Wingate by Wyndham Bismarck

The guy at the front desk brought me to a replacement room to make sure it was suitable, which I appreciated. The first room was a shock: I arrived late while traveling home, checked in, and found all the lights on, bedding and towels scattered across the floor, and an open case of beer on the floor. I went down and explained that someone might be in there or it hadn't been cleaned. The desk worker couldn't work out why it was occupied or dirty. In the new room, the toilet wouldn't flush, the bathroom walls were dirty, and it seemed like the room hadn't been maintained. The hallways and elevators were dirty too, and the whole place looked poorly kept. I stayed a few years ago when it was clean and nice, but it's gone downhill. I won't stay here again.

The worst part was dealing with the front desk and management after we left early for another hotel because the room and hotel weren't as advertised. We stayed one night and believe they kept the money for our unused last night. They told us and Booking.com that the funds had been authorized for release, while Booking.com said they claimed the reservation was non-refundable. One desk worker said he was talking with a manager on Snapchat and didn't have his number for us to call. My husband saw him texting the manager called Chat, and when he pointed out the lie, the worker got defensive and stopped acting friendly. We gave up on the refund. Trying to sort it out ruined our holiday and the whole month, with nothing resolved. During the night, our room reached 80 degrees and we almost died from the heat. To be fair, we could have asked to move rooms, but we didn't want to call again after already calling about lamps with no bulbs. We had to go downstairs and replace the bulbs ourselves. The fire alarm detector was covered in plastic, and the front entrance smelled like weed every time we were there. If you're going to Bismarck, you'd be better off at Marriott. They're wayyy more professional and don't treat customers disrespectfully. Wingate, we hope you stop scamming people.

We came back after a stay last year that made us really happy, but this visit wasn't the same. The breakfast buffet had half or more of its bins empty or nearly empty on both days, and it took at least 10 minutes for them to refill. The table light and entry light flickered and were weak at times. Front desk staff were almost always nowhere to be seen when we passed by. I think they were behind a partly closed office door.

We were there for a hockey tournament and had a horrible stay. The first room had garbage everywhere, crumbs on the night stand, and a used razor in the bathroom. When I raised it with the front desk worker, he cared more about his face time call than helping. They moved us, but the new room had a pill on the floor, a used towel hanging on the back of the bathroom door, and no sheets for the pullout couch.