Courtyard Hotels in Council Bluffs

Overall, this would be a good hotel property - not amazing - but good. However, the insanely bright flashing light of the smoke detector (compared to smoke detectors in dozens of other hotels rooms I've stayed in through years of work-related and recreational travel) requires a WARNING: Bring a sleep mask. Or you may want to pack some masking tape or duct tape to temporarily cover the bulb of the smoke detector (of course, without doing anything that would interfere with its operation). This may not be an issue if you are not a heavy sleeper or if you find flashing lights restful. Even sleeping in a position that faced away from the detector, the intense, flashing, green light (about every 10 seconds) lit up the ceiling, walls, and sides of the pillow. I've experienced issues with flashing smoke detector lights before - but none like this one. Who was the unqualified buffoon at Marriott who selected this model for a room intended for sleep?! Apart from this [significant, for me] flashing-light-in-room issue, the hotel was decent. It seemed safe and reasonably clean. The rate was reasonable. The front desk staff were professional and competent. Bedding was comfortable. The location is convenient for accessing nearby downtown Omaha. The setting is a little bland - in the middle of an area of parking lots and sports venues. You'll need a car to get to more interesting areas of Council Bluffs & Omaha for meals, etc. The soundproofing is not great. We could hear our neighbors TV clearly most evenings as well as noise in the hallways. The hotel provides coffee but does not offer tea - in the rooms or in the front lobby. I guess the same genius who saved money by buying a combo smoke detector/lighthouse decided that lowering service another notch in order to save $0.50 per guest (on tea) was a smart idea for a business in the hospitality industry. A final note on the smoke detector. The light bulb on this model illuminates both on the outside (like most models) but also (deviously!) within the inside of the plastic frame - and the frame has a big grating. So even if you put a small piece of tape or a band-aid on the exposed, outside part of the bulb, you will still get to see some flash from within the grating. With apologize to the reader if this review seems a bit obsessed with the smoke detector, but I have stayed in literally hundreds of hotel rooms and not experienced a flashing smoke detector light THIS intense before. My primary goal for my hotel room is sleep, and it boggles my mind that someone chose a model with a very bright flashing light for a hotel room. Come prepared.