The Historic Park Inn Hotel

Surprised my sister this last weekend with a two night stay here, as she is a huge FLW fan! The photos don't do this place justice, because to be inside this building and enjoy all the features and FLW design is exceptional! A true adventure of a hotel! I very much respect the foundation that works so hard at keeping this place up. It is very clean inside and out, and very well run. Very quiet too! Keitha at the front desk, was there all weekend, working with staff that was short a person. She was lovely, professional and accommodating. We greatly enjoyed this place and will come back once, if not twice a year now! Just please keep your free parking and good prices, because I no longer go to hotels that are jumping on the bandwagon to overcharge, overcharge and overcharge people for everything these days. *Only one thing was negative on our last morning, the housekeeper was SO LOUD at 8:30 am she actually woke us up. I still find it hard to believe that people don't have a clue to be respectful and quiet in the morning, to me loud people lose my $20 tip. The nice quiet gal the day before got one though! Maybe that should be a lesson for the loud one. NO blame on the hotel or foundation for someone else's ignorance, however. I will be back to HPI and will recommend many people to do the same! Thank you for a wonderful visit!

I have been wanting to come to this hotel for a long time because I love visiting Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. We were not disappointed and can now say that we slept in a FLW hotel! Besides that, it was truly wonderful! Friendly staff from housekeeping, desk attendants, gift shop workers, tour guide, waitresses, etc. Our room was very comfortable. Parking is convenient and free. The hotel has some original FLW and much that is designed to look as FLW designed this hotel in the early 1900's. But, of course, it has been updated to include bathrooms in each room. The hotel is also convenient to walkable sites and restaurants. We had a delightful visit!

I have never slept better in a hotel. The mattress was very comfortable. My room was situated in such a manner that I had no one next to me or above me. It was QUIET. The blinds adequately filtered out light. People go to this hotel to appreciate the architecture. AC worked very well on hot days. There's no pool or anything here to appeal to kids. Thus, the clientele seems to be the over 50 crowd, making it pretty peaceful in the middle of the week. No one is running through the halls or screaming in their room. (I can't speak for a weekend stay.) I like kids, but this would not be a place I would choose to stay with them. The community has taken a great interest in preserving this hotel. The property seems to be greatly valued and financially supported by the town itself, which is not typical for most hotels. It seems to be very well maintained. There are many hidden architectural gems in the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised that parking was free (not typical in downtown hotels). If the street spots are filled, there is additional parking on the west side. The hotel will give you a parking tag, so you can disregard the time limits mentioned on the signs in the street. Housekeeping was on its A-game. My room was cleaned every morning. The maid even picked up an earring I'd dropped on the floor and put it on the desk. The front desk staff double as concierges, and were quite helpful. The area is very walkable to restaurants. One minor negative is that there's a very nice balcony on the second floor with comfy seating. The door to the balcony seems to be locked and unlocked inconsistently. The balcony has a great view of the park. My friend and I wanted to sit out there the first afternoon we were there. The door was locked. That evening, a couple was sitting out there, so someone had obviously unlocked it at some point. We were in the adjacent ladies' lounge, and an employee asked the couple to vacate the balcony around 9PM so it could be locked for the evening. The next afternoon, we were sitting in the same lounge when another couple tried to use the balcony, and found it locked again. We think that it gets locked at night for safety reasons, and staff forget to unlock it the next day? I would stay here again.

The sell for me of the Park Inn was staying in (the only remaining) Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel. I expected I’d need to deal with the typical issues of older hotels like small rooms and weak water flow. But the Park Inn was renovated in 2011 and it has modern furnishings and HVAC and plumbing and the rooms were combined to make them larger. I was surprised that it was built in 1910 because it didn’t feel like it. And of course all the design elements I expected from a FLW building are here. The structure is mostly as Wright designed it and while the furnishings and fixtures are not, they are all classic Wright-designs. If you want to spend a night in a Wright-designed building, this is the one. Plus it’s centrally-located in Mason City and the room rates were no more than a standard mid-range chain. I was very glad I stayed here.

This is a historic hotel, so the hallways and rooms may be smaller. It is a wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright hotel. My husband and I really enjoyed our stay and looking around the hotel. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was updated nicely and had a shower. The gift shop was marvelous -- lots of FLW items and the staff is very knowledgeable. Just a nice place to visit.

Stopped in at 9:30 pm after dinner at the Quarry. We had every intention of after dinner drinks and possibly dessert. The lobby was empty with the exception of a man sitting with a mask on below his nose in the corner by the door, who said nothing to us. We’re not sure what his purpose was. We found our way downstairs to the bar after asking the guy in the corner where the bar was. The bartender informed us she had no Chardonnay of any type. She informed us she would close the bar whenever she decided to. Come on management team, you have this beautiful hotel but your guests experience was lousy, train your staff.

The great thing about this hotel is that you don’t have to be an architectural enthusiast or fan of FLW to enjoy it. I was with 3 others who weren’t as much as I was and they still thought it was neat. I booked 2 rooms, both kings, one facing the park and one facing the back of a building as there was only one park facing one left when I booked. Both rooms were very roomy, much larger than I thought. They had all the modern conveniences even more than other hotels I have stayed at. Best part, radiant heated floors as we visited in November. Want those in my house even though I live in TX! There wasn’t much to do around the hotel, and most everything was closed early. The restaurant was closed when we were staying there so finding dinner was a bit challenging. Would definitely stay again if I was in the area visiting.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this beautifully restored hotel is a must-stay for architecture fans. Our room was small-ish (the most affordable in the hotel), but the hotel itself is true wonder. Good location right downtown Mason City, although things are pretty sleepy in this small town if it's not a weekend. This is a must visit hotel for tourists and also a great place to stay overnight. Affordable prices considering the high profile architect (probably due to the fact that this is Mason City, which is not exactly a major destination). Convenient nearby parking. Highly recommended.

My wife and I are big Frank Lloyd Wright fans, having visited over a dozen properties, so when we decided to tour Iowa we jumped at the opportunity to stay at the only FLW hotel. The building is truly wonderful, as its been completely restored to the FLW design including the horizontal lines and forced ceilings. We highly recommend signing up for the one-hour hotel tour to enhance your stay. You wouldn't want rooms to resemble typical chains; our king size room stayed within the FLW mantra, with some trade-offs. While we had a refrigerator there was no microwave, the shower stall was small (but we included it in with the experience), and our floor had a slight slant - again part of the charm? The restaurant was exceptional, but there is no breakfast service and is closed on Sunday & Monday evenings. The staff was terrific and the hotel has its own parking lot. Quite an experience.