Holiday Inn & Suites Des Moines-Northwest, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Urbandale

This was not a good experience so far with Holiday Inn hotel at Des Moines - NorthWest. All my past experiences with IHG hotels at other locations has been very good, and that's why I have the IHG membership. But I would have to reconsider, if I have these kind of experiences now. Below is the experience of my mine at the hotel.

I had the booking for "Holiday Inn & Suites : Des Moines-Northwest" from 16th to 17th October. I needed hotel only for 3 hours in the morning of 17th and needed to checkout at 12 pm. So, I selected web checkin and chose the option to checkin after 10 pm on the evening of 16th. Then I decided to call the hotel also, to let them know that I will checkin at around 9am on 17th as I needed hotel only for 3 hours. I tried multiple times but no one picked up the call. The I tried the webchat option and told them that I will checkin in the morning of 17th and they told me that it's ok and they will let the hotel know.

On 17th , when I reached the hotel and told the lady at reception that I have booking and want to checkin, she asked for my id. There was no acknowledgement for being member or anything. Then she tried searching for my booking and called someone and told that she want the room cleaned as someone wants to check early. Then after overhearing her, I clarified that I am not checking in early, I am checking in late and want room only for 3 hours. She told me that she wanted to verify, whether someone else was staying in my room and that she wanted to get the room cleaned up. I was wondering how someone else was staying in the room which has supposedly been assigned to me, if I had communicated the hotel. I did not want the room cleaned up in hurry, in these days. Then the lady at reception asked my booking number and when I showed her on my mobile, she told me that somehow she could not find the booking. Then she assigned me some other room what was supposedly not assigned to me. When I arrived the room, the cleaning lady was still cleaning the room and she responded that 'ooo.. you arrived here so fast, we were about to finish cleaning anyway.' When we went inside the room, it was hot and I started the a/c. The room was ok other than some broken hooks in bathroom and part of hair found under the desk, the photo of which I have uploaded. The tv is also old and remote does not work well. Overall I can say that the hotel needs repair and staff needs to be...

My family of 4 stayed here for two nights for a basketball tournament. The hotel was very busy due to other sporting events that weekend and a number of teams staying there. On initial check-in the front desk staff seemed overly annoyed with having guests staying there. in my 5 minute check-in the front desk person yelled multiple times at kids lobby who were running (parents were right there). So I got the feel it was not a kid friendly atmosphere, not a big deal as we did not plan to spend much time at the hotel. The next morning (9:30am) we had gone out to get our breakfast and brought it back to eat it in the lobby sitting area with our family. Unfortunately, the public lobby area had not been cleaned up from the night before. coffee table full of sports water bottles, mustard, ketchup, and hot sauce packets strewn about and the front desk person doing everything they could do to avoid work. I think people should clean up after themselves, but know that does not always happen. I would think the staff, as annoyed as they might be, would do a quick tidy up for the other guests. Instead I took it upon myself to clean up for my family and others. They say they have complimentary coffee until 10am, but when my wife told the front desk at 9:30am that the coffee was about empty the response from the front desk was that she already filled it 4 times that morning! She then asked one of the more seasoned employees what time they stop serving coffee and the response was 10am, but if no one is drinking it they don't need to brew another pot. Another pot was not brewed and multiple guests checked the coffee area for a cup and walked away with nothing. The breakfast buffet offered by the attached Bennigans in combination with the hotel is highway robbery. It is watched closely by hotel employees sitting on tables cross-legged while looking at their phones. It must be a gathering spot of employees because 4-5 employees were seen around there chatting like they were out at a bar cursing like there were no kids around. I am an adult and I swear more often than I would care to admit, but I know and understand the situations and where it is appropriate. As an IHG member I expect more and would be embarrassed to have the hotel representing my name. I think there is potential, but to be in the hospitality industry you need to offer hospitality and this hotel did...

Unfortunately, our experience left us with several concerns related to room comfort & the pet-friendly policy.

When we checked in, outdoor temps were in the upper 80s, & our room was at 83°F. The air conditioning didn’t appear to be functioning properly, & we had to switch rooms. Even in the new room, the temperature took quite a while to come down. Because of this, we didn’t feel safe leaving our dog in the room, even though this hotel is advertised as pet friendly. We also learned from the front desk that the in-room air conditioning is motion-sensored & shuts off if no motion is detected for more than five minutes. This was particularly concerning, as we had planned to leave our dog crated in the room that evening & the following morning while we went out for breakfast, but didn’t feel comfortable doing so, given the potential for the room to heat up quickly in the absence of airflow. The AC in the lobby was working well, but the hallways and rooms throughout the property were noticeably hot and stuffy. We considered checking out and moving to a different hotel but were too exhausted to relocate after a long day of travel.

I want to commend the front desk staff, Cheyenne & Justin, who were both lovely, helpful, and professional throughout our stay. They did everything they could to assist us, and it was clear the situation was beyond their control. They waived the $40 pet fee which was greatly appreciated. I shared my feedback with them and have also shared my feedback with IHG corporate.

However, we were disappointed overall, especially considering the $150 per night rate and the standard pet fee in addition to the room rate. At a minimum, we expect that a guest room will be cool and comfortable upon arrival. And if a hotel promotes itself as pet friendly, the environment should be safe for pets left unattended in accordance with policy (i.e., crated). A reasonable solution is to allow the AC to remain at a higher temp, like 72°F, when the room is unoccupied, but turning it off entirely seems unsafe & unacceptable.

This hotel is close to family and would be an ideal place to stay when we visit but I do not plan on...