Gateway Hotel And Conference Center At Iowa State University

“A solid 4”

Nice clean updated room. Clean. Great parking and surroundings. Nice endless walking paths. Close to stadiums. If hotels want a five from me they need: 1. Well lit rooms 2. Several convenient charging outlets 3. Clean everywhere including floors (preferably no carpet) 4. Good coffee available ea… more

Nice clean updated room. Clean. Great parking and surroundings. Nice endless walking paths. Close to stadiums. If hotels want a five from me they need: 1. Well lit rooms 2. Several convenient charging outlets 3. Clean everywhere including floors (preferably no carpet) 4. Good coffee available early morning.

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“A Very Fine Hotel . . . that could stand a few tiny improvements.”

My wife and I were in Ames for a weekend in late April 2025. I was attending events at Iowa State -- both on the campus and at C. Y. Stephens Auditorium. We knew about the Gateway, and decided to book there. Rates were competitive, and we got a king room for a good price. The hotel is quite lovely… more

My wife and I were in Ames for a weekend in late April 2025. I was attending events at Iowa State -- both on the campus and at C. Y. Stephens Auditorium. We knew about the Gateway, and decided to book there. Rates were competitive, and we got a king room for a good price. The hotel is quite lovely. There is plenty of parking, and it's near the Iowa State Center and yet out of the way of most ISU-event traffic for most major events. The grounds are quite lovely: grassy, any number of trees and bushes but still with plenty of space if you wanted to wander barefoot through the grass or just set up a blanket and take it in. The room was delightful -- quiet, comfortable, with a nice bathroom and plenty of space. Our only complaint with the room would be the pillows. Like many hotels these days, you do not get full-size pillows -- you know, the ones everyone grew up with, and almost certainly the ones you have at home. Nope. The pillows these days are those half-size ones. If you haven't had them yet, they literally are half as wide as a normal pillow. To make up for it, you get a lot of them. On our king bed, I think we had seven. And, like so many hotel pillows these days, if you manager to stack all seven of them one on top of another, you might get one decent pillow out of it. Hotel thinking must simply be, "Well, they'll be tired, so they won't notice that there is no support whatsoever in the pillows. But we'll give them lots of these cute little pillows so they won't notice the terrible support." WRONG. I've never had a good "half-pillow," no matter how swanky or fancy or high-priced the hotel. Be warned. And if you're traveling by car and brought your own pillow, well, good for you. That side, the bed was terrific. Somehow, we both got a good night's sleep, and, yes, we both used multiple "half-pillows" to try to get some support for neck and head. The only other thing that really could be improved is the free breakfast, which is served in the on-site restaurant/bar. It was a fine breakfast, with a large chafing dish of scrambled eggs, as well as bacon, OJ, and other drinks available with wait service. The eggs were fine, except . . . it honestly looked like one giant mass of eggs. And by that, I mean, you couldn't tell whether they had scrambled one huge elephant egg, or 14 dozen chicken eggs. Did it taste fine? Yes. No complaints there. The bacon, given that central Iowa is true farm country, was . . . good but not great. Service was fine, but I got the sense it was the restaurant manager on duty and no one else. We got seated by a window both mornings we were there, so we had a lovely view. Was it a tasty breakfast? I'd give is four stars out of five -- tasted fine, but not remarkably so. Bottom line: this is a very fine hotel. The hallways on the floors confused both of us -- do we take these stairs, or go to/through the door at the end? But that was just a teeny negative. Everything is well marked. The decor is certainly pro-Iowa State, but not overwhelmingly and obnoxiously so. Again, plenty of parking and the grounds were lovely, and Highway 30 -- the main east-west route there, and the means to get to I-35 just a few miles east -- is no more than a minute away by car. We would encourage you to stay at the Gateway if you're in Ames. Again, you're close to things, but out of the way of most traffic, and the hotel really is a good hotel. There are just a few things that could be improved.

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“Rooms spotless, outdated amenities ”

My husband and I stayed at the Gateway when in town for a family funeral. We loved our king bed room and didn't have any problems with the sliding bathroom door. Consumables in the bathroom are in mounted pump bottles. We stayed four nights and didn't have any maid service, but we were able to get … more

My husband and I stayed at the Gateway when in town for a family funeral. We loved our king bed room and didn't have any problems with the sliding bathroom door. Consumables in the bathroom are in mounted pump bottles. We stayed four nights and didn't have any maid service, but we were able to get fresh towels from the front desk. Also available at the front desk were cold bottles of water for $1.75 vs $4.00 in the room. They also had shelf stable foods, snacks, and sweets available for purchase. While the rooms have been updated, unfortunately the pool and whirlpool tub have not. There's also a sauna and gym room which we didn't use. We did have lunch in the restaurant and it was tasty and reasonably priced. They have a breakfast buffet also. The hotel is very convenient to the football stadium area of the ISU campus. We will likely stay here again soon.

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“Nicely remodeled rooms, but that is about it.”

This hotel has recently remodeled rooms which are well designed and aesthetically pleasing. Other than that, I found the rest of my stay either underwhelming or poor. I try to support non-chain hotels when possible, but my experience is exactly why many people avoid them. The hallways feel like a … more

This hotel has recently remodeled rooms which are well designed and aesthetically pleasing. Other than that, I found the rest of my stay either underwhelming or poor. I try to support non-chain hotels when possible, but my experience is exactly why many people avoid them. The hallways feel like a 90’s office building and are hard to navigate at first. The mattress was uncomfortable. The pool was always crowded with several families “camped out” at the tables all day. The location is technically on (or adjacent to) the ISU campus, but it is a ways (and across a highway) from the main campus and athletic complex. The staff were all nice, but there were operational and service issues you don’t usually get at a chain (the servers at the restaurant were shouting across the room, there was an issue with my room account in the system, I felt like I was inconveniencing the person who checked me in, etc) The breakfast buffet was the worst I’ve ever experienced at a hotel. The food was dry and lacked variety. Overall, the price was fair if you’re just looking for a nice room - but don’t expect anything else. This property is certainly not comparable to any standard, full service hotel (Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, etc) - a value chain like Holiday Inn Express is a better experience.

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