Stayed at the Gateway Hotel for the NLCC the first week of November. The conference was also held at the hotel. As a note, the conference area is under construction but they did a nice job of making sure it didn't impact us (besides s set of closed restrooms). The room was an average hotel room - typical 3 stars. My only complaint was the heating/air in the room. My first night it was too cold in the room but not enough for the heater to be turned on. So I turned the system off only to have another duct to continue to blow freezing air. There is not much around but the on site restaurant (especially if you shuttled in and no access to a car). I wrote a separate review but it was not the best in my opinion. read more

Love, love, love this hotel. We stayed a night last summer visiting my mom and spent 4 nights this summer. Great prices and great rooms. Very clean hotel and fantastic customer service. If you are an Iowa State fan you will love this place as they have Iowa State stuff all over. Pictures of campus and athletics. Will definitely be staying here again next time. Didn't have time to try the Iowa Stater but we will next time we are back. Indoor pool is great. read more

Left my apple watch in my room, staff member Meghan went above and beyond helping me look from on the phone! She ended up finding it and was so helpful. The stay was nice aswell. read more

Nice Hotel however BS scam online w/ Hotels.com. Book 2 double queen rooms w/ taxes for $494.96. Call and make sure it's the correct price and they will tell you to BOOK IT. When you show up they will refund you because they don't have the rooms. Then offer you 2 Double Queen rooms (same exact booking) but for $800+. When you try to have them (multiple employees) explain that they end up just hanging up on you after about 5m of discussing the false advertisement. BRUTAL CUSTOMER SERVICE...... my 1st review ever written cuz normally idc about anything, but when customer service is that bad it had to be mentioned. BOOK WITH CAUTION ONLINE!! Q read more

Customer service was very poor. Would not let us cancel our reservation and were rude about it. They did not let us know the 3 week cancelation policy. Game day the price is $365 per night. A normal weekend it's 119.00. Breakfast not included. Check other hotels huge price difference. I understand about upping a price but that is price gouging. read more

I know the location is convenient however this hotel is trash. While moving our daughter in over the weekend we had to lift up the toilet and press the pump down to flush, the comforters were filthy, shower pressure was low and cold, and the tv randomly stopped working. When I tell you we will NEVER stay here, I mean it. All of this and we were offered two breakfast vouchers. If I could give zero stars I would but I had to rate in order to write the review. Run!!!! Don't walk!! Find somewhere else to stay. read more

Built in 1978, the hotel has the poured concrete gray look. Don't think that is all you will see. The interior is brightly decorated with photos from the university, warm, welcoming, fun. On my recent visit I was there for a convention. Space was adequate for the large group. The evening banquet was preceded by a social with bar and appetizer stations. Four stations offered something different at each, tasty finger food and veggies. The banquet included soup, salad, and pork medallions with mashed potatoes and broccoli. All was tasty. The hotel was in good repair, except for some carpet in need of replacement in the sleeping room hall at one location. Tape provided a temporary fix. My sleeping room, a king, was roomy and comfortable and in good repair. The bath was generous in size and bright. On a previous visit we had dinner at The Iowa Stater. The bar and restaurant are warm and welcoming; watch for free appetizers at the bar. Good food. Visiting Ames or Iowa State? Consider a stay here. read more

Gateway Hotel & Conference Center - King room, 206. - Hotels Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Clean hotel. But decor is a little tired. Beds are very uncomfortable. Staff was nice. read more

We were visiting Ames for a funeral and had several families in our group staying at this hotel. Multiple issues with reservations between our families including telling us the rooms we had reserved weren't available and requiring some families to add extra rooms. Some families with 3-4 people had to either share one king bed or add an extra room and pay for it because the rooms with 2 queens we had reserved several weeks ago were suddenly unavailable at checkin. One of the families in our group had a $60 restaurant charge on their room for a meal that they had not purchased. The front desk staff was rude and incompetent. We have never been so frustrated with a hotel. Look somewhere else if you are visiting Ames! read more

Hotel Overall 5 Stars Cleanliness 5 Decor 4 Bathrooms 5 Towels 5 Bed comfort -firm Bedsheets/comforters 4 Breakfast 5 Refrigerator yes Microwave no Easy access 5 Price/Value 5 Outstanding hotel on the campus of Iowa State University. All the staff from the man spreading salt to the lobby staff, maid service, chef and restaurant staff were very friendly and accommodating. The breakfast buffet is the best! 6:30 to 10:00 each day. read more

This is a nostalgic hotel for us with our Iowa State background. The hotel and rooms are great as well as the overall facility. However, the breakfast there is a problem for us. $10/person for hotel guests for continental breakfast with no hot food is a negative. Bummer! We liked this hotel but we need something hot to get us in the road. And they were short staffed as to ordering off a menu so we went elsewhere for breakfast. Still like this hotel but we will factor the breakfast in next time! read more

Th hotel is old and grimy. It is not really "dirty" but it isn't clean either. It is terribly dated and just gives off a vibe that it hasn't seen any TLC in about three decades. On a plus, the staff was incredibly nice and accommodating. However the rooms left something to be desired and the cleanliness standards were bad for pre-Covid. Now, it seems nearly laughable what the hotel considered "clean". I had to stay here because it was picked for me for a business trip. Otherwise, I would never stay there. read more

I've been staying here over the years and it has been fine. However, my recent experience was not so good. The restaurant was understaffed and seemed unable to deal with a capacity breakfast group. There were children running through the halls overnight and it took at least a couple calls before management was able to get it quiet. I realize that is more of a parent issue, but it still seemed to take longer than it should have to get the parents to deal. Also, I noticed a dead bed bug on the sheet. Glad it was dead, but still concerning. Hopefully my bad experience was just an exception. read more

Gateway Hotel & Conference Center - Bed bug - Hotels Near Me - Ames, Iowa

Went out to this Conference Center location for a company party. Signs from the highway lead you right up the conference center. It is a very nice facility. The room is very large and a dance floor was put down for us. Once the majority of all the people arrived they let us go table by table to get food. There was 2 buffet lines with the same food set up. I love when they think smart and make two lines for the amount of people they were serving! They had a very good selection of food. Nice salad, sides and the option of chicken and prime rib. I skipped the chicken and went for a big hunk of meat. It was really good. The food was all good and we all agreed that it was a excellent choice on behalf of the employer. There were multiple bar stations to make sure that you had your drink on as the live band stared up. This wait staff was very helpful and made sure we had everything we needed. Kept and eye on us and cleaned out our plates and were able to get refilled on our water really easily. Good job overall! read more

I have stayed at this hotel a few times and have always gotten good service from the people. In fact, one time I forgot my toothbrush at home and they gave me one on the house. It does not get any better than that. The vending machines there, at least the Pepsi one, does accept Apple Pay as a way of payment, so that is always nice to have for enthusiasts​ like me. The rooms are pretty great, have good televisions, and comfortable beds. That's pretty much all you can ask for when it comes to your hotel. For those wondering about the internet and WiFi, yes, it works well and is free to those staying in the hotel. read more

Great hotel to stay at when you are in town. It was a little bit of an older hotel which is fine. Their bathrooms need to be updated. The toilet clogged on just pee. The restaurant in there is nice. Their bar is a little over priced. Overall, good place to stay. read more

I wasn't expecting much as I was just traveling through but this is a really great place to stay on a budget, it was only $74 taxes included for a really nice 2 queen hotel room. All the staff were great and really informative and nice, and they have a really nice pool, hot tub, and sauna. Also it's on a really nice property connected to Iowa State. If I'm ever back through this way I'll definitely be back. read more

Gateway is not a new hotel. It's been around since at least the 1970's. It's aging well, however, despite changes in ownership. The conference center is a unique facility for Ames and the Iowa Stater Restaurant is a decent dining alternative. Very conveniently located near the Iowa State Center, Reiman Gardens and especially the Green Hills Retirement Community. I think Gateway is the nicest hotel in Ames. The executive rooms are outstanding. Rooms in the tower are a little less impressive, but still nice. Most lack refrigerators, an issue since refrigerators are standard at many lesser motels. The concrete based construction is much more solid and quiet than your typical motel. Wifi is free and easy to access. There's a pool and fitness area, but don't look for a free breakfast. There is none. Rooms are well maintained, but décor exposes their age a bit. Perhaps most importantly, Gateway has the best elevators in Ames, at least from the perspective of a little kid. Special lights. View of the outdoors. You can make reservations on virtually any of the online booking sites. On this visit I used hotels.com, but I have also stayed here with significant savings after throwing the dice on hotwire.com. read more

I stay at the Gateway Hotel once a year during our girls' weekend in Ames. The staff is nice and the beds are soooo comfy! I've managed to get a rate below $100 every time I stay, which is awesome. I get the feel of a really nice hotel for pretty darn cheap. I'm wondering if they've done some renovations in the last couple of years because I was really surprised to see past reviews. Every part of the hotel was spotless - and I've been happy every time. read more

I'm not sure why this has such bad ratings on here. I came here and stayed a night for a wedding recently and found the hotel enjoyable. First and foremost, the front desk staff was nice and helpful. Absolutely no problems there. The rooms I thought were pretty decent. Bathroom was decent, although the towels they gave me were obviously a little old. They were not tattered, but they were obviously worn in. It reminded me of some of my personal towels, not necessarily a good hotel towel. In any case, my bed was comfortable too with a nice comforter. I could have used a down pillow or two, but that's more of a personal preference. My room had a sizable HDTV too and had a number of channels available. The only thing I wish I had was a fridge. I thought that was kind of weird there was none available. I would recommend they invest to put some in some rooms honestly. There was also free wifi in there, which was nice and becoming more of a standard. My cell phone connection was bad in my room though, but I'm sure that varies from room to room (location based). The rest of the hotel was decent too. The building itself has some weird concrete thing going on in some areas, but they went to good measures to mask it with nicer couches, running water, etc in the lobby area. Standard hotel that's a step above average for sure. I thought the price was fair for what you get (I believe $109/night is standard rate). That might be expensive for Ames, IA, but really not that bad overall. I wish there were more things around the hotel too, but that's me talking since I live in the middle of Chicago where that's the norm in many places that I can walk out my front door and be presented with numerous options. This is not a knock about the hotel, but more of a warning if someone plans on staying here who IS used to that environment and wants that type of environment. Overall, the place is pretty good. Not perfect, but they can easily improve upon it by adding mini fridges and replacing some of their bathroom towels with newer ones. All in all, not a bad hotel for a small town like Ames. read more

It's a nice place with VERY helpful staff, but I'd say it needs some updates to justify it's price. I stayed 2 nights for a wedding and the room I was in joined the next room by two closed doors. The first night I could hear my neighbor coughing, and the second night I could hear the couple in the next room...talking, let's say talking, late into the night. I didn't call the desk to complain because on neither of the nights were they being loud, there's just nothing stopping sound from traveling between rooms. Like I said, not a bad place, but you can easily find nicer for cheaper in Ames. read more

Gateway is a nice hotel, a little off the beaten path (if such a thing exists in Ames). Apparently they have nice walking / running trails around the property, but the weather was so atrocious I didn't have a chance to check them out. We didn't partake in the restaurant, but had good service at the bar. Nice place, reasonable rates most of the time. read more

Nice place to stay. Clean room and the mattress was just fine. People working there were friendly and helpful. Easy access from the HWY. A very good restaurant where I had a salmon salad, soup and a slice of carrot cake for dinner. The quality of food was exceptionally good and the price for the entire dinner was reasonable (less than $25 without drinks). Oh, and the two manhattans, though pricey (almost $10 a piece) were absolutely delicious. Will stay there again. read more

A couple of years ago we stayed at the hotel. It was not all that. The room was laid out weird and so one person would have to move in order for the other person to get past. The Travel Lodge on the other side of town was a better deal considering the price. To make sure this is crystal clear? I am NOT picky when it comes to a hotel room. If its expensive? I expect certain things. If its a cheap room? I am also very happy. I am not a snob and stay away from anything that is. I was disappointed. I was hoping it was still a good place like from way back. Now it is just so-so. Nothing special. They must have allowed dogs, though, as we still had Buddy, our dog, back then. Moderate? Expensive? I think somewhere in the middle. read more

This hotel was just ok. I laughed a little laugh upon entering the room, as it was not as nice as the website had depicted. I think it's been awhile since the hotel invested in anything new. The room was clean, but not hiding its wear. There was a water stain on the ceiling, the tele was a bit fuzzy on certain channels, and made a very faint high pitch ringing sound. I was so happy to be done with the day, that it didn't bother me much, but I could see how it would some. All in all, the service was excellent, the lobby was very nice, and there was plenty of parking, but I can't say that I was wowed over. Maybe I should ask for a goldfish next time. read more

Nice bed- really needs a fridge. The only problem I had was they were late on getting me my room so I had to go drive around for a few hours before they would give me a key.. And I also told them I was staying a little later than check out. They said that was fine and then locked me out! Figure it out! read more

Just don't. Went there during the Covid-19 nonsense and the hotel was a mess. Our room was reserved through a third party agency, so naturally the room we selected was not what we received by the staff. Got into a different room but it still wasn't the executive suite we requested. Everything was closed, gym, pool, restaurant. The whole place was unkept and dirty. Fountains and gardens were not cleaned up, nor the common areas or any thing really. Our room had hairs in the drawers. The garbage bags were covered in a layer of dust. The staff failed to provide us with their new "policies" due to the quarantine stuff and did not let us know about their minimal room service until it was too late. No meals were provided. Staff kept telling us they were going to have the hotel director contact us; still never happened. They did provide the room at a discounted rate after a discussion regarding their website not informing the public none of their amenities were open. Staff consistently provided lip service and never passed along requests or questions to the next shift or management. After the first night a contractor tried entering our room at 6am with a key card. My husband happened to be awake to stop the man from entering the room with our sleeping newborn. The whole thing was a disaster dealing with the staff. We will never go back and strongly recommend people go elsewhere. Bed was uncomfortable, there is a small refrigerator, no freezer, but there is a small microwave, iron and board, and blow dryer. read more

Chose to have our wedding reception here and couldn't be more impressed with the professionalism and presentation. Our wedding coordinator Gabriella was such a pleasure to work with, easy to communicate with and always followed through. Food was delicious and the bars never had long lines. Wouldn't change a thing! read more

I'm staying here for a work trip. If it was up to me I would have booked the holiday inn down the road. My double bed room didn't have a fridge, the decor was a bit dated, and the bathroom was a bit dingy. The worst problem was the water pressure--it was the most unsatisfying shower I've taken since my days of cold bucket baths in the peace corps. I can rough it, but for a room that costs $299 a night, I expected much better. The layout of the lobby is weird--massive cement columns hide the reception desk. I would never come back, and I hope to never have to again. The staff are nice though. read more

Lovely hotel. The beds have goose down comforters encased in crisp white sheets. Good workout room, pool, whirlpool. Most guests receive free breakfast buffet. read more

I read the Yelp reviews on this hotel and prepared myself for disappointment but the reviews were WRONG and I was pleasantly surprised! Not only did I stay here, I ate here, The food is delicious! I was in a king room in the executive conference center and yes, the decor is dated but the room was clean, the bed was comfortable and the shower perfect. The staff was super friendly. Good food, comfy bed, hot water and cable... WIN! read more

Never nice but high in price and can be very hard to book an event!

I am currently staying at this hotel and will be checking out in the morning - 3 days earlier than planned because of how bad it is. The staff has been rude, we didn't get our online reserved rate, and the hallway noise is beyond loud. If you HAVE to stay somewhere and this is the only place available, stay in your car - you'll be happier in the long run. The room is dated and rundown. Amenities are nonexistent. Find another option - it will be worth the extra money. read more

Attending a conference at this hotel and none of our conference materials arrived in time. This was a supplier issue and nothing to do with Gateway. I left a message for catering and they called me back by 7:10 am! Kerrie helped me arrange a cookie display for our booth and added a nice touch with balloons and staging. Conference attendees continually commented on how festive our booth looked! Did I mention she had this all set up at the booth in less than 50 minutes?! She said her goal was to make the booth look like this had been planned all along. Goal achieved! The feedback I received from my staff at the venue was positive, nice space, great food and very workable floor plan for the event. I would recommend Gateway Conference Center 100%! read more