Econo Lodge Rapid City

The place could have been tidied up more, but we understood they were remodeling while we were there. The female front desk agent was friendly and patient as we figured out the deposit. We've never had problems with anyone here at Econo Lodge. Staff have always worked with us during our stays. A couple of times we didn't have the money right away at checkout to renew the room with a new reservation, but they let us go out and DoorDash to make it. They never kicked us out or hassled us, which made things much easier and less stressful.

Construction hadn't been disclosed, and the banging and drilling continued until 6 p.m. There were bad smells, often like weed, and the place wasn't well kept or in the condition advertised. The water slide and hot tub were broken. We were very disappointed when we arrived and wouldn't recommend staying here.

Nightmare. When we got to Econo Lodge, the lobby door was taped shut and a truck blocked the check-in stall. I couldn't reach customer service, and the place looked deserted with hardly any cars. A sign said check in three doors down on the left, but there was no building to the left, only to the right. Eventually I found an open door. The woman alone at the desk understood hardly any English. After my brother-in-law and I tried to explain we had a reservation, we got a key to a third-floor room. The building was trashed and dirty, the elevator felt unsafe, and renovation was clearly underway. The room was occupied by other guests. We went back to explain. Another man arrived, spoke some English, and helped the desk woman get us a different room. The water was shut off there, but he helped get it running again. We went to eat at a nearby business. When we returned around 6 p.m. and came in with our key through a side door, we were hit by a strong marijuana smell. The stairwell was filthy, and the smell was still strong in our third-floor room. We tried to air it out with the fan and settled in. We couldn't sleep because of loud noises. Around 3 a.m. I went to my car for something and saw a white truck with its parking lights on and several people inside. I think they were employees working on the renovation. The windows were down and there was a strong marijuana smell coming from the truck. That morning, my brother-in-law, who has cancer and poor health, and I left this motel in South Dakota behind and won't return. Everyone we dealt with was nice, but no one we spoke to could speak good English. One man said he was Colombia. Something very hinky is going on here. Don’t GO.

The hotel charged me an extra $100 more than the price shown on its website. It was under construction, with the indoor pool and no breakfast. If you have small children, you'd be better off going somewhere else. They were still doing construction after 6 p.m. at the end of the work week, so there was no peace and quiet.