Des Moines Marriott Downtown

Overated! We stayed on the 28^th floor and had a beautiful view of a construction site. The air conditioner was extremely loud and woke me up several times during the night when it turned on. There was no soap dish in the bathroom shower and very little water preasure. My parents stayed in the room next door and had issues of their own. The worst of which was the night their lock stopped working and they were locked out of the room. It took over an hour for someone to finally replace the locking mechanism so that they could get in. But the rooms alone weren’t the only problem.
The pool downstairs was beautiful but their was no clock anywhere to help keep track of time. Also, the towels provided weren’t large enough to wrap around my three year old when he got out. Cold three year olds are no fun. Next time we are definetly staying at the Embassy Suites!

Great overall atmosphere
Unfortunately the breakfast wasn’t complimentary. Maybe this is a Marriott standard-I’m not sure.
Great vibe overall. I like the layout and the location within Des Moines. Staff (including the shuttle driver) were noticeably great

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the Des Moines Marriott. Nice, open lobby with a great bar. The desk staff was very nice and check-​in was seamless. My room was a pretty standard Marriott room (which is why I am a Marriott loyalist — consistency and service). Breakfast at the restaurant was also good, but the concierge lounge lacked a bit of what I would like to see (hence why I had to do breakfast in the restaurant).
Late night in the lobby bar was also pretty good with reasonably priced drinks and a decent vibe. All around, a good experience as I’ve come to expect from Marriott flagged properties.

An outsider would not expect a lot of happening things going on in this Midwestern town, but thats just not true. (Des Moines was recently voted one of the new hippest towns, seems the high-​tech industry is relocating many from So-​Cal) In the center of it all in downtown is the Marriott.
You wouldn’t expect a chain to be hip, but the set up is nice and designed to let people intermingle in the lobby. Nice bar, nice seating and no $ 20.00 martinis!
Rooms here are nice and pretty standard for a Marriott. There is also a nice little market in the lobby with pastries, beverages, sandwiches and such.
While I have a feeling this hotel has been remodeled it is spotless. Staff are super friendly and accommodating. If you’re looking for a great central location… this is it.

Decent Marriott property. Nothing fancy, nothing wrong with it. The staff in the concierge lounge were very friendly. One complaint, I called down for my car this morning and was told that the valet area was «congested» and that it would be easier if I’d just come down with claim ticket. Don’t think I’ve ever heard that at a hotel before.
Two guys working the valet stand, there should have been 3 at least. Had to wait 15 minutes for my car, which is what i was trying to avoid when I called down for it.

Da wife and I wanted to get away for a 4-​day weekend for our anniversary. So we came to scenic Des Moines. How boring does that get? But in fact the riverwalk, botanical gardens, sculpture gardens, downtown bars and restaurants, the capitol, the nearby John Wayne museum and covered bridges, made it a fantastic trip.
The Marriott was the icing. It’s a very nice place. I used points. We were on the 26^th floor, with a great view, and access to the concierge lounge. Our room was large, clean, and quiet. The valets, front desk, wait staff, EVERYBODY was very friendly and helpful with directions, suggestions, and basic functions. The young lady in charge of the member lounge on Sunday night was fantastic. We got there a little late for the food, but she rolled it back out for us anyway, and chatted with us.
Since the lounge is closed for most of the weekend, they comped us with breakfast. Their buffet was good.
Wi-​fi was very good. Not used to that in most of my business hotels.
One of the bellmen, I *think* his name was Loren (sp?), was especially helpful. I tried tracking him down before we left for home, but was unable. He arranged for a surprise tray of chocolate and champagne on our last night, and he gave us a GREAT suggestion for a scenic route to nearby Winterset that was off the highway, through hills and farms.
This was one of our best non-​Hawaii anniversary trips ever, and the staff at the Marriott made it all the better. Thumbs up to Loren, and the rest of the crew there. This is why I’m a Marriott guy for business and personal travel.

This is the worst hotel I have ever stayed at. I was here regretfully on business and while the rooms were clean they let just about anyone stay here including drunk barley legal children. At 2:30am I went downstairs to the love lobby to complain about the noise and Hung, the ‘manager’ on duty threatened to call the cops on me if I didn’t stop complaining. He also allowed and played into a young guy completely sexual harassing me for having the nerve to complain as a woman. After a 16 hr work day with your only 4 hrs of sleep being disturbed– that is not what you need to here. Clearly this hotel does not care about maintaining any level of decent clientele or respect. Hung — the night time ‘manager’ a term I use very loosely– runs this place more like a brothel or cheap motel. With two hours to go until I need to be awake for work and still dealing persistent party noise, I would rather sleep in my car than deal with the awful service and disgusting clientele at this place. Hung should be fired. He is rude and sexist. Security guard bill is the only one who made me feel like my complaint was heard. I will continue to post and fight about this insanely horrible ordeal at this hotel and will update as appropriate. I believe they should reimburse me considering the guests they chose to protect would not allow for any peace. I have visited almost every state in our nation and I would say this hotel is the worst/​has the worst service out of any in the U.S. Total waste.

Great location. Concierge lounge is awesome. They had made to order steak and pork with vegetables for dinner. Clean and friendly.

We loved this hotel! Great customer service and very friendly. Lounge area is super comfy and good vegetarian choices. Shuttle service will take you anywhere and pick you up for a tip. Bed was excellent, best sleep I’ve had in a hotel. Valet parking in underground lot for $ 21.

Hotel is pretty fancy. Love that the pool is open late.
Check in was a bit of a nightmare since I was double charged and they couldn’t figure it out. I got a bit upset but did apologize once it was taken care of but it was something so simple it could’ve been handled better.
The room was mostly clean but there were beer bottle Caps on the ground and we didn’t drink any beer and what looked like blood on the shower curtain, yikes!
Overall it wasn’t bad and I’ll prolly stay again, only if my card gets refunded on time.

I’m giving two stars simply because the staff was very friendly. The hotel rooms within look like a two star hotels, very simple looking with nothing special inside. The bed was uncomfortable to day the least and the pillows slowly push to the side of your head till you are basically laying on nothing. They charge for parking, Internet, breakfast, I’m honestly surprised there isn’t a quarter slot next to the toilet so they can change per flush.
This hotel seems to think it’s in a prime location with the price they charge for a room but reality is the skywalk just walks you past an endless stream of closed businesses. I’d you have lots of money and enjoy overpaying for things then come on down and be disappointed, otherwise I’d say keep looking. This is not Los Angeles and a 3 and a half star hotel should not be 250 dollars a night.

I love this hotel. It is in the heart of downtown and only half a block from the festival we attended. While the website says parking is $ 20 per day the hotel staff was nice Enough to direct us to a free parking lot conveniently across the street. The interior is very contemporary with a bar and lounge area to relax in. There is a Starbucks and convenience area with a wide selection inside as well. The hotel staff are upbeat and friendly. The rooms are spacious, clean, with all of the necessary amenities with a great view of the city. We were able to get pizza delivered right to our room from the Dominoes down the street and the hotel staff was very helpful getting us phone numbers for places. My only complaint is we couldn’t get our AAA discount as it was blocked that weekend. There is also not a complimentary breakfast.

A solid Marriott which serves its purposes. Centrally located in downtown Des Moines. Clean, comfortable, good service. Unsurprisingly, a little dated.

The hotel is pretty decent… I was here for 4 days 2 weeks ago.
The restaurant in the lobby is good with some great vegetarian options, we ordered a veg nachos, veg flatbread pizza and soup and cheese sticks… Everything was very good.
The Starbucks in the lobby is really bad though… It was the worst chai tea latte I ever had, clearly they are not trained but I must say the guy was trying hard.

The hotel itself is great: rooms are nicely sized, beds are great, and bathrooms are spacious; it’s also renovated and kept up nicely. But for the love of your wallet, stay away from the hotel bar (unless your company is footing the bill.) Absolutely outlandish prices on the most despicably unrefined wine list I have ever seen in my entire life. The beer selection is awful too, and the service is extremely shotty.

Much larger than anticipated! Very nice and fresh Marriott with a nice lobby. The front desk was a. It slow to check me in, but other than that, no complaints.
The bar in the lobby is small, but gets the job done. You can eat at the bar and the bartender was friendly in letting me sample a couple of the beers. They have s few local beers on tap, which is great for the traveler like myself. I always like to try to local flavors.
The room was a typical marriott room. Clean but not overly huge. The bathrooms in particular are small and cramped. Fine for me by myself, but it would be a pain for 2 people staying together.

I just stayed here for a few days for a work conference.
Pros: The room was nice & clean! Front desk, waitstaff (in the City Center Bar), and housekeepers were very nice and friendly! Good location – walking distance to restaurants and convention center. Shuttle service to airport and nearby places!
Cons: No free wi-​fi. Food at City Center was nothing exciting (but drinks were good).
If I ever have to go back to Des Moines, I would consider staying here again!

Several things sticking in my craw regarding yesterday’s stay here.
1) Pulled in to check in and was told the options for parking were valet at $ 21 (yes, $ 21 in Des Moines) or we could park free across the street. We chose the latter which took all of 3 minutes.
2) You have to pay something like $ 10 per 24 hours to get Wi-​Fi in your room. Please… it’s 2014, not 1996. Not providing Wi-​Fi is like not giving guests soap for their shower. Guests *need* and *expect* it without having to pay. I opted for not paying it and spent more time in the lobby where it’s free.
3) $ 26 for two glasses of wine. Options for pours are 3, 6, and 9 ounce pours. Rarely see that. Oh, and those bottles, I’m a wine snob and they’re $ 10 retail bottles, meaning Marriott paid probably $ 6. I get the profit need, but ouch.
Note to cleaning staff: please set the shower knob to bathtub from shower. That blast of unexpected ice cold water on one’s body early a.m. is not a pleasant lasting memory.
Hotel and room clean, help pleasant, but at $ 239 for a night I’m feeling like I’m being charged New York rates. This ain’t New York. Convenient location, plenty of good dining spots within a few blocks. Not a bad place to stay but I’ll look elsewhere next time.

A lovely Marriott in the heart of the Capitol of Iowa.
This is an updated Marriott property and the staff has been great, as you would expect from this family of hotels.
We had a company meeting for two days and they really took care of us. We went to their «River Rock» tavern for lunch, and everybody who had it really liked the Pasta Buffet. I had a pulled pork sandwich that was delicious.
Of course, the Marriott beds are heavenly to sleep on, but if you are allergic to down, make sure to request a «feather-​free» room (and accept my condolences because you’re missing out on something special!)
If you are at least «gold» elite with Marriott, the lounge on the mezzanine level is quite nice and the ladies who staff it were both friendly and attentive. If you’re NOT an elite member, know this: the Marriott program is worth belonging to, if you travel a lot. There are other programs who cater to occasional travelers, but for those of us who spend a lot of time on the road (we’re talking 50+ nights a year) the Elite program is pretty sweet. Regardless, the staff at all levels of the Marriott family are exceptional. Treat them as you would be treated (hey, I think I read that in a famous book somewhere!) and you will feel the love!
To paraphrase my (ex-)Governor, «I’ll be back!»

The hotel seems to be in a good area surrounded by a lot of food choices. It’s also attached to the sky walkways all through downtown so you’ll never have to walk outside in the frigid cold if you don’t want to!
I was staying there during the state wrestling tournament, and they successfully kept the loud wrestlers to their own floors so other guests weren’t disturbed. They also did a good job with security. There were cops and extra security at entrances so only hotel guests were allowed in.
The amenities in the guest rooms at this hotel are very nice as well. I have always thought that I need to carry a little squeeze bottle of hand soap to use at hotels because it is such a waste to use a whole bar of soap to wash your hands with just a couple of times. My room had a small squeeze bottle of handsoap in it and a bar soap for the shower. No more wasted bars of hand soap! Ingenious!