Bismarck, North Dakota / Staybridge Suites

August 2013, Weekday, 2 separate stays for 2 nights each: 
1-bedroom king suite #428 and queen studio #425

Status perks and check-in

The manager checked me in the first time I stayed at the Staybridge Suites in Bismarck, ND. She provided an upgrade to a one-bedroom suite at the time of check-in. 

The second time I stayed here, I thought I was receiving the same room; however, I did not. My arrival time was going to be in the evening, so I called a few hours before then to inquire about my room type. I had hoped I would be able to get the same guestroom, or at least a room on the top floor in the corner or near the end of the hall (I had also written these requests in my reservation). On the telephone, the agent said that he could not give me an upgrade because the hotel was full. He did say that he could move me to the top floor though (it sounded like a room on the 3rd floor had been assigned to me before I called). When I arrived, the front desk agent wrote #428--the number of the one-bedroom suite I had received last time I stayed at this hotel--on the paper that he had me sign. He also verbalized the suite number. I expressed my pleasure and surprise, since he had told me on the telephone, that he would not be able to give me an upgrade. He did not respond to my comments.

When I arrived at suite 428, my key did not work. After a couple of tries, I looked inside my key packet, and saw that 425 was written in it. I then tried guestroom 425, and my key worked. I called the front desk to ask which room I was supposed to receive. The agent said that he did not know why he had written, and said, "428" during the check-in process, and that 425 was my correct room. He said something that alluded to the fact that he now understood my comments a few minutes earlier. It appeared that he had not been listening when I checked in, because I clearly said that I was happy to see that I was receiving guestroom 428. I said that I had really liked that guestroom last time, and I also mentioned the fact that he had said that he could not give me an upgrade.

I received a bottle of water the second time that I checked in. I am not sure if this was a consolation, or what. The agent had offered me cookies, and after I politely declined, he asked if I wanted a bottle of water, which I readily accepted.

One-bedroom king suite #428

This is the guestroom I stayed in during my first stay, so I will provide the details of the one-bedroom suite first.

The kitchen area contained a full-size fridge, stovetop, microwave, dishwasher, sink, coffeemaker with supplies, cupboards with dishes, utensils, and silverware, and a packet of microwave popcorn. 

The bar area between the kitchen and living area included two bar stools. A desk and chair were against the wall across from the bar. The lighting, electrical outlets, and work/eating space in both areas was comfortable, adequate, and spacious. There was an ethernet outlet and a telephone on the work desk.

The living area contained a sofa with pillows, coffee table, lamps, and a flatscreen TV on a cabinet. The sofa was comfortable, and there were easy to access outlets in this room as well.

The bedroom had a door that could be closed. A full length mirror was on the wall behind the door. The bedroom contained a flatscreen TV on an armoire, soft lounge chair, king-size bed, nightstands with lamps, a lighted alarm clock, and telephone. The bed and chair were both comfortable. The bedding and pillows were good quality. I did not hear any outside noise from the bedroom area.



The bathroom was located off the bedroom. The vanity and a closet were outside the bathroom area. The closet contained hangers, a laundry basket, and an iron and board.

The hairdryer on the wall over the vanity was decent quality, although the mounting screws were loose, and I thought it might  fall off the wall. I liked the spacious walk-in shower in the bathing area. Good quality towels were provided.









Queen studio suite #425
I took the guestroom diagram photo when I was staying in guestroom 428; however, guestroom 425 is also visible showing its location near the elevator.

Even though this guestroom is located close to the elevator, I did not hear much noise from guests in the hallway. I was, however, disturbed by housekeeping when I first arrived. It was around 6 p.m., so I was surprised that they were still cleaning guestrooms. I did not see anyone outside my guestroom when I entered; however, I heard them shortly after I arrived. Housekeepers must have been working with the doors propped open, because for about half an hour, I listened to the loud banging of guestroom doors, as they slammed against the steel door locks, while the housekeepers went in and out of rooms. The noise was quite disruptive as I tried to work and talk on the telephone. Fortunately, this did not last long.

My second stay at this hotel was not nearly as impressive as the first one. This is not because I did not receive a room upgrade; there were several neglected areas in this guestroom.

The queen studio suite had similar furnishings in the kitchen area: a sink, full-size fridge, stovetop, microwave, dishwasher, coffeemaker, and microwave popcorn; however, this guestroom did not have a bar or table eating area.

only decaf coffee

kitchen floor; click on photo
to enlarge it to see debris

There was no regular coffee in the guestroom when I arrived, and there were only two forks in the silverware drawer. I noticed the missing coffee right away, so I went and got a packet from housekeeping in the hallway.

There was quite a bit of debris on the floor in the kitchen area that had not been cleaned. The next day, I noticed that the evening social menu was missing from the fridge. I had taken a photo of the menu when I stayed at this hotel the first time, so I was able to look that up to see what was being served that evening.

desk chair

A similar style desk and chair were located across from the kitchen area at the end of the couch. The work area was adequate, comfortable, and well-lit. The chair needed to be cleaned before I could use it.

The living room area contained the same style comfortable sofa, with a coffee table, and lamps. A flatscreen TV located between the living and sleeping areas could be turned for viewing from either area. I forgot to take a photo of the desk and living area, although I did take one of the sunset from the window in that room.




The bed in this guestroom was pretty much the same, except that it was a queen bed instead of a king bed. The bedding and pillows were the same quality and comfort. I was glad that the bedding was clean!

The bathroom area was the same except that this guestroom has a tub/shower combination instead of a walk-in shower. The vanity area  and closet contained the same items: same type hairdryer, laundry basket, iron, and ironing board.

I observed more debris on the bathroom floor, and some type of liquid stain on the floor by the closet.

closet/vanity room floor

If there had not been so many areas in the guestroom that had not been cleaned, I am sure I would have been just as comfortable in this guestroom as I had been in suite 428.

Food & Beverage
I did not remember the hours of the evening social, and I could not find this information in the guestroom during my second stay. It was not listed in the guestroom directory, and the menu photo I had taken did not include the hours. I called the front desk, and I was told that it is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Both of my stays at this hotel were Monday through Wednesday, and the evening social is only offered Tuesday through Thursday, so I attended two evening socials.

I thought the food offerings in the morning and evening were decent. Along with scrambled eggs at breakfast, all of the fixins were provided for breakfast burritos: soft shells, cheese, tomato, etc. One other hot item was served in addition to scrambled eggs each morning--bacon, sausage, potatoes, or fried egg patties/rounds. A waffle maker, cold cereal, breads, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, fruit, and beverages were provided as well.

The salad toppings both evenings were deluxe! They were fresh and plentiful. I love fresh salad, so I was quite happy with the salad offerings. The topping choices were too numerous to name, so I have included two photos from one of the evenings. There were two chilled sections of salad ingredients both evenings.

There were more food items served that what is listed on the menu. There were also snacks/chips and breads. The wine brand served was Stone Cellars, which I thought was acceptable for one or two glasses. I did not pay attention to the beer or soda brands.

Fitness center
The fitness center contained three cardio machines with cardio theater. I did not have a problem finding an available machine most times, although one morning all three were in use when I arrived. The room also contained a flastcreen TV, hand weights, a weight machine, scale, water cooler, and towels.

Misc. and overall
This is a newer property with a lot of nice features. It is in a good location close to shopping and dining.  One thing that I thought was odd about the setup, is that the outside sitting area faces the road, and the front entrance of the hotel is around the backside of the building facing the shopping center. Maybe this is so the evening sunset can be partially viewed from the patio area.

I hope that my second experience with the housekeeping neglect in the guestroom is not a reflection of how this property will look a year from now.

Old Red Trail Scenic Byway and Enchanted Highway

April 2013, weekend

We took the Old Red Trail Scenic Byway from Dickinson, North Dakota to Bismarck, North Dakota. We had printed a few maps and some information from the website before we left Dickinson; however, the trip was still a bit of a guessing game since the route was not well marked.

I had written the "Talking Trail" telephone number and several extensions on the maps I printed, so we listened to the audio in many of the towns that we went through, which was kind of cool. The only thing I found frustrating with the audio, is that the call disconnected after each segment, so we had to redial the number for the next extension. Some of the towns had three or more points of interest, so it was kind of a pain to redial the number and wait for the connection and greeting instead of just entering the next extension.

One of the stops we wanted to make was at Fort Sauerkraut. We were disappointed that I had not printed good enough directions to get us there, because this was not marked on the trail, and we could not find it.

Another stop we wanted to make was at Lovers Cliff in Almont. Again, the directions were not very clear, and the pushpin location on the map is not accurate. This was not marked on the trail, and after a few wrongs turns, we were finally able to find it. All three of the photos here are of Lovers Cliff.

Near the start of this trip, we took a detour from the Old Red Trail to drive down the Enchanted Highway, which is not too far from where we started in Dickinson. The Enchanted Highway runs from exit 72 off I-94 and south to the town of Regent. The map of the sculpture locations must not be to scale, and most of them must be near the town of Regent, which is 32 miles south of the interstate. We drove half of the distance, as far as the town of Lefor, and saw only two sculptures.

The two sculptures that were saw were pretty cool looking, and if we had not already planned to spend the day taking the Old Red Trail, we would have continued farther south--or, if this southern route would have been close to the direction we needed to go, we would have continued. At this point, we did not know how long it would take us to get to Bismarck at our leisurely pace, so we did not continue after we got as far as Lefor.

These are photos of Deer Crossing and Geese in Flight on the Enchanted Highway.

Geese in Flight from a distance

Geese in Flight entrance
with birds on each post

We sometimes drove great distances in North Dakota without seeing a gas station or a restaurant. Be sure and plan your day accordingly, and enjoy your travels! 

Bismarck, North Dakota / Fairfield Inn & Suites South

April 2013, Weekend, 1-night, King guestroom #316

Status perks and check-in

I had reserved a smaller queen guestroom because the king guestroom rates were higher. The Marriott website does not have a place to add comments when making a reservation online, so I called a couple of days before my arrival to ask if a king upgrade and top floor request could be added to my reservation. 

At check-in, the front desk agent said that I had been upgraded to a king guestroom. I also received the standard Platinum bonus points.

Guestroom 316

This guestroom is a smaller king guestroom on the top floor. We probably would have been better off to keep the queen bed guestroom, since there would have been more room in the guestroom with a slightly smaller bed. This hotel also has larger king guestrooms for only $20 more than the guestroom type I had booked. I was seriously disappointed that this hotel would not automatically upgrade a Platinum level guest to that room type when there were not very many guests in this hotel. If our stay had been for any longer than it was, I would have went back to the front desk and paid the difference for the larger room.

Other than the fact that the guestroom was quite small, it looked similar to other Fairfield Inn hotels I have stayed in. There was a small vanity outside the shower area by the door. The shower room contained a tub/shower combination with a shower curtain on a curved rod, the toilet, and bath towels. The towels were good quality.

The bath amenities on the vanity were good quality--Pantene hair products and Vaseline lotion. The vanity overhead light was very dim. I later learned that it was dim because the bulbs were no good. Shortly after we had checked in, the light above the vanity went completely out. I called the front desk, and an employee brought a bulb up. My husband had to climb up to replace the bulb because the employee could not do it. She had only brought one bulb with her, and after my husband removed the cover, we discovered that there were two burned out bulbs. One must have been burned out before we arrived, and the other one went out after we checked in. We did not have her bring another bulb back, although we probably should have. I would guess that the second bulb has not been replaced, unless another guest complained after our stay. As dim as the light was before it went completely out, I do not see how it could be possible for housekeeping not to know that it had not been right before our stay.

There was a very small closet across from the vanity. There was no full length mirror in the guestroom, and the closet door was wood. A folding luggage rack was in the closet; however, there was not really any room for it in the guestroom. We set it up next to the armoire at the foot of the bed, which did not leave us much room to get through. I did not take a photo showing the inside wall and corner like I often do. There was not very much room between the bed and the inside wall, so the corner of the wall came out where the luggage rack was. This also did not leave enough room for the luggage rack along the wall next to the bed.

The armoire at the foot of the bed held a single serve coffee maker with supplies, the ice bucket, and a flatscreen TV. A small fridge and microwave were located between the armoire and work desk. We did not use the microwave, although I wondered how well it would work after I noticed that it was not sitting level. It does not look unlevel from the angle in the photo in this blog; however, we noticed that it was after we sat down across from it. 

There was a desk chair at the desk, and one small chair and a footstool crunched in beside the king bed. There was a nightstand and lamp on each side of the bed. A generic welcome letter was on the bed with a small milk chocolate.

The guestroom was clean for the most part, although I observed a couple of black stains on the sheets.

Food & Beverage

Breakfast the next morning included: imitation scrambled eggs, sausage, hard boiled eggs, Yoplait yogurt, instant oatmeal, cold cereal, breads, cut fruit, whole  fruits--apples, very ripe bananas, and a couple of very sad looking oranges, juices, coffee and tea. I tried a couple of items that I did not think were very good. The hard boiled eggs had been overcooked and were dry. I liked that the bread items included whole wheat bagels until I tried one, and it tasted very sweet. My husband had the eggs, sausage, and toast. We both thought that this breakfast was not as good as the others we had had this week.

Business center
I reprinted one of our boarding passes with no problem. There was a computer and printer in the lobby sitting area across from the front desk.

Overall

We chose this hotel for our last night in North Dakota because it is close to the airport, and I did not see any other hotels in this area. We were not able to return our car the day before, because this hotel does not have shuttle service. We still liked the idea of not having to drive through town to the airport on a Monday morning though.

I do not know why this hotel is called a Fairfield Inn & Suites. There did not appear to be any suites in the hotel. I did not see any on the room diagrams in the guestroom, and I could not find any available when I tried a search for several future dates.

There are several restaurants nearby: McDonalds, Perkins, TGI Fridays, Famous Daves, Applebees, and probably more that I do not recall.