Sonesta Essential - Rapid City

The staff offers exceptional, friendly service and accommodates pets. Guests appreciate the clean, comfortable rooms with very comfortable mattresses.

Very happy to have spent a weekend relaxing and gathering strength while the weather was crazy hot. There is a laundry room that allowed me to use the down-time effectively. Close to many restaurants and Walmart. I slept very well, which is not common for me.

We stayed one night at the Sonesta Essential as we were passing thru Rapid City. It was cheap and convenient. It was an older hotel that has been bought out and been remodeled or is in the process of being remodeled. For example, you could tell that the lobby has been redone and in our room the carpeting and the tile were both new. However, the tub and fixtures were old and chipped and there were paint splatters. Check-in was easy and the clerk was friendly. Our room was clean although the entrance to the stairs looked like it had not been vacuumed for months. Our room had a comfortable king bed with good pillows. The shower had decent water pressure and a curved shower bar; however, we didn't have much in the way of hot water until around 8 am. We first tried to shower around 7:30 am. There was no soap, shampoo, conditioner, nor lotion in the room. I went to the front desk to ask for soap, the clerk indicated he didn't have a key to the supplies and the cleaning staff were not there at that time, but he found a couple of mini soaps. I also asked him where the ice machine was, and he indicated it was out of order. I enjoyed the free breakfast. The biscuits and gravy were great although I took the last biscuit and scraped out the end of the gravy. We had to pillage thru the cupboards looking for forks. There was a guy staffing the breakfast, but he seemed a little overwhelmed. For the price this was a decent place to stay, but it definitely needs more improvements.