Hypo-allergenic bedding, pillowtop beds, individually decorated, desk
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Reviews of The Highlander Hotel

4 out of 5
The Highlander Hotel
2525 Highlander Place, Iowa City, IA

Reviews

9.0

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 415 out of 604 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 97 out of 604 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 49 out of 604 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 25 out of 604 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 18 out of 604 reviews" "

9.0/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.2/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

6/10 Okay

Suzan

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Hotel is pretty clean. Halls do smell like old hotel. Place is huge and felt like a ghost town checking in. Staff was very nice. It is an old Marriott that has has some remodeling. Beds were white/clean/ comfortable but carpet seems older. There are no conveniences nearby such as restaurants etc. Didn’t stay for breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

6/10 Okay

Bradley

Traveled with family and small children
Disliked: Staff & service
Nothing special. Weekend workers rude. Payment for breakfast on Sunday. No reasonable breakfast on Sunday for this pre- payment. Car lights shining directly into rooms as leaving hotel from 12 to 3 am. Not a good look for a place that sells place to sleep.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

windy

Traveled with family and small children, Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Many different things to do with the family. Food was good. However pool closing at 9 for the kids was a bit early. Also age limit for the hot tub. But overall it was fun
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Adam

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Funky and fun destination!
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 14, 2024
Thank you, Adam! We are glad you enjoyed our vibe. Hope to have you again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Kara

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
My family truly enjoyed staying here. The retro fun feel of hotel was so much fun, the pool and hot tub were fantastic, and the breakfast in the morning put every other hotel breakfast to shame. Seriously, the banana bread oatmeal and the breakfast potatoes were amazing. Also there is a lot of outdoor space to hang out on a beautiful day and the staff were all great.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 14, 2024
Kara,Thank you for all of your incredible feedback! I am glad you all had such a wonderful time. We hope to have you back again, soon!

4/10 Poor

Deb

Traveled with family and small children
Old property with some updates but still has older feel. Red Stains on counter in room we couldn’t wipe off. 🙁. Pillow top mattress is not that. Bathtub is olde and stained. Pool area nice. However the building seems staff less and you had to look hard to find them. No breakfast bar during week—grab and go. Wouldn’t stay here again. I think it is supposed to be a historic property but not that historic
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Highlander Hotel Team on Apr 2, 2024
Deb, we are sorry that we did not meet all your needs. We as a team are reflecting on all of your observations and correcting them. We are continuously working on staffing and have made changes already to have more staff on hand to ensure guests are all taken care of. We thank you for the time and feedback, and we will correct these issues. All the best, Highlander Hotel Team

8/10 Good

Tina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The staff was accommodating and friendly! Always answered questions without making my 12 year old son or I feel like an inconvenience. The hotel is beautiful and spacious. But there was one thing that I seen in the reviews which was the cleanliness of the pool. That is true. The walls definitely need a good scrub down. People have made smiley faces and wrote “Hi” in the scum. The water was clean and warm. There are two things that The Highlander heavily advertises which is the arcade and the courtyard. There were several arcade games that don’t work so if you are looking to play nostalgic games such as Frogger or PacMan there were out of order. The courtyard is advertised as having a fire pit and there wasn’t one. They do offer a brunch buffet on Sundays. Children over the age of 10 are charged as an adult which is around $33. The hot complimentary breakfast that is offered the other days is the best I have ever had! Delicious!
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Highlander Hotel Team on Apr 2, 2024
Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know about your stay. We apologize for falling short on the specific items you mentioned. I do want to let you know that as of this week we have already corrected the arcade games and today the pool was deep cleaned to eliminate the film. We are hopeful that these few hiccups will not hold you back from coming to see us again. We LOVE to entertain! All the best,Highlander Hotel Team

10/10 Excellent

Lulu

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

8/10 Good

Sarah, Elberon

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
We liked that the pool was large and so was the hot tub. Busy weekend, so it was loud but quieted down after 11pm. Our specific room had cracks in the ceiling and the wood veneer was falling apart. Didn’t expect that for the price we paid. Otherwise, staff was friendly, pool was in good condition, and the breakfast was fabulous.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 3, 2024
Sarah,We appreciate your feedback. I am happy to hear you were happy with our team, and our awesome pool area! We will notify maintenance of these issues immediately.

10/10 Excellent

Jen

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Fantastic hotel. Excellent food, atmosphere, service , cleanliness, experience.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 3, 2024
Jen! Thank you so much for your kind words. We are glad you had such a great time. We look forward to having you again soon!

8/10 Good

Joy

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great place great staff. Food order was incomplete and music too loud to sleep poolside and pool floor very slick. People in Next room got the floor soaked and we slipped going out to hot tub.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 3, 2024
Joy,We appreciate your feedback. We are happy you are pleased with our staff! Of course, with any pool the floors can get slippery when wet. We do our best to keep the area dry as possible.

8/10 Good

Paige

Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Such a great place to stay with kids. Pool, arcade, breakfast, everything we needed for multiple nights.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 3, 2024
Paige,Thank you for the feedback! We are so glad you enjoyed your multiple night stay with us, and hope to have you back in the future!

8/10 Good

Annalisa

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Cheryl

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Friendly staff. Great pool area!!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Mar 26, 2024
Thank you for your kind words, Cheryl!We hope to have you back again soon.

10/10 Excellent

James

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Apr 14, 2024
Thank you, James!We are glad you enjoyed your stay!

10/10 Excellent

Barbara

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Kids loved the pool and breakfast!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Mar 17, 2024
Barbara, We are so glad you and your family had such an amazing time. We hope to have you guys back again soon!

6/10 Okay

Ramey

Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hot tub needs to be cleaned. The walls were black and very dirty.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Mar 17, 2024
Ramey,Thank you so much for your feedback. I can assure you our hot tub gets a scrub down weekly and is tested monthly by the state and Hygienic Laboratory to stay open. Our spa gets it most use during spring break. We hope you enjoyed your time with us, as well.

10/10 Excellent

Sarah

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff was wonderful! Pool and hot-tub hit for the girls! Nice that we did not have to leave to eat too!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Mar 10, 2024
Sarah, Thank you for your kind words! We are glad you had such a great time in the pool!

10/10 Excellent

Amber

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Mar 24, 2024
Thanks, Amber! Glad you had a great stay with us. Hope to have you back again soon.

8/10 Good

Carol

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice pool, some arcade machines. Breakfast passable. The shake blender broke. Many arcade machines not working. Understaffed but those that were working, were working hard
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 20, 2024
Carol,Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you noticing our teams hard work!

10/10 Excellent

Cary

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Everything was great the staff was great. I was surprised that there was no phone in the room in case we needed the front desk. I was also surprised that electric car charging stations are in prominent places over handicapped parking. otherwise we enjoyed our stay and would recommend the Highlander as an enjoyable place to stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 20, 2024
Cary,We are glad you enjoyed your stay! We hope to see you back again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Bailey A, Ames

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel has improved significantly since rebranding. It's cleaner, and feels more safe.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 11, 2024
Thank you, Bailey! We are happy to hear you have enjoyed all of the improvements. Hope to have you back again soon! Look forward to having you guys again soon.

4/10 Poor

Nina

Traveled with group, Traveled with partner, Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
There was zero supervision and regulation of rules in the pool area. We were looking forward to the 9-10pm break from the chaotic children in the pool but they did not leave the area and were both swimming and in the common pool area through the duration of the adult time. Additionally, there was some sort of fiber or foreign substance floating throughout the pool when we attempted to enter. We decided it was too filthy and left the area instead. Our stay wasn’t at all what we expected or what was advertised. Highly disappointed.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 11, 2024
Nina, We appreciate your feedback. We are sorry you had a less than perfect stay with us. Our busiest days in the pool are definitely are Friday's and Saturday's as you can imagine, as many families stay with us for our oversized pool! We will be sure to speak again with our pool attendant staff. Thank you,

2/10 Terrible

Tristan

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kaitlyn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Room was fantastic! Water pressure was also great.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 11, 2024
Thank you for the positive feedback. We are glad you have enjoyed your room, and your stay!

10/10 Excellent

Carlyn

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Mar 30, 2024
Thank you, Carlyn! We are glad you enjoyed your stay!

8/10 Good

Craig

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Appreciated that the window screen in the room was white, so that it didn’t darken the room when the lights were on, but at night a bright glare appeared all around the screened window which made it difficult to sleep. Would have preferred dark curtains to pull which would have closed off outside light from the parking lot. Also heard a dog barking much of the night from an adjoining room. The public rooms of the hotel were hip and fun spaces. It was convenient to Iowa City downtown. Not sure whether we’ll try it again.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 9, 2024
Hi Craig,Thank you for your feedback. I will be sure to pass this on. Our poolside and courtyard rooms do have black-out type curtains in the rooms! We hope to see you back again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Benjamin, Waterloo

Business traveler
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The hotel itself is AMAZING. Our specific stay the parking lot and road leading to the hotel was not plowed at all and we had difficulty even after 2 days there of getting through the snow. All other nearby lots and roads had been cleared well. Otherwise, the stay was exceptional.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 9, 2024
Thank you for your kind words, Benjamin! We are glad you loved the hotel and had an exceptional stay! The snow frustrated us, too! Unfortunately, we were at the mercy of our snow-plower, everyone was incredibly backed up. We would love to have you back (now that the snow is gone!)

10/10 Excellent

Stephanie

Business traveler, Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The property was not plowed or salted well at all. Driving around the building was terrible even with awd. Sidewalks were not salted at all and dangerous to walk with the ice.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Jade

Traveled with group
Liked: Amenities
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The pool was nice, despite being very crowded. The hot tub was closed much to our disappointment. The rooms and facilities didn't seem nearly as newly renovated as the pictures would have you believe. The "restaurant" consisted of a bar and a handful or tables in a corner behind it. My friends and I were very confused, thinking this can't possibly be the right place? The service was so absolutely slow I nearly couldn't believe how slowly the girls behind the bar were moving. Zero sense of urgency, even considering several people were waiting to be helped and visibly irritated. All in all it was an okay experience, but not a place I would recommend to anyone else.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Kortney

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from Katelyn (FDM) on Feb 11, 2024
Thank you, Kourtney. Please feel free to reach out with any other questions or concerns.

10/10 Excellent

Angela

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Clean and comfortable. Newly remodeled and well decorated.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Nathan

Traveled with pets
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This hotel is a super fun stay. It has a minimalist style, but the hotel itself is pretty neat. I didn’t get to use the amenities other than the free soda and room service. The food was decent, and well priced. My only drawbacks were the minimalist style; which didn’t give me any seats to relax in. Otherwise it’s a great hotel and a place I would return to if I ever do a road trip again. -Staff was very kind and helpful -Food was well priced -Huge Pool -Breakfast Buffet with the usual options -Beds are super comfy !!!One caution: they charged me three times for my one night stay and I had to call and have two of the charges removed. They were very courteous and quick about correcting it, but I would advise checking your account during and after your stay. This was during a major snowstorm which could have contributed to the error.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Margaret

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fun place!
A lovely staff. We stayed during a blizzard. No elevators and 2nd floor room did not work well for us. Apparently you do not want to draw older people, who actually appreciated and understand all the cool 60’s and 70’s touches. In the bathroom the stool was short, like I would expect in a grammar school. Breakfast was nice. Beautiful pool area and party room. The arcade and bar were very good. A lot of games which the kids loved. We had a fun time!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Sheryl

Liked: Amenities
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Janelle

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The hot tub wasn’t super hot so the staff gave me a complementary drink!

8/10 Good

Denise

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Angie

Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The hotel itself, the lobby, and our room were all great. The service from every staff member we interacted with was excellent. My only loss of stars is because of the pool area. Online, this huge pool area with a large hot tub and snack bar was the mIn reason we chose this hotel over others. But we were disappointed to see the pool area very dirty; gross hairballs all over the floor, nasty floaters in the hot tub and pool, and wet messes in slippery floor everywhere. We’d hoped to see the outdoor space and courtyard, but it didn’t seem to be open. So that was disappointing. Everything else about the hotel was great.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Ann

You got to stay here
The staff is over the top. Helpful with service. Polite with all the questions asked. Ordered supper and the service and food was tasty the pool area was huge and open. Wish they would let U take a drink to pool. The bar service was very responsible in $ beautiful hotel
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

4/10 Poor

Emily

Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overall Disappointed
Room lacked some convenient amenities that are expected in a hotel (even with the understanding that this hotel is a renovation) including a closet/pole/hangers for coats and a small dresser for clothing. Soap bottles had gunk on the dispensers. Makeup remover packets were dirty on packaging. The furnace was alarmingly loud and disruptive to our sleep. The railing to enter pool was loose or seemed unsecured. Did appreciate the friendliness of the staff and the thoughtfulness of pool toys/floaties available for use. Pool space was impressive overall. We just did not feel the cost of the room was justified with the condition of the room.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Amanda

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Justin

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Frank

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Planning for next year already!!
can't say enough about our family get together. Friedly accomdating staff, everything was clean and comfortable. cozy seating areas game room, ping pong/pool tables POOL cool atomsphere with those garage type doors that open into the courtyard HUGE lawn chess set
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Hope (GM) on Jan 7, 2024
We are so happy you enjoyed your stay! Hoping to have you back to enjoy some of those courtyard games!

10/10 Excellent

Ronda

Traveled with family
Liked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great for the whole family! Staff was wonderful and accommodating!! Will be back for a longer stay.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Hope (GM) on Jan 7, 2024
We are so glad you had a great time! Happy New Year!

10/10 Excellent

Clinton

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very friendly
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Peter

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

6/10 Okay

Daleta

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Laura

Traveled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Cool concept. Very moist & hard to access 2nd floor

10/10 Excellent

Jeana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kathy

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023