Econo Lodge Urbandale, Urbandale

The only good thing about this hotel was that it was cheap. I guess you really do get what you pay for. The room itself was passably clean, but the pictures on the website are very misleading. The toilet was a superlow flow that you had to hold down the handle until the "stuff" was actually going down the hatch. It was difficult to sleep because we could actually here people walking around in the rooms upstairs above us and in the corridors outside our room. The heater seemed to operate on an "on or off" setting so the room was either freezing or boiling. The "continental breakfast" was bagels, cereal, and juice/coffee. The juice had a funny taste like it was close to going rancid and neither the juice or the milk were in any kind of refrigeration, just sitting on the counter in a glass jug. Worst was the customer service. The person at the front desk (who I think was the manager or owner) was rude when we asked for a late checkout because we were running a race and wanted to be able to shower afterward. He reluctantly gave us a noon checkout instead of 11:00. However when we returned to the room at 11:30 after the race our room had already been re-keyed and we couldn't get in. We still had belongings in there! We had to go get the maid to let us in the room, and then we had to go get more towels because there were only 2 for the 4 of us. When my husband went to get towels we were told "You know you only have 20 minutes to shower." To make matters worse there was a potential problem when we got home, in that there was the possibility we had not been checked in on our reservation number. I called to be sure we would not be double charged and the man who answered the phone wouldn't answer my questions, told me I would have to call ABVI directly if I had a problem, and then flat out refused to give me his name or employee number in case there was a problem. All in all, it was a reasonable clean bed to sleep in for the night, but there are many other better budget hotels in the Des Moines area and this one is definately not worth what we paid for it.

This place was old, worn, needed updating and a good cleaning. The place was skimpy on towels and washcloths (and I was questioned by the guy at the front desk as to why I asked for extra towels and washcloths). Had to request extra washcloths as there was one washcloth for 3 people. Toilets seemed ultra low flow,the shower head dripped half the water instead of spraying it out, and the light above the sink did not work and I think I saw a french fry from a previous occupant under the desk. I would not recommend this place as there are many budget hotels in the Des Moines area that are much nicer. Additionally, the pool is an outdoor pool- and from the looks of the rest of the hotel I don't know how good it would be.