Clarion Inn

motel is just an old holiday inn, from the early 70's. the interior decor has not changed, since the 70's. carpets are filthy, rooms out-dated, parking lot unkempt. multiple exterior lights burnt out, hallways and carpets are filthy, and disgusting. staff is rude, inattentive and untrained. free breakfast is plain, boring and repetitive. the rooms are a mixture of 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000. entire building runs the heat off of a boiler, and when the management decides it's "warm" out, they turn off the heat. unfortunately, "warm" to someone from mason city iowa, is not warm to someone from the rest of the country. the rooms have no micro-fridge, but if you need one, they'll deliver a filthy little fridge, and mis-matched microwave, for a 10 dollar fee. why in the year 2014 these items aren't in the room, remains a mystery. the exterior doors, that are supposed to be locked at night, and can only be opened using a room key, are all broken. this makes it easier for you to get inside, after hours, but it also allows anyone else to wander in as well. the dated pool, and "abandoned" feeling to the atrium, seems like a scene reminiscent of an "end of the world" type b-movie. the best bet would be to go to the other side of town and check into a newer, cleaner and more customer friendly motel. you can thank me later. ;)
Oct 9th, 2014

It was good - after we asked to be moved to a different room. We initially stayed in room number 124 near the pool. Mold was coming out of the air conditioner. We stayed there in August 2014. The hotel has a U shaped plan around an indoor pool. Once we switched to a room on the outside of the U, away from the pool, we had no problems and really enjoyed the room. But we like it cold. Multiple other guests were complaining that their rooms were too cold. I think you basically have two options - no air conditioning or cold, but our air conditioner had 3 settings - don't know if they work or not since my boyfriend really likes it cold. We liked it. The beds were very comfortable and we slept well. A+ for the beds. They can provide feather pillows or hypoallergenic pillows and the beds are pillow tops - more comfortable than my bed at home. The breakfast changed every day, a little. Quite a variety, but I don't really like the eggs that come from a carton. My boyfriend liked the sausage. They also have waffles, fruit, toast, english muffins, 3 cereals, 3 types of muffins, multiple flavors of yogurt, 3 different juices, coffee, milk, and cubes of potatoes. Lots to choose from. Tables fill up fast, but you can always sit around the indoor pool or take it back to your room. Easy walking distance to grocery and many restaurants. Be sure to read the reviews of the local restaurants, some we tried were really bad and others were good. Nothing spectacular. The art museum and statues in town on the walking tour were really fun. Maintenance man on-site and very fast. Very friendly front desk. Free ping pong, pool costs $1.50 per game. Free swimming but not open early. Free exercise room but you have to ask for the key. Two story buildings. A second building is behind the main building, don't know if this is better or worse than the main building. Both buildings are maintained ok, not great, and don't appear to be remodeled in a long time. I agree with another review that said there aren't many decent hotels in town. Even though it isn't the best, it's probably close to the top for Mason City. I noticed that they also have business class rooms - so these might be even nicer than ours. I definitely enjoyed coming back to the room in the evenings to fall into their wonderful beds. I noticed that the first room had a really old bathroom, not appealing; but the room we ended up in had been remodeled a little and was decent. This hotel will never be full, it is large for Mason City. Shame on the staff for putting us in a poor room to begin with. Ask your customers if they prefer cold/hot, near pool/not, etc. Don't make them have to ask to be moved. But on the plus side, once you complain they try hard to please.
Sep 18th, 2014

We stay in this hotel a lot for work.They're very acomidating and pleasant. The hotel is still one of the better ones to stay at in town. Maybe not the newest, but if you're comparing price you get more with this hotel than anything else in town. Only exception may be the historic write hotel which is more \of an attraction than a hotel.
Aug 28th, 2014

Outdated musty hotel. Can not change input source on TVs and the internet is fair to poor. This will be my last time staying here.
Mar 13th, 2014

Desk clerk was professional and courteous. Rooms definitely dated and need of improvements as well as a good sanitizing. Old smoke odors. Did the job as a last minute place to crash on a long drive though.
Jul 29th, 2013