Arrived in Mankato late one afternoon and expected to be turned away because we had no reservations, but to our surprise, not only did they have a room, we were upgraded to a much nicer, larger room. Several of the other hotels in town were booked. This HIE appeared to be very new, was beautiful, clean and inviting. Our king room was huge, the bed was wonderful, and the fridge and microwave were bonuses. Staff was great and could not have been more pleasant. We travel to Mankato frequently from Texas and we will never stay anywhere else while there. So pleased to see such high standards as set by HIE in Mankato!

I was just expecting a plain-Jane hotel room when I booked, so I was surprised to find such a nice modern, spacious hotel. Not only was there a leather couch, flat screen tv and luxury bedding but also a small refrigerator and microwave. The bathroom was roomy and included a tub. We didn't have time to use the pool or game room but I suppose a lot of families would find that a bonus. The breakfast set out each morning included hot items like biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs and hot cinnamon rolls along with standard cold items, juices coffee and milk. Very well done.

We also liked that we could reach our car easily by using the side doors (card access of course). There were plenty of shops and restaurants close by. All in all we felt we got a very good value for our money.

My wife and I stayed here recently for a business trip. Overall, our stay was pleasant. The room was clean and quiet. The television had several stations that did not tune, and the paper card with the listing of the television stations was out of date and inaccurate, but these were minor annoyances; sufficiently minor that we did not even say anything to the front desk, so I can't address how responsive they might have been to them. The only real complaint we had was with the breakfast service. When we checked in, the front desk clerk explained that breakfast was available until 9:30 a.m. While this may have been technically true, the breakfast service was not actually refreshed any time after 8:30 a.m. I went down to breakfast at 8:30 to find only two omelettes remaining in the warming tray, and based on the temperature and texture of the one I ate, it had been there a while. My wife joined me at 9:00 a.m., and the only omelette remaining was the same one that had been sitting there when I arrived 30 minutes earlier. She choked that one down, and we left about 9:15. At no time during the 45 minutes I was there did anyone add anything to the breakfast service. They may have kept it open until 9:30, but if you wanted any selection, let alone anything that was actually hot, you had to arrive more than an hour before that. So if breakfast is unimportant to you, or you get up earlier than we did, this is a great place to stay. If having a breakfast included with the price of your room makes a difference in your lodging choice, you might want to give it a second thought. . . or maybe just get up earlier.

This hotel is very new, very clean, and the rooms are very quiet. We stayed in a room at the very end of the hallway near a back exit and even then it was very quiet. The breakfast was good, and the pool area is well-kept with a nice little area for babies/toddlers.