Iowa City · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels near University of Iowa
Amara Nwosu Africa
These are my five favourites in Iowa City, out of the 20 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.8 down to 4.5.
All five are within 2.3 km of University of Iowa.
Highest rated of the five
Drury Inn & Suites Iowa City Coralville
★★★★★4.8 from 1,147 reviews
Drury Inn & Suites Iowa City Coralville comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.8 from 1,147 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 $144 a night on the dates we checked.
20 hotels in Iowa City qualified for this list and five made it. Courtyard by Marriott Iowa City University Heights is the one I would book if the first is full.
All five, ranked
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1
Drury Inn & Suites Iowa City Coralville
★★★★★4.8 from 1,147 reviews
2.2 km from University of Iowa
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2Courtyard by Marriott Iowa City University Heights
★★★★★4.5 from 370 reviews
800 m from University of Iowa, about a 10 minute walk
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3Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center
★★★★★4.5 from 486 reviews
2.1 km from University of Iowa
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4Hilton Garden Inn Iowa City Downtown University
★★★★★4.5 from 786 reviews
1.8 km from University of Iowa, about a 22 minute walk
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5Homewood Suites by Hilton Coralville - Iowa River Landing, IA
★★★★★4.5 from 741 reviews
2.3 km from University of Iowa
How this list was put together
20 Iowa City hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to University of Iowa 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.
Amara Nwosu Africa
Books holidays a year ahead because court calendars demand it, then travels hard for three weeks. West Africa most years to see family, somewhere new in between.
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.