We spent a night here, after visiting sights in South Dakota. We decided to visit ND in this trip too, since we were already in this part of the country, but there really isn't much to see. We were going to be flying home from Bismarck the following day, so we decided to stay here. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the horrific smell. This hotel smells musty and our room smelled like cigarette smoke, though it was supposed to be a non smoking room.

They have sleep number beds, which neither of us particularly likes, but they were ok to sleep on. The room is tiny. As soon as you walk in, you're practically on the bed. It's quite possibly the smallest room we've ever had in a hotel.

Their tvs are very old fashioned, and while we never watch tv while traveling, there is nothing to do in Bismarck. Nothing. And coupled with the freezing temps, we spent most of the time in our room, anxiously awaiting our flight back to sunny and warm San Diego.

This hotel definitely doesn't live up to the Raddison standards. We've stayed at many and this is by far the worst one. When we tried to order room service, they were out of half the things on the menu. I've never had that happen at a hotel. If you find yourself in Bismarck, I'd look for other accomodations.

Rooms have been upgraded. The staff are tops! The restaurant is one of the best in Bismarck. Yes, the train whistles are loud. That is not their fault. The City needs to deal with this!

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel Bismarck for two nights in August 2009.

Check-in: We arrived at 2 p.m. and were able to check-in right away. Check in was very fast and front desk staff were friendly.

Room: The rooms were nice. We had a standard room with two queen beds. The room was on the small size. It was fine for two adults but if you had a couple kids in the room with you it would be pretty tight. I really liked the look of the bedding---it was white with navy trim. The bedding, carpet, and curtains were new and in good condition. The Sleep Number beds were very comfortable.

The bathroom in our room wasn't in the best condition and seemed dated. I always find this with hotel bathroom though. They seem to be the last thing renovated. Plus, the moisture makes the bathroom age more quickly. The wood veneer on the door was peeling and the walls and ceiling had a few water marks.

I saw other reports on this hotel saying the rooms were dirty but ours was very clean.

Maid Service: This was a bit weird. We always put a Do Not Disturb sign at night so we aren't interrupted early in the morning. This hotel starts cleaning rooms very early. We heard the maids starting at 8 a.m. We were out of our room at 9 a.m. and say a note on our door. It said they came to clean our room but since our Do Not Disturb sign was on they would not be cleaning our room and to contact the front desk for clean towels and toiletries if needed. I've never been to a hotel that does this and found it strange. At the very least I would think they would come back a bit later to see if the guests had left. I would understand if you had the Do Not Disturb sign on your room until noon, but leaving by 9 a.m. should give you plenty of time to have your room cleaned.

Parking: When you check in, you receive a pass for the parkade (which is connected to the hotel). The pass allows you to park free in the parkade for the duration of your stay. There is covered parking our you can simply go through the main floor of the parkade to an outdoor gravel parking lot.

Pool: We didn't use the pool or hot tub but took a look at the area. It seemed clean and nice. The pool is very small.

Location: The location of this hotel was very convenient. It was downtown so easy to get to all the attractions we wanted to go to. The Dakota Zoo is about a 5 minute drive. The Riverboat Cruise was about 7 minutes. We walked to the State Capital which was about a 15 minute walk. We also walked to the Kirkwood mall which was about a 10 minute walk. (Note: There are a lot of one-ways around the hotel since it is downtown. Also, the hotel is near the train tracks.)

Noise:The hotel is near the train tracks and we did hear train whistles blowing in the night. My husband is a sound sleeper so he didn't her it. I am a light sleeper and I must admit the noise did wake me up one or twice each night, but I could easily go back to sleep.

The maid service also was quite noisy in the morning. As mentioned, they start cleaning rooms around 8 a.m. (at least on the 6th floor). There were three housekeeping staff talking loudly while checking/cleaning the rooms. This woke us up both mornings and the second morning they were actually having a conversation close to our room and we heard about 10 minutes of load chit-chat.

Food: There is a restaurant in the hotel but we didn't try it as it seemed overpriced. McDonalds is right across the street. There is also a Mexican restaurant within a 1 minute walk. We wanted to try it but had just had Mexican food in Minot so didn't get a chance to. There are also restaurants in and around the Kirkwood mall (Ground Round, Dave's BBQ, Grizzly's). We tried Ground Round one night and it was good.

Continental Breakfast: There was no continental breakfast here. There is a small coffee maker in your room. In addition, there is coffee in the lobby although one of the mornings they were already out by 9:30 a.m.

Check-out: Check-out took less than 30 seconds.

Generally we thought this hotel was okay. We got a deal because we were staying on a weeknight so it was $90 per night so for that price it was worth it (I would not pay more than that.) For couples of business travellers I would recommend it. However, for families I think the standard room is a bit small.

If you are a late sleeper, make sure to put your Do Not Disturb sign and be prepared to not have your room cleaned. If your sensitive to noise, I would avoid this hotel.

Great location downtown but I was on the 8th floor, west side and was awoken by train whistles at night.

Building is old and rooms are small but maintenance is good. Internet worked great. breakfast was quick and they set up a buffet when bus tours are there.