Aloft by Marriott Waukee

The rooms were spectacular and the property was immaculately clean, but the service made the low rate make sense. There were only employee cars in the lot when I arrived, and the hotel seemed nearly empty. The front desk acted like it could never be wrong and showed little basic customer service skill. When the booking platform tried to reach the GM about an issue with staff knowledge, she ignored the calls. Thankfully, the platform support team was excellent. Their help earned me a $10 Starbucks card and a $55 credit toward future bookings. It seems like mostly travelers stay here, and locals may know better.

I booked a king room and was moved to a double queen. The rooms are tiny, and when I put my bottled water in the fridge, I found leftovers from Steak and shake still inside. This wasn't clean-room-award material.

The downstairs gathering space was nice, with pool and plenty of tables and chairs for visiting. Just know that when the bar is open, bringing your own drinks down is a definite no. The pool itself is very small. The room setup is the bigger issue with kids. The shower sits outside the bathroom and has no privacy. A partial, artsy divider separates it from the sleeping area, but it barely blocks the light. There's also a full-length mirror positioned so people in the bedroom can see you naked when you step out. The toilet's two sliding doors still leave about a half-inch gap, which could bother anyone who needs privacy. It's clean, has a bar, and is close to a lot of places, so it might suit a single person or a couple. I wouldn't stay here with our basketball team again for the state tournament.

We checked out Sunday with our bills paid and no further trouble, then got a review request Tuesday. After we posted a negative review, ALLIE FICK emailed to say we weren't welcome at the hotel anymore. That feels like retaliation. We contacted Mr. Capuano, the CEO, about it, and it's sickening to see people act this way when they think they have power. The way the night staff handled problems was a major part of our complaint. The bartender on Saturday February 21st called her manager on FaceTime, then brought the phone to someone in our group and said, “talk.” Nobody in our group argued with either woman, but we were singled out over alcohol while other guests had their own drinks in the lobby. One table had four men with an open bourbon bottle right in the bartender's view, and they weren't approached. Only after we pointed this out did staff speak to them. Our kids joined other kids in the building playing ding dong ditch around 8-9pm during a basketball tournament. Staff spoke to us rudely about it, but we corrected our kids and dealt with it. Then one parent picked up her unopened case of beer to take to her room, and we were confronted again. ALLIE FICK followed her toward the elevator and harassed her over it. There have been multiple negative reviews about the night shift, and this was our experience too. There's a way to deal with conflict without making it worse. Tone, body language, and how you approach people matter. If the situation had been handled differently, nobody in our group would feel this way. The repeated complaints suggest the night staff need proper etiquette training.