Comfort Inn Ankeny

Visited Des Moines area for wedding. Local hotels all seem overpriced for the value, but went with a newer hotel in Ankeny, hoping that new would equate with clean and safe. Hotel is close to I-35, so that was convenient. Hotel didn't have enough parking, so had to park in another hotel's parking lot two nights in a row. The only nearby restaurant closes fairly early and although there are others within walking distance, you have to walk along the shoulder of a highway and over I-35 to get to them. The Hotel hallway smelled like an Indian restaurant. Not a bad scent at a buffet, but not what you want in a hotel. The hotel room was air conditioned with a window/wall unit, but even though the room was cold, it was exceptionally humid. It felt like being at the ocean. The room smelled musty and damp. The carpet felt moist when you walked on it with bare feet. The bathroom fan appeared functional, so the source of the damp remained a mystery. We opened a window (with a cracked pane) to let the damp and the smell out. Didn't exactly help, but we could really hear the highway then. Although there is a pretty pond with waterfowl outside, it was not exactly serene. On our last day, the maids took our used towels that we had hanging up to dry, but didn't replace them with clean ones. Also, the toilet had very low water pressure, even though the sinks and the showers seemed normal. There was mildew in the caulking of the shower as well. The furnishings of the room were bland, well-used, and the bed cover was one of those itchy, polyester floral abominations. The shower curtain was a sticky vinyl. The towels were so used, that in parts they were thread-bare and had strings pulling out of the hems. On the second day, our door keys stopped working so we had to get replacements. Also, when you latched the door, it appeared to be locked, but you could still push the door in to open it. To lock the door, you had to really pull hard with your body weight. Twice, we discovered that our room had not actually been locked while we were away. Also, the space under the door is so large, that the light seeping in from the hallway brightens up the room at night.

Good location for us while visiting family. Saw a couple of dogs so must be pet friendly. We sometimes travel with our pets so that is good to know. Nice and clean.

Hotel was OK. Nothing special, but nothing too bad. Didn't like that when I got there around 1, after a 4 hour motorcycle ride, and I couldn't get in early. The parking lot was completely empty, so I figured I would be able to get in, but they said they didn't have any rooms ready yet. Hmmmm.... 2 hours after 'checkout' time and they didn't have a room? Rooms are decent. Nothing too amazing. AC worked great! Breakfast was average. Nothing special, but not too bad.