planning to grab-and-go to our location (like we did with many hotels) we would’ve been disappointed. Germ-conscientious travelers may be offput by the shared condiments and open food.

The breakfast wasn’t anything special. There was an good variety, average for a “breakfast” hotel, but the taste was lackluster. It LOOKED good, but the French toast and cheese eggs were bland and I’ve had fresher honey buns wrapped at a gas station. Nonetheless, it was food and good enough to eat for sustenance.

In the morning we realized the shower didn’t have a curtain but one was promptly delivered when we inquired.

We really enjoyed the Teddy Roosevelt themed decor and quotes. A little disappointed there wasn’t a bear in our room, but maybe that’s only if you book with children. Silly as it is, it was a reason we chose this location.

The reason it’s still 4 stars despite the shortcomings is because we appreciate it’s family owned and the desk attendant was very nice and helpful and suggested a great place to eat for us, and the hotel commons were clean and well decorated. We can tell they’re trying.

As it is, based on our stay, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel, but I think many of these things could be improved upon by the owners to where I would recommend it. It seemed very pricey for what we got and the price we saw on google maps was ⅓ the price of what we ended up paying by using their official website.

Adding room-darkening barriers to the windows, being more clear about breakfast being a sit-down or having to-go cuttlery, extending hours of checkin and breakfast, checking room items to make sure everything like shower curtains are present, sealing more breakfast items and having more individual condiments, and making sure rooms/drains/carpets get more regular deep-cleaning/air refreshened or pass a smell test before letting guests in.

It was very close to everything so...

We had good hopes for this hotel because of the courteous communication emails we received from the management prior to arrival.

The hotel was pretty easy to find. Front parking lot was tight with small parking spaces. There is a rear parking if you drive up a steep driveway.

It is obvious that the building is very old. The front desk guy showed us a map of hotel. He told us that we could go to the rear parking directly from 4th floor (where our room is located) without going down to the front entrance on the 1st floor. We walked all over the 4th floor but could not find the exit to outside. We then went down to 1st floor and asked. He looked very puzzled. Until we walked outside, climbed the slope to the back where we parked, and entered through the back entrance, we realized the back entrance is through 3rd floor; not 4th!

Upon us entering our room, there were two big flies who showed us their welcome dance. We tried asking them to leave. But our effort wasn't effective until they were executed. Just when we thought we could rest, a stink bug showed up on top of our suit case.

When we used the sinks, we felt the lighting wasn't very sufficient. Then we discovered one of the two lights wasn't working. We reported it to the front desk. the staff told us that the repair person "will be back very soon" to take care of it. Well, until we left Keystone, no one came to change the light bulb.

I had to take care of some baseness in the evening. The Wi-Fi appears unstable. I could connect to it. But the connections drop shortly. It was a struggle to barely got done with what I needed.

As we were going to bed after 10PM, the sound of kids screaming and dog barking from some other room(s) were our lullaby.

We were happy that there were two electric outlets at the alarm clock on the nightstand. We plugged in our phones to charge overnight. In the morning we were surprised that our phones didn't get any charge! I then found that none of the outlets had electricity.

All of the above were insignificant issues when we were woken up around 1:50AM by very loud and sharp BEEPs about every minute. It was from the smoke alarm in our room. From experience I know it was its battery running low. Since we could no longer sleep, and the hotel had no staff on duty at night, I had to get up, climb to reach ceiling and pulled the battery to stop the beeping. Then we could not get back to sleep for a long time. We have stayed in dozens and dozens of hotels around the world. NOTHING like this has ever happened to us. We very much regret choosing Roosevelt for our visit...

Wonderful affordable clean hotel to stay in while exploring the Black Hills area. Highly Recommended! We stayed on the 4th floor (yes there is an elevator) in a double queen room with a step-up sitting/table alcove. The room was very clean except for the carpeting which seems to be common in older hotels so I never go barefoot in hotels. We made daily use of the pleasant sitting area for morning coffee, you can get good coffee from the dining area (the coffee from coffee makers in 2 star hotels is pretty bad IMO) and reading in the evening. The staff was friendly and helpful. I made an error so we arrived one day early and the manager was very accommodating even moving our belongings to our originally booked room the following day. The included breakfasts were more than adequate and very good: hot selections of eggs, sausage etc., pancake maker, toaster, cold cereals, yogurt, toppings, bakery items, juices, etc. We appreciated the ceramic dinnerware and metal utensils for dining and less waste! The breakfast area was well supplied and tended. If you wish to social distance they do allow people to bring breakfast to rooms. Also there is a seating area near the front desk as well as 2 verandas with seating areas.

There is a coin operated laundry facility on the second floor that we appreciated and used. There is also a pool and game room.

The magnetic key was a bit frustrating because it frequently stopped working even tho we kept it away from our cellphones.

Keystone is a historic and quaint little town to explore. Roosevelt Inn is conveniently located within walking distance of shopping, dining, etc.

Just a covid FYI: if you are concerned about contracting or inadvertently spreading covid then best wear a mask here and anywhere in SD; VERY little mask wearing or social distancing by anyone...