Tru by Hilton Ankeny

First, the good: The hotel is pretty much brand new. We stayed September 14, 2024; several staff told us the hotel had been open only two months. Everything is still very clean. Our room was quiet, the bed was comfortable, the pillows were decent -- not the normal hotel-quality thin with no support. The hallways, entry, lobby, and eating area all were clean. There was plenty of parking right outside the door. The free breakfast was nice, with a lot of options, including both food and drink. The bathroom was nice, and we had plenty of towels! Of course, there were just two of us in a double queen room that normally would have four people in the room, so we had more towels than two might normally have. WiFi was nice and strong and consistent, and connecting as a Hilton Honors member was quick and easy. Now the not so good: This hotel is not ready for Prime Time. I have never seen thinner bacon at a hotel breakfast. It was tasty, but my goodness was it thin! There were no pure egg dishes -- no large, heated chafing dish with scrambled eggs that is common now at many -- most? -- hotel breakfasts. They did have pre-made egg and sausage sandwiches (wrapped in sealed plastic, so they were made off-site) in a warming dish. To say they were warm is accurate; to say they were warm food would not be accurate; they were really warm only when "warm" means, "not cold." And, therefore, the sandwich I had was not particularly tasty. But the primary reason for the two-star review is about more than extraordinarily thin bacon and a not-good breakfast sandwich. When we checked in, we were given one set of key cards for access to the room (one card for each of us); neither of those cards worked. We quickly got a replacement set; neither of *those* cards worked. We quickly got a third set; neither of **those** cards worked. The desk clerk was apologetic and said that they had been having problems with *all* their key cards, for *all* rooms. (From the tone of her voice, I assumed that meant locked rooms used by staff, as well as guest rooms.) We finally were given an "emergency backup" key card (her phrase) -- ONE emergency backup key card. (If you're counting, that was three trips to the front desk from outside our room, after checking in, to get keys that might or might not work.) That emergency card worked, FINALLY! But it worked only on the day we checked in! The next morning, when we got back to the room after breakfast, the emergency card **did not** work. Fortunately, by then I had created the electronic key on my phone, which *did* work. The clerk at checkout (different from the clerk on duty when we checked in) said that, yes, they had had nothing but problems with the company that did the keys for all room doors, and apologized for the inconvenience. After two months, Hilton should be demanding that heads are rolling at whatever company was used for the door key cards. That is simply unconscionable, and absolutely unacceptable -- from the key card com

I will try this hotel again as it is very nice. Next time, I need to be better organized, as the hotel snack bar didn't have any frozen dinners except one that was an egg & vegetable dish. (I ended up eating a free candy bar for dinner.) My hotel room didn't have a microwave, a coffee maker, or a clock. There is a community microwave in the snack bar, so next trip I could bring my own frozen dinner and heat it up. I own a one cup coffee maker, so I could also bring it and a clock. The hotel business center has a computer but it was not working. I could have brought my own laptop. I will post again.