hotel review: des moines marriott downtown

(Des Moines, Iowa).  I recently stayed at the Marriott in downtown Des Moines for work and it was rather disappointing.  To be honest, I wasn't thrilled to be in Des Moines in the first place.  To make matters worse, do you know there are no direct flights from Los Angeles to Des Moines???  So by the time I arrived after basically an entire day of travel, I simply wanted a comfortable quiet room and a nice dinner.  It really wasn't much to ask, but unfortunately, this Marriott simply did not deliver.

Smelly room....

Check in:  The check-in was quick and simple.  I was surprised that the WiFi wasn't included in my room rate (since I was traveling under my company's travel program), but the hotel clerk quickly offered to waive the charge of $9.95 per day.  That was super nice of him!

Room:  It was a pretty basic room - nothing special.  But my room had the funkiest smell!  I immediately noticed it when I entered but I was so tired from traveling that I didn't want to switch rooms.  I tried spraying perfume but it didn't really help.  (The next day I told the front desk clerk and I think they tried to clean it but I could still smell a lingering scent....)  

The sheets were also really scratchy.  That combined with the funky smell made me feel that the room was dirty.  I couldn't help it but feel itchy the entire time I was there.  

And the final straw was that there's no room safe!  How can a business hotel not have a room safe???  It was very frustrating because I basically had to take all my valuables with me everywhere including my laptop since the company policy is that the laptop cannot be left unsecured.

The bathroom was also pretty standard and the toiletries were ok - not great.

Food:  I've had room service a gazillion times in business hotels and most of the time it's OK but not great, so my expectations are pretty low.  This was the first time, however, that I've ever ordered room service and found the food barely edible.  I even ordered the burger thinking it couldn't be messed up but clearly I was mistaken.  
I will say breakfast the next day was 10X better.  So the tip here is to not order anything but breakfast here.

Service:  Service was good.  The staff really did seem to be eager to help.  

Misc.:  There's a convenient (and complimentary) shuttle service to the airport but you have to go on their schedule.  If you want to take a private shuttle on your own schedule, it costs $20.  There's also a kiosk at the lobby level to print your boarding passes.

Check out:  I simply did the check out from my room on the TV - easy-peasy.

I'm not that familiar with the hotel options in Des Moines but I would probably not stay here again.  While the service was good, it's difficult to recommend a place where the room/bed and food are below par.  If anyone has better recommendations, please let me know.