This experienced traveler usually waits until leaving a place before submitting a review, but not this time. It’s my last few hours before checking out and heading down the road, and I felt an urgency to let you know about Rodeway in Bellevue Nebraska so you can make plans to stay somewhere else. I will start off with the good. The asst general manager Courtney was very kind and helpful with check in. She thanked me as being a Choice Member. I only needed to visit the front desk twice, once for check in, once for suggestions for a place to eat for the 5 days I was here. Well done on both. Now lets get down to the nitty gritty. This is a $40. Room getting away with charging guests premium prices. Unless you have to be in Bellevue travel the extra 6 miles and stay almost anywhere in Council Bluffs instead. There are MANY hotels/motels charging the same with names like Candlewood Suites or even Comfort Inn. The website has very nice photos of the property. Keep in mind they are professionally done from several years ago. I am including photos of my stay November 2021. Keeping it real.
As usual, I check a room before taking in my luggage and paying. This room served it’s very basic purpose of a 5 night stay, but ONLY that. Too tired to go out and try to find another hotel I settled for keeping my reservation here at Rodeway. There were no bugs, that’s the most important thing for this seasoned traveler. Here are the little things that make a difference and why they should only charge half of what they are charging:
The entire property is dark and dinghy. The bed is hard, with pillows barely the size of a post card, and flat. No, they aren’t thick and full like the web photos. The bedding is worn and thin, with one cloth type bedcover and one thin blanket. Had to request another blanket, which came promptly from house keeping. There is no coffee maker. Cool, I can get a cheap one at WalMart, but come on, coffee isn’t even available in the lobby in the morning because of Covid. (Quit using Covid as an excuse to not provide the simplest of amenities, like coffee. Other hotels can provide it, this property has just found a way to cut their expenses, and customer satisfaction and uses Covid as their means to do so)
NO alarm clock? The only way you know what time it is comes from the microwave, which was clean, as was the mini fridge. So had to buy one from WalMart. No hair dryer or iron board, iron. Electrical outlets all used by the tv, micro wave, fridge except for the one behind the bed and a partially used one on the other side of bed. There IS one over by the door (no table to put anything on by it) and the one in the opposite corner, again, all by it’s lonesome. I Had to move the work desk over to IT so I could plug in laptop to work, and the desk lamp (which I had to buy because there is only ONE little lamp by the bed). I also ended up having to also buy a multi plug extension power plug just to have enough accessible outlets for computer, desk lamp, coffee maker and alarm clock. So far this traveler has spent 50 bucks before even going to sleep the first night because this property just doesn’t care about the somewhat smaller things for the comfort of their guests. Oh, and the wi-fi…..I kept getting disconnected and had to resign in multiple times. Such a hassle, especially if you have to pay attention to your data usage on your phone, so keep a wary eye on your connection.
There is one hard, wooden chair to go with the desk, although the room is big enough, and there is a big empty space to put in a decent chair for the guest to sit back and relax instead of sitting on the bed to watch television. Curtains were half hanging, but worked well enough as black out curtains should. Heater filter vents filthy, as was the entry door and the windows were so dirty you could hardly see out of them. There was no plug in the sink, so don’t drop a contact, or a hair pin, no water pressure and it took forever for the water to get hot enough to shower. Furniture is outdate, but on the bright side, the carpet seems to be fairly new, and clean. A big plus for anyone that travels as much as I do. The wall heater worked ok, but the vents and filters were FILTHY.
Finally, although the area seemed quiet enough, and I felt safe as a single female traveler, others may not, and having someone at the front desk is a bit of a comfort. You are S.O.L after 10 pm anytime, and nobody is available Saturday or Sunday. Yes, seriously, they have nobody working after 10 or on the weekends. You better plan ahead and stock up on toilet paper because you can’t just mosey on down to the lobby for a restock, and housekeeping is only available to clean your room ‘when you ask for it’. Get locked out of your room? They will charge you $25.00 to come out and get you a key to get in, all while you sit outside waiting for however long it will take for them to get there. I’ve seen this in rural area motels, but generally the employees live on the property, not miles away. Checking out on the weekend, just leave the keys in the room, they will email you a receipt. I guess we will see. I checked the web and found several hotels/motels within 6 miles that charge the same as this place. NAME brand hotels that you know are quality, have enough outlets, an alarm clock, coffee in the morning, lobby is always manned and their parking lot isn’t filled with huge potholes. Find one of those and book it, this place is a dinghy dive hotel charging premium prices. Motel 6 would have been cheaper, and probably better.
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