Holiday Inn Des Moines Dtwn - Mercy Area, an IHG Hotel

"I travel for business, and I spend about 120 nights in hotels every year. This hotel is definitely a mixed bag. During winter, the rooms in half of the hotel are uninhabitable. Mine was 81 degrees, and my coworker's was 86. There is no air conditioning, and opening the window only got the room down to 77. The hotel knows about this, but they put people in the rooms anyway. The hotel is adjacent to an interstate highway and a hospital, so there is traffic noise, ambulance sirens, and helicopters non-stop. The breakfast is better than other hotels, but it isn't free. The fitness room would be good. But a security guard enforces the hours! I've stayed at close to a hundred hotels, and only two kicked people out of the fitness room (and the other one is also a Des Moines hotel - what is wrong with Des Moines???). I work very long hours, and the only time I'm able to exercise is late at night. For this hotel to send a security guard to kick people out makes the fitness room useless. The hotel has a very dated look, but nothing is run down. The rooms are smaller than modern hotels. In summary, the hotel put us into rooms that they knew were unbearably hot. This is unacceptable. The hotel enforces the fitness room hours. The breakfast is great, but it isn't free. Virtually all hotels allow 24 hour access to their fitness rooms (regardless of posted hours) - this hotel doesn't. If you get a room on the south side, it'll be dangerously hot and lots of traffic noise. I will never choose to stay here again, because of the security guard kicking me out of the fitness room."

"Needs engine work. We called directly and made reservations two days in advance and with a service discount. We were in town for major surgery at the hospital next door. The desk attendant denied our discount, saying we used Priceline for our reservation. When questioned, he explained somehow the direct line redirects to other service providers, he, "doesn't know how it happens, it just does..." At this point, my wife, who has the scheduled surgery, is experiencing significant pain. We resolve to contact a manager in the morning to further investigate, and accept the terms. Our room was on the 8th floor facing the north. Upon arrival, our room is colder than the thermostat would have us believe. As it turns out, the heating unit is non-functional as a heat source. Though as a bonus, when it does turn on, it sounds nearly identical to a flogged V8 engine with a poor motor mount. It certainly saved us on sleep time, who needs that anyway? As for cleanliness, and facility functionality? The bathroom floor has accumulated and retained the oils of considerable foot traffic, (perhaps from the V8) and the TP mount is tied to a rapidly deteriorating moulding on the underside of the sink (could be a side effect of the bad motor mount). The end result will definitely require a rebuild of some kind. We didn't really sleep, so any commentary on the bed is arbitrary. The room smelled clean and most surfaces are being maintained on some level. We stayed here 5 years ago. Now, it does not appear to be a mechanically maintained property. It needs some engine work. It is highly unlikely we be staying here again."

"I allowed friend to used my card, being that night of only people of color, they will never used this place again, I advise over people of color or race not to stay at this location. Its not recommended to stay, look at these ridiculous multiple charges to my account. He will falsified to charge you card. My card was several times charged 345, 245, 104, 100, 50, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 and 153.89. Instead of just charging my card 184.00 for the night. yet, calling me like a professional, respectful and responsible business manager who running this hotel. You are highly unprofessional and irresponsible as person to be running a business of this kind. If any over draft charges are accumulate to my account you as business will be held full responsible all damages to my account and fraud charges."

"Avoid this hotel. I’m here now and staying on the 6th floor and my room faces the freeway. Trust me, you WILL NOT SLEEP. My room also smells like marijuana and I found a beer bottle cap under my bed. On the bright side, they have free underground parking. The front desk staff is nice and the elevators are pretty quick. Edited to add that eventually the front desk offered me a different room. However, this room had icicles and snowflakes coming through the windows. It was literally snowing in the room. So I opted to choose warmth and noise over cold and less noise. On my final night, the fire alarm went off at 3:00 AM. So down to the lobby I went with my child where we joined the fire department. Apparently this happened due to the condensation in the pool? During my stay, the fire alarm went off at least 3 times. Needless to say, I’m beyond glad that this trip is over."

"We stayed for several nights, but didn't get to experience the breakfasts, room service, or the pool. (Our convention was at another location) The reception staff was helpful, the general areas very clean, and the garage was convenient. Unfortunately, the air conditioner wasn't working well. They offered to switch our room, but we decided to just get a box fan. The 1st one delivered didn't work. 2nd was found in an elevator by a coworker. ??? It worked and was used for our last 2 nights. The cleaning staff was fun to talk to."