Newly renovated and looking great! Tha pool was still under construction (which they were up front about at the time of booking). Suites are large and well done. Beds are new and comfortable. The only negative was the low quality of the morning "Continental Brekfast". I wad thinking we'd see a blend between Marriott's Residence inn and Best Western but it was more Motel 6. Great location and a great value. read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Front desk - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

This historic hotel has really gone down hill since it was renovated several yrs ago. We booked two double rooms for $250 a night for 3 nights, but service of any kind was not included. They do not provide bottled water in the rooms. Bottled water is available for purchase at the front desk, but they didn't have any. No housekeeping (COVID). No in-room phone service of any kind (no explanation). So if you had a problem, a question or an emergency you had to go to the front desk. No room service (understaffed). Asked if we could switch a room as ours smelled of cat urine. No (fully booked ). One night we asked for plastic forks & paper plates so we could eat take-out in our rooms. No. Ok - so we asked for real forks & real plates from Caroline's - the hotel restaurant. No. We asked if the Hotel Julien Shuttle was in service (like an in-house Uber service). No. It seemed nothing was available. Even the service at Caroline's was painfully lacking. We were expected to lump any expectations. It was a very expensive weekend for basically nothing. Lastly - the front desk employees. This was our first impression of the hotel upon arrival. They were cheerless, frumpy and unengaged. It was hardly the professional welcoming one would expect from working in the hospitality industry...especially an historic boutique hotel claiming to be upscale. Quite frankly, the front desk experience was more offensive than upscale. One star for a comfortable bed even though I had to make it. read more

We had a wonderful breakfast on 2/14/2021. The food was superb! Best has browns and blueberry pancakes ever! Service was great too! Worth a bit of wait. Highly recommend Carolines! read more

Avoid, don't get scammed. Today I received extremely poor customer service at Hotel Julien. I booked via a third party Chase for a one night stay. Upon check in to the hotel I was disappointed with the front desk who only asked for my ID and credit card (no hotel greeting or info provided), and then to see the very tiny and poor conditions of the room compared to the pictures marketed on the hotel website which did not match. I immediately asked to change rooms or asked if I could be upgraded even if I had to pay. The manager of the hotel, Dwight, blatantly told me that he technically fulfilled his legal obligation in giving me a room in the booked category and that although he could he wouldn't allow me to pay for an upgrade (despite this being in his authority to do so and having rooms available). He was very satisfied in his authority allowing him to keep me a dissatisfied customer which I found to be extremely odd and uncomfortable. This was after almost 2 hours of being on the phone with chase since I was told by the hotel front desk team that I had to deal directly with the third party chase. Chase told me the hotel denied their attempts to request an upgrade, room change, or cancellation. I ended up turning in my keys and not staying the night. Dwight, the manager, would not even look me in the eye when speaking to us, I had to specifically ask him to speak to me (as the person on the booking) instead of only addressing my husband. Ladies I am sure many of you know this feeling and I was not going to allow this type of misogynistic behavior. I am disappointed beyond belief in this hotel and I have never witnessed such poor service in any hotel ever. I hope someone in this company will put the proper attention to this because I am sure this happens often but is not always escalated through the proper channels. There were zero attempts made by the hotel management team to resolve the issue or apologize or show any type of other respectful communication to try to smooth things over. I am summarizing only, the full extent was disgraceful. Save your money, save your points, don't risk dealing with this when you are vacation. I'm sure if you end up in a nice room in this hotel and you don't have to speak to management it's great but if you end up in a dark dingy closet room like I did it won't be enjoyable. Iowa has tons of beautiful fairly priced Airbnbs (which is where I stayed before this ordeal) to stay at instead. Avoid this place if you care about getting what you paid for and receiving quality customer care. read more

I had originally planned on staying here for a wedding, but was told I was included in an apartment rental not far away. This hotel is beautiful, close to everything downtown. The wedding I attended was here, and the set up was stunning. The assistance with getting the cake set-up was a bit iffy, but it worked out in the end. Menu of steak and lobster was delicious and the venue was beautiful. They frosted the mirror on the stairwell with the last name of the bride and groom which was a nice touch. I heard only good things from those who did stay here. read more

Awful customer service. The base is so loud we might as well be at the wedding. I would have stayed at a different hotel and paid 1/2 the price for the same shitty customer service. Not worth the cost. read more

Great bartender. Fresh juices for tasty cocktails. Sit on outdoor patio - comfortable, chill and bug-free.

We REALLY enjoyed this hotel. Nice view of Mississippi. Lived the old world charm but with updated rooms and amenities. The staff couldn't be nicer or more helpful but be aware that due to COVID no daily maid service. We were so happy to be able to walk the downtown area and the river walk! Glad we chose to stay here instead of cookie cutter hotels that were basically the same price. Rather stay here than in Galena which is 15 minutes away. read more

The hotel room charges had additional hotel and city taxes which are about $32. (Not make known ahead of time). More a night, the room we had faced Main St., and the bars across the street kept us awake until the wee hours of the night. The trains also kept us awake. No frills, the staff were almost non existent, they said if we wanted fresh towels to call. We had a queen suite, thinking it would be a nice upgrade. Not so much. The Mission for homeless 2 blocks away didn't make us feel comfortable to walk around either. read more

First, I must say that the hotel room was amazing. We had a whirlpool room and it was beautiful. We stayed here for my birthday/anniversary/kid free weekend so we had high hopes. We were severely disappointed. Ellie, the desk clerk was wonderful. Very sweet, helpful and kind. Ariel, the spa manager, was helpful, very nice and helpful. She was also professional, which was not the way we perceived the GM of the hotel. When booking this hotel, we ordered the romance package, which we were not informed that this was extra. The room was not included in the price and we were under the impression that it was. I loved the shock I got when we were billed and found out our night was a $500 stay. In the package we ordered, we got 2 massages, champagne and a $75 voucher for dinner. When booking this room, I was told that no spa reservations were needed, as it was "taken care of" and "not to worry about it". When we visited the spa, there were no reservations made for us and the spa told us that it was the hotel's problem. After talking with the desk clerk, the managers and the GM, we were scheduled for one massage and I settled for a pedicure. (I still had to pay for the massage for some reason.) My husband was massaged by Jessica K., who gave my husband her card because she makes "house calls". Very inappropriate. Dinner at Caroline's was horrific, but our server was wonderful. I cannot remember her name but she saved our experience. The appetizers, bread and salads came out in a timely manner, but somehow our entrees took forever and when it did come out, my husband's steak was cold and my fried cod was soggy. After sending back the steak, we received a heated up plate and an overcooked steak. If the server wasn't awesome, we would have pitched a fit. The drinks and snacks in the room were expired. We received sparkling wine and not champagne. The General Manager was an a-hole and his retort to my husband's Yelp review was unprofessional. Things would have been fine with us if we weren't treated so crappy. If you're in Dubuque, stay at the casino hotel across the highway, I heard they have free breakfast. I can at least eat $500 of free breakfast there if I had to. read more

See all

This hotel is beautiful and the renovation is exceptional. What makes it 2 stars is the service and the food. You would expect that the staff would fit the hotel structure in it's elegance and class. It does not. Went there for a wedding reception and the food was inedible. Red white and blue tortilla chips and runny refried beans. Like something you would get at Taco Bell. Wow what a disappointment. You could do so much better Hotel Julien. read more

I have only stayed here once, and it was beautiful. Being from Los Angeles, I couldn't believe how inexpensive this place was, and my hotel room was large enough to do yoga - and I could have invited two more people! The bathroom was huge, everything was clean and modern. I did not try the room service, though. One comment if you're from out of town - it is a small hassle to get a cab here, so be sure to rent a car or call ahead of time. Otherwise, just a beautiful hotel with incredibly friendly staff. read more

Still dig the place BUT:::::: stayed there for my wife's birthday and when I booked the room AND checked in spoke the employees regarding my wife's birthday, you think these cheap ^&*() could put a piece of chocolate, a cheap a$$ carnation in the room for her, nope. Ok this may sound petty but EVERY place we went in Dubuque on our stay treated my wife like it was her birthday, the most expensive place we went and got nothing, yep JULIEN. BTW check your door for security, when we left, no idea why I looked, but the door lock went into a piece of wood (yes the jamb). A 110 pound lady could have pushed the door open. To me it says crappy maintenance and no regard for people's safety. Was going to book the Capone room for a up coming party but gonna pass on it. Yea this one got to me. UPDATE BOYS AND GIRLS, wrote a email, left a message for the manager and answered a survey put out by the hotel. Two weeks later and NOT ONE RETURNED MESSAGE. WILL NOT STAY AGAIN! read more

The rooms are really, really nice here. And the spa is great. But there were many, many little things that went wrong during our stay so that we definitely wouldn't come back. One thing was that they thought our reservation was over after our first night, when we had a second night booked. They had to re-activate the cards multiple times that day, because the booking was done completely wrong. And we had to specially request maid service that day, since they thought we were checking out. Then, the day we were actually checking out, they knocked on our room repeatedly, early in the morning (around 9:00 am) while my husband was trying to sleep in, trying to clean the room. Crazy! The other thing was that there was zero enforcement of their own rules at the pool. It was overrun with gangs of kids who were extremely loud and rambunctious. Which I would have no problem with, except that they were throwing balls around and there were tons of them in the hot tub, which really infringed on our own ability to enjoy the pool. And the hotel has a rule that no kids under 12 should be unsupervised! They were also out of towels (for the third time since we arrived), so we called to both request more towels and to ask the hotel to do something about how loud and raucous it was in the pool. The kids at this point had even taken some of the exercise equipment and were playing with it in the pool, and were also playing around on the wheelchair access chair. The hotel did nothing to stop any of this, and my family ended up having to leave to avoid getting hit by a ball or splashed in the hot tub. I'm all for kids having fun in the pool, but I assume the rules are there for a reason, and if you choose not to enforce them generally, you should at least do something when it begins to negatively impact other guests! read more

Two couples spent two nights for a mini getaway and enjoyed the property so much we are planning on making a visit an annual event. Very well restored and maintained. Rooms comfortable and larger than most historic buildings. Well appointed bathrooms. No resort fees or charges to park so that offset the no free breakfast... but the breakfast was outstanding and well worth the cost. We enjoyed sitting by the fire in the lobby... ext time we will bring a cocktail from the lounge. We loved the on site spa. Friendly helpful staff throughout the property. read more

We were on a "romantic" getaway so I paid a premium to get a king size bed. Our neighbors across the hall spent over $100 less and had a significantly larger room, and the bathtub that our listing had promised but did not deliver. I measured the bed with a measuring tape, it was not King size. I felt so ripped off that my face was red for the majority of the night. Spending as much as we did, I was hoping for a lot more. Can confidently say that it was my worst hotel room experience for the money (7 weeks of vacation last year), especially knowing that just staying with the default double queen room would have given us a bath and more space. The restaurant downstairs is like an expensive Perkins, but with soggier hashbrowns. The lobby and bar are swanky and fun. Good drinks. That's the only star-saving mechanism in my review. read more

I stayed at the Hotel Julien during a weekend road trip that was kicked off by the idea of eating again at the Pepper Sprout (see other review) in Dubuque. We initially planned on staying at a cheap, cheap CHEAP hotel with clean sheets and no bugs, but as we got greedier and greedier, we ended up selecting the nicest hotel in Dubuque. Oops! What a wonderful mistake!!! The décor it fabulous! It truly celebrates the age of this 170 year old hotel. The $30 million restoration showcases GORGEOUS stained wood, sumptuous upholstery, some v. v. v. nice furniture and a spacious, open layout. Our room was comfortable, well decorated and I loved the petite double doors opening to the bathroom. One of the reasons I will definitely return to this hotel for a weekend getaway is the Potosa Spa. Located in the basement of the hotel, the Potosa Spa has all the hair/face/nail/massage services you could want and the prices give me that kid in a candy store kind of feeling. The hotel also has an indoor pool (max 4 feet deep), hot tub and outside seating area by the pool area. Now the pool is "heated" but that just means it is not ice cold. I'm used to swimming in Lake Michigan and I still found this pool to be a bit on the cool side. Not ideal since I love swimming. Hot tub was great, but jets cut off every 10 minutes and you have to get out to turn them back on. At night the lounge off the hotel lobby turns into a dance club. 80-90% of the clientele was between 21 and 24 and the only music played all night was Hip-Hop and Rap (this was also true of 4 other clubs on the street). I requested a little Godsmack or Nine Inch Nails and was politely rebuked. Still, the DJ was kind enough to give a shout out to my friend for his birthday (which it wasn't :)). Regardless of the differences in age and musical tastes, we danced, laughed, drank, had a great time and an incredibly short commute back to our hotel room. The location is ideal as you are right on the main street, aptly called Main Street, of Dubuque. The service was friendly, helpful and very accommodating. And the prices...OMG!!!!... very reasonably priced and unlike most hotels I've ever been in, they do not price gouge for breakfast. An omelet is only $8! The last hotel I was in I spent $35 for a cheeseburger. This was amazing. Gotta love the Midwest and small towns! I will definitely return to Hotel Julien for a relaxing and peaceful weekend getaway read more

Really want to rate this hotel higher! Here's the question----if you spend over $30+ million to renovate a hotel why wouldn't you have a bellman??? People who pay over $200 for a suite DO NOT want to carry their own luggage!!!! Also what is up with the bar off the lobby? On Friday and Saturday night the people over 25 left the place in droves because the music was so awful. Don't they want my husband and my $$ for 2 or 4 martinis or manhattans after dinner? Can they really make up the difference in $2.50 bud lights? On the upside the room was everything everyone else has said-comfortable and elegant. read more

For Dubuque, this is easily a 5-star hotel and if my travels bring me back, I would stay here again. I gave it a 4 rating because of the hotel bar/club. Honestly, this hotel is worthy of better than some low-grade, hip-hop place with little to do but have your ears blown off and drink. I would recommend making this a classier establishment that people with taste and money would want to come to; not the low-life, thugs of Dubuque who were stumbling in already drunk and foul-mouthed. The room was comfortable, water pressure great and food decent. Service was very good as well. Like I said, I would definitely stay here again, but hey guys - aim for 5-star quality and the right people will want to come here regularly. read more

The last time I was in Dubuque (1995) this was a scuggy looking hotel, inside and out, and the 'hood was edgy to say the least. $30 million later, the Hotel Julien is worthy of being the place to eat, relax, and have a wonderful stay. The outside of the building has been restored to a pristine, lovely degree, and entering from Main Street now reveals a lobby of by-gone elegance, all the surfaces shiny and restored, the furniture groupings welcoming and plush looking. Such an improvement! Our room, a deluxe, was a bit small, but wonderfully furnished and appointed. Everything one could need was at hand, and the views out toward the Mississippe were wonderful. Carolines, what a difference. My husband was a waiter here back in the '70's, and he could not say enough to everyone about what a great place the restaurant had become. The food was quite tasty, well priced, and the service (thank you, Lisa) was excellent. Congratulations and thank you to all for making our stay so enjoyable, we will be back! read more

Dog lovers DON'T STAY HERE We have stayed at this hotel many times with our dog. We've rented suites and even had our rehearsal dinner for our wedding here. During each stay our emotional support animal has accompanied us without any issues. During our stay today, Father's Day, we booked the Capone suite and the manager Sara denied us saying they no longer accept emotional support animals. We offered to pay a pet deposit or not have him stay, however Sara said that unless he was a service animal they wouldn't accept him. We are from San Diego and this was a gift for my dad for Father's Day. What a disappointment to the community of Dubuque. We love this historic city and looked at the Julien as it's anchor. But Sara has completely changed that perspective. What a disgrace to the ADA community. As someone who worked in customer service for years, I don't think she's a good fit for the industry, ESPECIALLY in a managerial position. read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

A 4-star hotel for a 2-star price. This is a great place to stay. I live in Dubuque now, but whenever family or friends visit, I make sure they get a room there. Rooms are very elegant and well appointed. Also, me being an Aveda brat, they score points for having that brand of personal care products in the bathrooms. Caroline's is delicious! One of the top 3 restaurants in town (in my opinion). Potosa Spa is the quietest I've found in DBQ. Nice amenities and high-quality services at a relatively decent price. The Riverboat Lounge is nice and chill on the weekdays but becomes a "meat market" on the weekends. I would recommend Main Street Chophouse, Pepper Sprout, or L. May for a cocktail or glass of wine when it's the weekend. read more

The Julien is located in a beautiful building in a historic part of Dubuque. Unfortunately, the rooms and common areas are well overdue for a serious renovation. The guest rooms and bathrooms have cheap pillows and bedding, with worn and stained fabrics for carpeting and drapery as well as chipped paint tiles and mirrors. Nothing about it merits their self proclaimed three star hotel status. I suspect that because there are so many weddings going on there, they are able to make money via overpriced hotel rooms for the unwitting and intoxicated wedding guests, many of whom we encountered in the hallways too late in the evening. If you do plan to stay there, avoid a room in the front of the hotel at all costs. The windows are probably original, have zero insulation, and you can hear basically any type of noise from a car horn to the drunks leaving the bars at 2 AM as if they're in your very room. While I did bring most of not all of this up to hotel staff, the response was that there was "really nothing they could do." Well, they could do something, the owners could spend some money on the hotel and upgrade it to meet the great potential this hotel has - instead of pocketing it. Also, the manager sent a poor front desk employee out to do her evil bidding. Subpar on so many levels. read more

Beautiful, very clean rooms. I loved the bed and the rooms were adorable with a beautiful view of the Mississippi River. Hotel is in a great location downtown with lots of little shops and things to do near by. I would stay here again. read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Beautiful view of the Mississippi River from my room :) - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

I got a really good Priceline rate on a room at the Julien on my way home from Christmas and jumped on the chance to stay at a nice hotel. We checked in at about 7:00pm. The single desk clerk was very nice. The room keys came with a 15% discount at the in-house spa, which we were sadly unable to use, and a free dessert with entree at the in-house restaurant, Caroline's (reviewed separately). The lobby is beautiful, classic and warm. We poked our heads into the on-site cocktail lounge, but weren't overly impressed with it, so we skipped a drink. Our king room was nice, quite large with a good mattress and pillows. There was a sizable shower, a mini fridge, a coffee pot and desk area. The furniture was showing a little wear and tear, but nothing major. Our view, sadly, was of the rooftop. It was a nice hotel, but we really couldn't take advantage of the best features, the spa, pool, whirlpool or shop. It is right on Main Street with close proximity to shops, restaurants and bars. Overall, this was nice. read more

Hotel booked us at $195 nightly rate for Friday/Saturday. We received an interior room -- no windows -- located adjacent to the banquet hall. Wedding receptions both nights. LOUD MUSIC.until midnight that literally vibrated the walls of our room. No one of the hotel staff or management had any authority to adjust our rate for the inconvenience of the noise or the inconvenience of having to move to a different and smaller room for Saturday night to avoid the second night of noise. Spoke to the manager the following Tuesday (we were told he would call us,but he didn't). He was a real ass. No concession for the noise or move. When I stated I would dispute the charge on our credit card, he accused me of defrauding an innkeeper. This hotel is quite nice, but clearly does not meet fire and health codes with its windowless rooms and has no intention of providing customer service. Just charges high rates. BAD. Sad because our stay in Dubuque was otherwise enjoyable. This outfit is no ambassador for the community. We (four couples) will NEVER do business with the Hotel Julien Dubuque again.. read more

Would never stay here again. Paid almost $400/night for an executive king suite and spent $500 in the spa for rude and unhelpful hotel staff, no cleaning service and no help with bags even though I was traveling alone with a 1 y/o and his grandma. Spa people were great though, and I will say our room was big. read more

The Hotel Julien is very nice and compared to other hotels in Dubuque, I'd definitely go back. The staff was friendly and helpful and our accommodations were very nice, plus it wasn't too expensive and it's location is perfect (right downtown). Having stayed at 5 star resorts, I can't go that high, but this is a great four star place and definitely the best Dubuque has to offer. read more

This is a beautiful hotel in a neat area. The room itself was very nice. Our room backed up to the railroad and trust me, you hear it. I'd ask for a room in the front of the hotel if possible, hoping that it's a bit more quiet. We had breakfast at Caroline's both mornings we stayed there and it was amazing. Nice hotel, especially if you can get a deal on it (we got a deal through TravelZoo). read more

We stayed here a week ago and had a few frustrations with the hotel staff. First was making a reservation. I called a few times on a Saturday and a few more times on Sunday, couple times on Monday and the front desk did not answer the phone. It just rang and rang. What kind of business doesn't answer their phone to accept business? After emailing and finally getting some sort of response we were able to get a reservation. When we checked in, the front desk staff was all young kids who seemed like they were in need of a grown up supervisor. We were told there was no manager on duty. Our room was just ok. It felt dirty and dusty. We asked for a room change. The room was over $300 a night, which is far too expensive to feel like you are in a dirty room. The kids at the front desk had to call someone to get help determining what to do. They ended up putting us in the same room on a different floor. The hotel overall is nice. But it is definitely not deserving of the very expensive price tag. For the price they are charging, they need a more professional staff and need to ditch the underage snotty teens who do not know how to treat customers with respect. The spa is very nice. The Potosa spa is in the basement of the Julien Inn. read more

This was a great hotel with only one drawback. The rooms were big and comfortable. The beds were nice with lots of pillow choices. It was very clean and has a luxurious feel. The only problem was noise, we heard a couple of trains during the night. We heard people often and the for about 1/2 hour when the bars closed and we happened to wake up to the garbage truck, very early. Without all the interruptions during the night it would have been a great stay! read more

My favorite hotel! I love the staff - they truly go above and beyond to make me feel welcome. I had a package shipped ahead of me, and it was in my room when I arrived. It's a boutique hotel at a reasonable cost and close to anything you could want in downtown Dubuque. The history of this building is super neat too. Ask about the 8th floor and Al Capone! I'll never stay anywhere else when visiting Dubuque. read more

This place was great. My 9 year old nephew absolutely loved the pool, and the restaurant. I loved the view, and the comfort, and relative luxury. The only cons: 1) they didn't give us any info on connecting to the wifi. I didn't even know it was available. 2) there is some sort of smoke alarm or something in the room that has a green blinking light, it kept me up half the night. read more

My husband and I love the Hotel Julien! Their service is very good and the rooms and location are great! Rooms are comfortable and clean. Restaurant and bar located in the hotel. We also chose to have our wedding reception there and it was a dream! The Grand Ballroom is just that, Grand! And the service staff was very attentive to us and our guests all night. They set up the room beautifully and also accommodated us for a brunch buffet the following morning for our guests staying at the hotel. We have stayed multiple times and will be back. read more

It is a nice hotel. You have to go to the restaurant to see the manager, her name is Fiona and the bar tender Alex. They are super nice. Beautiful personality. Really enjoy their company. Will come back. Forgot to mention the food is good too. read more

For the price you'd expect more. The staff at the front desk were lazy, eating and watching something on their cell phones. The room was clean, cozy. The food in the restaurant was disappointing. Very strangely prepared. Floor of the bar was sticky. read more

This hotel was awesome. Room and bed were perfect along with the shower. Old historic hotel located right in the middle of Main Street. Plenty of places to go out within walking distance. read more

We have enjoyed our stay so far, as we check out tomorrow. Our room is very nice and clean. The hotel is absolutely beautiful. We visited the bar last night. Drinks are pricey, but delicious. The bar tenders were very nice and gave me good recommendations. Today I visited the Potosa Spa and it was FABULOUS! I got a massage and a scalp massage. The whole ambiance was so relaxing and the staff were great. We will definitely come back. read more

So incredibly disappointed. Here are some things you need to know if you want to book a room here. If you want a window in your room "you have to call after booking and ask for one" as we were told by front desk, and maybe if you're lucky they will have one available, we had know idea and were stuck in a closet like hotel room for 3 days. There is parking is the back for hotel guests but it is very small and cannot accommodate everyone. Twice we had to park in public parking and pay $6 for overnight. Now here is the worst part...after signing the check in paperwork and with our room keys in hand the front desk person said "I just want to warn you the lounge is having a party tonight and a wedding tomorrow, you be able to here the music in your room since you are right above it". What!?!? We asked to be moved and he said the hotel was completely booked and there is nothing they can do. The music was so loud the pictures on the wall were vibrating, this went on till 1:45 in the morning!!! The second night same thing but only until 11:00pm which didn't help because I tried to go to bed at 10 with a pounding headache, gee I wonder why... Staff is unfriendly and unprofessional, we asked where is a good place to order pizza they said we can order from the restaurant inside the hotel...well surprise surprise they don't sell pizza! We will never ever stay here again, the only remotely nice thing after being treated like a second class citizen was the fact they had a Keurig coffee maker in the room. Don't stay here if you want a quiet romantic weekend like we intended, it will turn out miserable. read more

Gotta say this place was a huge letdown. We had the intention of staying four nights and went to a different hotel after night one. The hotel recently went through a supposed 30 million dollar upgrade. I will state it is an amazingly beautiful hotel from the lobby to the rooms this place is clean and simply gorgeous. The problem lies with the operations of the facility. We paid 350 for one night which we are accustomed to with our hotel stays. The Julien boasts itself as a 4 star boutique hotel. Any other 4 star hotel we have stayed at had parking, valet and bell service as well as impeccable customer service. For 350 per night we expected it from this hotel. They provided none of those things nor do they provide those services. We went into the bar on a Saturday night at 830 pm. We seated ourselves at a table in plain view of the two bartenders. The bar was dead except what appeared to be locals surrounding the raised bar talking to the tenders. After waiting 20 minutes we approached the bartender to ask about table service. We were told you have to place orders at the bar and then be seated. We were looked at several times by the bar tenders both, and never once acknowledged. Even if we wanted to place an order at the bar, we would not have been able to do so being surrounded by locals and party goers. An obvious flaw in their system. We asked at check in for a enroll away. We are used to paying extra and it is not a problem. I asked how much extra it would b and was told nothing and no problem. After getting the bill we were charged 15 bucks extra for it. I have no problem paying for it, but whet old no charge, then charged, it becomes a bit irritating. When we went to inform staff we would be departing 3 days early no inquiry as to why or is anything wrong. Just please let us know when you leave so we can clean the room. It's my opinion that the staff and management of this hotel, have an entitlement attitude. We've bee here 150 years and were booked full and we don't need to try. It's over priced and staff needs to learn that when you pay 300-500 for a room, you have got to excel in customer service. You have to be proactive with guests and not lathargic and unresponsive. Just because this is Iowa, does not mean a slower way of life for staff and management. It means you have to work 10 times harder to take care of those in your care. We will not stay here in the future nor recommend it to family or friends. We have been told by many locals, they won't stay here for the same reasons. read more