Comfort Inn & Suites Grinnell Near I-80

I stayed here while helping my daughter move in to her college dorm. Limited options were available. The room was not properly cleaned, bath tub was stained and there were hairs on the sheets. Also a nasty stain on the curtain. Not a good experience. The staff apologized, which I appreciated, but they need to do better if they want people to come back and stay here.

Skip this hotel. There are other options in the area. Someone tried to enter our room two times while we were asleep. The staff gave keys to a different guest that arrived after we did. Outside looked upgraded but inside is dingy. Carpet in the room was sticky. Carpet in the hallway was visibly dirty. Decent bathroom, except for the stained bathtub. Water pressure was good. The hotel breakfast was substantial. Many fruits and yogurt options. Waffle and pancake was available. There were scrambled eggs, bacon and gravy, but I could not tell if they were good as we did not try them.

After a long day on the road, it was so nice to be greeted by super-friendly Larry at the front desk! This was our 2nd visit to this property. It is a basic, one-night stay, type of hotel as you travel along I-80. The room was clean and met our needs.

Well, this was disappointing. We realize there's not a lot to choose from in Grinnell. I've previously stayed (twice) at the Best Western, which I noticed is now an AmericInn; it was very shabby, though maybe AmericInn has spent some money to upgrade it (the OUTside looked better anyway). I'd heard that the Comfort Inn was better than the Country Inn/Suites, the (former) Best Western, the Quality Inn, or the Super 8 (in that order), but that may not be saying much. So, here's our stay... (1) No luggage rack. We asked for one. She told us she'd get one for us. Never showed up. We checked again at the front desk. Were told "she didn't leave one & I don't know where they are." Stayed 3 nights & one never appeared.; (2) There was absolutely no attempt at housekeeping of any sort for 3 days, even though we told the front desk when we returned on our 2nd day.; (3) Toilet seat was cracked & completely broke the first time we used it. Fortunately, they DID come & replace it, but managed to leave a screwdriver, a dirty towel, and muddy footprints in the bathroom.; (4) There wasn't enough parking. We came back at 11 p.m. two nights and had to "create our own" parking spot on the grass.; (5) Air conditioning had trouble keeping up with Iowa summer, so sleep was difficult to come by.; (6) A 7:00 a.m. fire alarm went off on our last day there. Clearly, they had installed an "OUTside volume" alarm on the INside of our room 'cause the thing was so incredibly loud that we had to stuff Kleenex in our ears just to get dressed and go outside. It took over a week for my hearing to return to anything close to normal and it may still be damaged.; and (7) The breakfast was cold, stale, and pretty unappetizing. Don't plan on eating at the hotel. I'll try the Country Inn next time I'm in Grinnell. The Hotel Grinnell in town may be the better bet nearby; too bad it's ridiculously overpriced for small-town Iowa. Otherwise, have a nice stay in Newton or Ankeny!

We stayed in room 224, a room with 2 queen beds and a kitchenette. The kitchen was the size of a 2nd bedroom. The space was excellent. The entire hotel and the rooms need a serious updating and cleaning. Our kitchen was not clean. The back splash on the wall behind the stove was filthy, as was the garbage bin top. The window in this room had been broken and was taped shut with plastic and tape. The bathroom faucet has some white debris if you lift the handle for water. The gentleman who checked us in was very nice. The location is very convenient. But we will not stay here again unless it is updated.

Going between two festivals (Tama Pow Wow and Iowa State Fair) and this was in the middle. Easy check in - great service at front desk - clean, spacious room, comfortable bed, great morning breakfast. could hear the vehicles out on the highway - but other than that - it was quiet and we slept well.

Easy access right off I-80, and less than 5 miles into town for restaurants. Reasonable rates, so we gave it a shot. At check in, clerk pointed out the handy map showing all of the restaurants downtown, and she gave us 3-4 recommendations and explanations of each - very nice. After dinner, when we arrived back at the hotel she also mentioned that severe storms were forecast, and there may be a need to 'muster' in the hallway, to avoid any storm damage (flying glass from broken windows). Fortunately, it was only your 'standard' big midwestern thunderstorm/rain storm - rain did come in our window, since if was wind driven from that direction, but aside from that, no damage. Breakfast was crowded - it's a big place, and the poor guy trying to keep all the various breakfast foods stocked wasn't keeping up. Then the coffee machine broke. He coulda used more help (as many places can, as we travel cross country these days!). Bed was comfy, and all in all, not a bad stop for an overnight while traveling through Iowa.

My spouse and I are avid travelers and have stayed in many Choice Hotels. This was our first (and last) time to stay in Grinnell, IA. The three broken windows we saw from the parking lot did not make us feel positive about the property upon our arrival. When we were assigned to stay in one of these rooms with a broken window, we were even more displeased. Additionally, the mattress and bedding are old, extremely worn out, and of poor quality. The toilet seat was loose, making sitting upon it a bit precarious. We used Choice reward points for our stay. It didn't feel like much of a "reward" for spending our hard-earned dollars with Choice Hotels when we were allocated to a room with a broken window and a bed/bedding that is in poor condition. I cannot recommend this property to my traveling friends and family.

Gentleman at front desk was very friendly at check-in. Very nice room; I liked that it had carpeting (unlike many today) so there was no “echo”. Good breakfast although did not like that their small packets of oatmeal were all filled with sugar: no plain unadulterated oatmeal.