Detailed review by LovesTravel
The Holiday Inn Conference Center in Ames, Iowa is another of those hotels where I stayed while on long-term assignment during my life as an independent contractor. The booking was arranged by my customer, and I must say that I did not anticipate it with great joy. Holiday Inn is rarely my first choice for an accommodation. In this case, however, it was a very pleasant choice, indeed.
At the time, nearby Iowa State University worked in conjunction with Holiday Inn to offer practical on-the-training to students in selected business disciplines. The result was a young, highly-motivated, highly-responsive staff--and a staff where everyone spoke perfect English. I have seldom had a more pleasant hotel stay. I don't know if this cooperation between Holiday Inn and ISU has continued (I stayed there over 15 years ago), but if it hasn't, it should. The Holiday Inn Conference Center in Ames represents one of my few fond memories of the chain. Service was excellent, and I never saw anything that wasn't clean and sparkling.
As a conference center, the Holiday Inn was well laid out with pleasant meeting rooms. I live in the Washington DC area, so to my eyes it appeared too small to serve in such a role. On the other hand, Ames is not Washington, and for the size of the community, it was probably fine.
My room was a refuge from and for work. It was always clean. Housekeeping always managed to do its thing while I was occupied elsewhere. Everything worked, and the bed was new and comfortable. It's hard to ask for more. These were the days before Wi-Fi, but I had a good desk where I spent a great deal of time, and the phone system accommodated dial-up to my network quite handily.
I don't recall eating in the restaurant, though I probably did. So in this case the lack of a memory is likely a good indication of reasonable quality and service. I tend to remember the very good and the very bad.
I never returned to Ames after the end of that assignment, but if I ever should, I'll check out the Holiday Inn to see if its present lives up to my memories.
Holiday Inn Ames Conference Center - ISU9
