Best Western Plus Capitol Ridge

I selected Capitol Ridge for a my week-long business travel stay after finding my usual hotel chains were completely booked. I didn't expect much - Best Westerns are ok but nothing special - but I was pleasantly surprised with my overall experience. On the plus side, staff were friendly, and check-in and -out were quick and easy. I was able to get a completely itemized bill immediately upon check-out, which was a great help for recording travel expenses quickly. The room itself was very large, with a good desk, king-sized very comfortable bed, large bathroom/shower, mini-fridge, coffeemaker, and other amenities. The hotel has gone through a renovation recently, and although it may not look top-class on the outside, the inside was fine (a little worn here and there, but nothing major). An airport shuttle service is available, which surprised me, as many hotels have stopped that service, in my experience (the airport is roughly 20 minutes away by car). Parking is gated, in and out, but plentiful spaces are available. A restaurant is also in the hotel lobby for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the downside, other than the hotel restaurant, eateries and other shops are in the distance. If you're willing to walk, there are some good restaurants on the far side of the Cathedral across the highway, but other than those, you need to drive or get an Uber or Lyft. The nearest large grocery/retail shop is over two miles away. The hotel restaurant was ok for breakfast, but the scrambled eggs ranged from cold to lukewarm most mornings, but everything else was fine. less

The hotel was described as being some 1200 or so feet from downtown. Perhaps the periphery of downtown, but it was quite a bit further to get to any restaurants downtown. On the plus side, the view from the room was pleasant and the staff helpful and polite and the free breakfast was decent, and the hotel does have free parking. The problem I had with the room was with the fact that the room was postage stamp sized. We had two queen beds but there was really no room to sit on the one chair they squeezed in between the wardrobe and the credenza. The TV was relatively small. But worst of all was the size of the bathroom. It was about the smallest I have ever seen in a hotel. the ceiling was no more than 7 feet high (if that high), so that anyone in the mid 6 foot range would feel as if their head was going to go through the ceiling. less

Not easy to navigate to and from the property, but once you figure it out, it is not a problem. The staff, rooms and amenities are exceptional. Good price for the location. The shuttle service was a great perk for getting to/from the Minnesota State Fair. less

While getting to the motel was a bit of a challenge due to the road set up, the motel was worth the effort. The room was very comfortable. The overnight snack selection at the front desk wasn't over priced. The front desk employees were super friendly. The complimentary breakfast had quality protein along with yummy carbs. Overall a good experience. less

Two parts to this review.... 1st part- reserving & billing....... Months prior to my wedding, I had reserved a "room block" for my guests who were coming in from out of town. No problems there. Time goes by & its weeks prior to my wedding. We (groom & I) decided it be in best interest to hire my 20yr old son & a couple of our under 21 relatives, to be the designated drivers for our guests, after our rehearsal dinner party & our wedding reception. In exchange of being the designated drivers, they got tipped by everyone who was driven by them and we (the groom & I) paid the cost for their hotel room. (2 nights) Here is where the confusion starts.... My first phone call to BW, the desk clerk was very nice, but unfortunately she was very confused. We spent at least 45mins on the phone together. We ended the conversation with her advising that we wait until the following day to have the manager book it.....um ok? The following business day, a manager called my (then) fiancé , the manager seemed quite confused by our request of wanting to pay for someone else room. I get it, maybe loss in translation situation .IDK. The week of the wedding we hadn't received any email confirmation so I called BW to confirm the reservations. Spoke with "Vicki" who was a peach. She had informed me that FIVE separate rooms had been reserved for just one night. Not just ONE room for TWO nights. So, fiancé & I drove down to BW to personally clear up any confusion. They took my debit card then said I will be billed once they check out two days later. Billing.... One thing you should know, is that the state of Minnesota has a pretty high "state tax logging fee" , as well as Ramsey county & city of St Paul. Being a part time state employee ,a former WI commuter employee, I am fully aware of these taxes & usually (combined) on average, it does not exceed 13.5%. So I must say it was quite a surprise when I was charge separately for each night & had a 17% tax charge along with each night. 17%. Had my bill been consolidated (as most hotels do) it would've cut $9.00 off of the grand total of what I was charged. It has been one week and I STILL have yet to receive a receipt itemizing the tax charges. That request has been ignored. So Im going off of what my bank statement says. No, there were NO extra charges to the room, no movie orders, no room order food & in fact, the designated drivers were neighboring rooms to a relative who is a federal judge & the other side of their room, was a retired coast guard. And, yeah, for one person that high "tax" fee really isn't THAT much....until you combine a fully booked weekend, the numbers can add up fast. 2nd part-Customer service ...... Even though there were some questionable conversations , leading up to our wedding day, we believed everything was straightened out. Our 3 man crew of designated drivers had no problems the first evening of their stay. Check in was easy & smooth. The second evening however.... Two of our young drivers returned later in the evening, after dropping our wedding guests off. They had the hotel room keys so they headed to their room to discover that their key cards no longer working. So they went to notify the front desk worker. The desk clerk informed them that they had already checked out of their hotel that evening & didn't believe them when they were saying how there personal belongings were still in the room. He said he was not going to help them since neither of their names were on the room reservation & he showed them a bill as evidence that they had been checked out. They were forced to wait for over an hour in the lobby until family members from the reception started to arrive. In the meantime, the desk clerk ordered a pizza & stayed perched at the desk to keep an eye on the guys waiting. Once other relatives arrived, after others customers vouching for them & even offering to pay for their stay, the desk clerk gave new keys while making a comment that management & security will be arriving at the hotel shortly & that they had time to back out of their claim of being in that room. Again, the new keys did not register to their hotel room so the desk clerk (heavily agitated) stomped down the hall to their room, only to discover that his master key card, also was not working properly. He also did a quick glance that their personal belongings were in fact, in the room & left mentioning about management being there shortly. The following day, there was zero apologies made. When I had called, the person I spoke with dodged it with the excuse that she was not there when it all happened & to call back if theres a mistake on my bill. I am still awaiting a response from BW headquarters along with my itemized receipt. I have NEVER left a bad review before. And I hope that if you end up staying there, your experience will be much better than mine & my family. less