Des Moines · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels near Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel
Daniel Kovac Central Europe
These are my five favourites in Des Moines, out of the 15 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.4 down to 4.1.
All five are within 2.2 km of Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel.
Highest rated of the five
La Quinta by Wyndham Altoona Des Moines
★★★★★4.4 from 841 reviews
La Quinta by Wyndham Altoona Des Moines comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.4 from 841 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 3 star property, found under poi and around $83 a night on the dates we checked.
15 hotels in Des Moines qualified for this list and five made it. My Place Hotel-Altoona, IA is the one I would book if the first is full.
All five, ranked
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1
La Quinta by Wyndham Altoona Des Moines
★★★★★4.4 from 841 reviews
800 m from Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel, about a 10 minute walk
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2My Place Hotel-Altoona, IA
★★★★★4.3 from 300 reviews
500 m from Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel, about a 6 minute walk
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3Comfort Inn Altoona - Des Moines
★★★★★4.1 from 385 reviews
600 m from Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel, about a 8 minute walk
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4Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Des Moines Altoona
★★★★★4.6 from 578 reviews
2.1 km from Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel
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5Hampton Inn & Suites Altoona-Des Moines
★★★★★4.5 from 669 reviews
2.2 km from Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel
- Pool
- Gym
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
How this list was put together
15 Des Moines hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel second, then took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Daniel Kovac Central Europe
Takes the same two weeks every August and drives somewhere far with his wife and daughter. Twelve countries, all by road, all in one battered estate car. Plans routes on paper maps.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.