Sioux City Inn

My husband was working out of town and ended up at this hotel after his reservation at another place was given away. It was the only nearby option for his job. My two children and I drove in from out of state on Thursday night to visit for his birthday and Father's Day. From the start, something felt off. A large family, maybe 10-15 people and possibly Hispanic, seemed to live there. Men kept roaming the halls, sitting on stairs, and partying in the gated area visible to the right of the picture. We stayed Thursday and Friday nights. On Saturday after my husband left for work, one of the men tapped on our door. I thought he might work for management or housekeeping, so I opened it. He just laughed. I shut the door and tried to go back to bed, but he returned with another man. When I opened the door to see what they wanted, they didn't address me and spoke to each other in Spanish, which I couldn't understand. They stepped toward me, and one tried to pet my dog while I was holding her so she wouldn't run out. I shut the door, said “no thank you,” and locked the deadbolt and latch. A few minutes later the first man was still there, tapping. I tried calling and texting my husband, who was at work and didn't answer. I wasn't sure whether to call the police because maybe they were just being stupid. Then the man sat outside our room and watched under the door to see if I came to it. I covered the gap with a towel, called my husband again, and texted that I'd have to call the cops if he didn't answer. When I looked through the peephole, the man had his ear against the door, was tapping and saying “please help me,” and started shaking the handle as if trying to open it. My husband called back, told me to call the cops, and headed over. I called, and when he arrived he got us out of the hotel and into my car. On the way, another man stopped us and said they'd sent those men home after seeing them on camera. The “manager” claimed it was his drunk uncle, which I don't believe. They seemed young to me, but that wasn't the point. My husband went in to talk to the staff while I drove up the road to wait for police. They took my details and went to the lobby. Everyone had disappeared except one person, who we were told was the owner's son. When an officer spoke to him, he suddenly said he didn't speak English, even though he'd talked with my husband just five minutes earlier. My husband came back with our things and we left. The police stayed behind to do their job, I guess. I truly believe something terrible could have happened if those men had gotten into the room, whether they hurt us, took us, or trafficked us. Please stay away from this place.

The bed was very comfortable, the room was clean, and everything worked. We slept peacefully and well. I left a message asking about early check-in, but when we arrived there was nobody at the desk. A woman on her phone was sitting on a lobby couch. She said he'd be right back, so I waited by the desk for a bit, then sat down. She told me she'd already been waiting 45 minutes for him to return and check whether her room was ready. He eventually came back and apologized, explaining that he'd been cleaning rooms after a busy weekend. It was about 1 p.m. He asked us to give him a couple minutes, checked us in, and said he'd see if we could get into a room. About 25 minutes later, he came back with one ready. Check-in was at 3, so getting in around 1:45 made me happy, especially since it was hot that day. The next morning around 10, the same manager knocked and told me it was checkout time and I had to leave right then. His tone and body language weren't nice. I was alone in the room while my boyfriend took our luggage to the car. When he came back to see if I was coming, another man on his phone in the lobby told him we needed to leave immediately too. I don't know what that was about, but we won't stay there again.

The front desk woman who handles bookings is great. My room was reasonably clean, with fresh bedding and no bugs, though the carpet was dirty with debris the vacuum had missed. The non-smoking sticker on the door didn't mean much, the room smelled strongly of smoke. I had an early airport flight and didn't go back to ask for a genuinely non-smoking room. So be warned, yours may have been smoked in too. The furniture is aging, the TV picture shakes a bit, and the bed was average, neither especially comfortable nor the worst I've slept in. I can't comment on breakfast because I have to reach the airport long before it starts. It's an okay place to sleep during a trip, but I wouldn't recommend staying for long.

The new owners, Alex and his wife, were mean and disrespectful. At checkout they accused me of leaving the room full of trash, something I expected because I think they're shady. I recorded the way I left the room and how nasty they were when I returned the keys. When I first arrived, the owner was named yuogi. The rooms were so filthy I had to bleach them from top to bottom and clean the carpets. I only stayed because of my budget and car problems. Alex took over around the first week. Water from the AC above caused my ceiling to fold in, which meant it must have been damaging the upstairs flooring too. I think the ceiling could cave in one day. I recorded it and got Alex's attention. I told him to fix it before something bad happened, but he still hadn't done anything when I checked. I actually left last night and dropped off the keys today. I can send anyone the videos before they check in. My advice is to avoid the place. I'll contact the fire and health departments. They also require your debit card PIN when you pay, which is illegal. I recorded Alex saying the law doesn't apply to him and that it's my problem. If you decide to stay, record every interaction, in case they charge your card for damage. I expect them to do that, and I have recordings. Keep evidence in case you need to sue in court.