Comfort Inn & Suites Mason City - Clear Lake — Hotel in Mason City

Our overnight stay was adequate. The room was clean but had an odd odor (probably from cleaning products or age of the carpet/interior). The room was typical, had nice bedding and pillows, free wifi, and breakfast. There was a sliding window with blinds in the room between the jetted bathtub and bed presumably so that you could see the TV while soaking. It was unusual.

The reason for the single star is because of an incident involving payment for the room. Choice Hotels (parent of Quality Inn, etc ) issues gift cards and I happened to have been gifted some to use. They cannot be used to reserve a room but can be used as payment upon check in. I called ahead and asked if I could use them and was told this was not an issue. However, when I tried to use the gift cards, the hotel was unable to accept them due to an issue with their system. The night clerk instructed me to ask the manager in the morning. When I spoke with the manager in the morning, she attempted to use the gift cards once then told me I'd need to report the issue to their Member Services department after checking out. My credit card was billed for the entire stay. The manager told me to report rhe "bad customer service experience" and try to get resolution from their corporate offices.

I called the Member Services number and was initially told there was nothing that could be done. My credit card would not be refunded and to save my gift cards for a future stay. I asked for someone else to speak to and was given a complaint hotline.

The complaint hotline called the hotel. They tried to accept my gift cards and then reported, after trying several workarounds, that the gift cards did not work. The representative told me they would file a formal complaint against the property and that the general manager had 3 days to respond. I was given a reference number for my complaint and told to check back if I didn't hear anything by Wednesday.

I have serious doubts that this will be resolved to my satisfaction and will probably be offered a comp stay or more gift cards which is not acceptable in my opinion. I never would have booked this hotel had I not had gift cards.

Meanwhile...I have $150 in gift cards I cannot use and will most likely NEVER use as it doesn't appear Choice Hotels is interested in honoring them. I will never stay at a Choice Hotel...

Two things first.

First, other reviews have stated that staff here is very friendly. Absolutely true. Friendly, warm, welcoming, kind, helpful. All that. Lois was a standout; great sense of humor, and went out of her way to ensure that everything was just so.

Second, other reviews have said that this hotel was "dirty". Absolutely not so. I believe, what they may have been referencing, was that the walls, in many places, probably could stand a new coat of paint. This is true. Oh well.

However, everything worked -- lights, outlets, even the jacuzzi tub in my suite, plenty of hot water, toilet flush pressure was quite good, there was so much room (omg!), bed mattress was super comfy, linens were nice, bedlinens were soft (& included an actual warm blanket), pillows on bed were plentiful/firm/had lots of 'pouf' to them, room fridge very cold & freezer compartment worked perfectly.

The room was clean. Even places where I look extra close, such as sink & tub. Even the bathroom corners were more than acceptable / no discernable grime accumulated. I have a habit of moving the nightstand away from the wall, to drop my purse behind at night. Not even any dust bunnies found there.

Shower water pressure not exceptional, but not at all the worst I've experienced. The variable shower head allowed me to correct for this quite a bit. I had no trouble washing my thick, long hair (which is something I try not to do at hotels, cuz often this is an impossible task).

Very convenient location. Easy in and out of parking lot. Might be tight if you have a large vehicle or are towing something. Maybe call ahead to inquire, if that is your situation.

I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

And, if some people want to pay almost $200/night for a room (instead of ~$130 for a suite), because someone hasn't gotten around to painting, let them.

If you want a comfortable stay in a very clean hotel, where everything that actually contributes to the comfort of your stay is perfect, all while paying a fair price... Then you found your pick.

Oh, and they also stock a complimentary cookie jar in...

Absolutely horrible experience at this hotel. If you are looking at staying here keep in mind the pictures they use are not actually pictures of the hotel or rooms. The actual rooms are much worse.... the first room definitely looked dated with half ass paint work, dirty walls and just rough all around. The blackout shade would not lower and because we traveled all day I wanted to sleep in a bit so I requested another room. This room was just as rough looking but at least the blackout shade came all the way down. I thought we were good for the night until I went to the bathroom and found the shower was full of public hair. I took pictures and showed them to the person at the front desk and was assigned to another room. 3rd room again was rough looking, the blackout shade was about 6 inches from going all the way down but the shower was clean and it was getting close to midnight so we settled in.

I was not expecting a 5 star experience but I did choose this hotel based upon the pictures they have posted. I had my wife and daughter traveling with me and was incredibly embarrassed by how far off the quality of the rooms were from what they pictured.

Breakfast was also highly disappointing and definitely not worth sticking around for.

I was offered 10k choice hotel points for my "inconvenience". I doubt I will ever stay in another one of their locations, since they have no issue posting fake pictures that don't actually represent the condition of their...