Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport/Conf Center

The ladies at the front desk were exceptional! They provided excellent customer service, were accommodating and very welcoming! We will be staying there again.

Nicest room I've ever stayed in

My family and I decided to go to this hotel for their New Year’s Eve event. We had teenagers and we were looking for something to them to do that did not involve alcohol. The hotel offered a New Year’s Eve package, which included a room for six, Swimming, DJ, Balloon drop, Party favors , and breakfast. Now we have stayed in this hotel before Covid and they’ve had formal dinners and events. And I’m not complaining about the event itself. I just am a little bit disappointed in the response of the staff when I ask questions about this event so I gotta understanding of what I was paying for. If you’re looking for a hotel where you could bring all your own food and you could stay in your poolside room with the adults and let the kids run around The middle of the concourse this is the hotel for you. That is not what I expected. I expected to find a nice restaurant that we could dine in where you could actually talk to each other, Have some fun Swimming and dancing with the DJ. But what I saw was small kids running wild with food station set up all over the pool area And parents in their rooms drinking and watching football. When I asked about the restaurant that they had on their website, what I found was it’s more like a snack station. On this night, they offered only six items and the room smelled like old grease when I walked in That offered only six food options. We have a vegetarian and there was nothing on that menu for a vegetarian. I was told that there would be dinner provided which I was surprised by but when I got there, it wasn’t and that’s OK because there’s nothing in that snack station I would want to eat. I was told there was a breakfast buffet the next morning and what I found was that same snack station offered you a plate with a scoop of eggs, Two sausages and two pancakes. Which was enough and I’m not complaining, but that is not a buffet which Was not what was explained to me. There was also a lot of rules and these wristbands apparently there was a very big concern that people Would want to sneak into this event. I am not really sure why. I’m not sure if there were problems in the past with this event. I was very thankful that there was plenty of security. But according to other customers, This event was smaller than it’s been in the past and it was shut down earlier than it had been in the past. I’m not writing this review to be complaining. I’m writing this review so people can be informed about what the hotel offers and what you could expect when you go there. I clearly had other expectations and other memories of this hotel, but somewhere in the renovation I think their focus had changed from fine dining and fine events to family oriented functions. Overall, it worked out and we were mildly satisfied with what we had. We received a party favors, Got to swim in the pool, The DJ was marginal, The beds were nice, However, I’m not sure how you would sleep six and two queen size beds. The breakfast was filling, even though it was misrepresented. If I had young children and I wanted to bring everything myself, this would be something I would do again. But I’m to the age that when I go to a hotel, I wanna be pampered and I’m glad that there are venues that would allow families who may be cash-strapped to have a good time also.