Clarion Hotel Highlander Conference Center, Iowa City

The pool was the only decent part of this hotel. The whole place smelled like mold and cigarettes and was dark and dirty looking. Our room was disgusting. It is very overpriced for such an outdated hotel. The carpet was dirty and the linens were dingy and dirty looking did not smell fresh. The ceiling in the bathroom was all moldy and they had duct taped the ceiling door to the water pipes because it kept falling down. The duct tape had worn off though and this kept popping open making it hard to stand in the shower. The room was very dark like the whole hotel was and just smelled!! STaff was very friendly though.

Although the place needs a face lift (and is going to get a $250,000 makeover soon) there's not anything wrong with this hotel. The rooms are spacious, the beds are comfortable, there are lots of pillows (of more than one type, so you can find the one you like), and the bedding and towels were spotless. The door to the bathroom had some fingerprints on it , but other than that I can't fault the housekeeping. The bathroom fixtures are oler, bu were clean and worked fine. Without being asked, the gal at the desk offered at check-in to move us to a room not adjacent to the pool since there were several pool parties going on, which showed initiative on the staff's part to make guests happy. I didn't use the pool, so I can't give a review of it, but what I saw through the pool windows looked big and nice. I did hear the hot tub was broken. Hope they fix that when they remodel. The breakfast was heavy on carbs, but there were lots of choices including waffles and biscuits and gravy. There were eggs, yogurt, and fruit juices available, but no fresh fruit. The TV reception was a tad fuzzy, but that's not a big issue to me. I am very sensitive to cigarette smoke and smell and I did not notice any in our room or corridor. Cosmetically, it needs improvement, but for the price we paid on Hotwire, it was well worth it. I notice a lot of the bad reviews are from quite a while ago. I think they've improved since then and will only get better with the planned remodel/update.

This hotel was smelly and dirty. The pool room was humid and the floor was always wet (could fall) all the walls were moldy in the pool room! The rooms were smelly and dirty and the smoke dector kept beeping because the battries were dead in it!!! i will NEVER stay here every again!!!!!

We used to stay in this hotel years ago and it was great. Stayed over the Labor Day weekend and it was not so good. The room was old and drab, the door to the indoor pool was broken at the jam and had to force open. The indoor pool area is very humid. The breakfast buffet was very good with lot's of options but that did not over ride the nasty old room.

Avoid this place. It was very dirty. The first floor hallways smelled stale and like smoke. The staircase up to the second floor was dirty, stained, and threadbare. The suite we had rented had not been cleaned well, if at all. Carpet dirty, stained. Couch had torn cushions. Couch and chair in suite had paint stains on them. Layer of dust on top of minifridge (frost so thick in freezer we couldn't even use). The bathroom floor was dirty and hair was on shower wall. The pull out couch had soiled linens on it and the mattress was absolutely horrible...thin, lumpy and every spring was felt. The hotel is conveniently located close to I-80, so be prepared for a lot of traffic noise. I would NEVER stay here again.

We enjoyed the continental breakfast. The rooms were decently clean although we got a handicapped room which made bathing less than enjoyable (water on the floor). We ran out of towels and kleenex. I believe the indoor pool makes the hotel very humid and smells of clorine and possibly became ill on mold in a stay two years ago at thanksgiving. I would not have stayed here again except for the flooding and having to change plans. The woman at the front desk made the stay extremely unpleasant. We stayed at a different hotel our third night because she could not extend our stay in our room, could not confirm another room in a timely manner, and we were told the rate would be increased. This woman was rude when we checked in, appearing to have difficulty talking on the telephone and greeting a guest. She was overwhelmed by her job, and unable to answer inquiries. Besides being slow, incompetent - she was rude. Our experience with the woman at the front desk on 6/27 -6/28 would make us think long and hard about staying at the quality again. We live In California and come to Iowa City yearly to visit our relatives so this woman has cost you at least on regular guest.

We had reserved a room for a project install that we had booked. Due to a late schedule change, we did not need to send the engineer to Iowa City. However, we unfortunately booked on a football weekend, and were told that we could not cancel the reservation. The clerk was rude and transferred me to the manager, who did not return my call. I will recommend that all my clients go to the Marriott from now on and bypass this rude establishment.

Haven't actually stayed there yet. Attempted to make a reservation at a block rate for a funeral and after being told there were no rooms, then asked to hold, the clerk came back on the phone and asked me to call back later because he was busy.

This hotel used to be good 20 years ago. It is now a very dated hotel. I will never stay at this hotel again. My wife and 2 young kids just had an awful experience. We rented a suitte hoping to enjoy a weekend in Iowa City. The room next to ours was filled with teenagers who had a huge party in their room. They kept slamming their door every 20 seconds and were very loud.I notified management at 12:30 A:M, but the party continued until 3:00 A:M. Next day, the manager said they can`t do anything if someone wants to have a party. He didn`t even offer a discount or apology. From now on I will stay at the brand new beautiful Marriott in Coralville!!!

this quality inn was very dirty...even when asked to clean again, the cleaning staff is unable to find things around the bed, ie., soda bottles, from previous customers. the cleaning staff i encountered were unable to understand english. the restaurant food was awful and cold and took longer than necessary to prepare. it was not a good experience.