Very run down. In fact, more run down than charming. It's adequate. Was awoken in the night by a loud fight on the street six floors below. Walls are thin. Bathtub drain didn't work. Wireless internet didn't work, but wired internet did. But...Raccoon Brewing Company next door had amazing hamburgers!

I've stayed here on 3 different occasions recently. The rooms are clean but tired looking. The walls are paper thin and you can hear your neighbors TV, phone conversations, toilet flushing etc. Heating system is old with limited temperature control. Staff are nice enough but nothing special. Hotel tends to be crowded and noisy on the weekends. On one occasion the police came in the middle of the night because some of the guests were partying in the hall. This hotel seems to cater to leisure/convention traffic. I will try to find a more business friendly hotel for my next trip to Des Moines.
Stay here only if the price is right and you are not bothered by a noisy hotel.

older downtown hotel, very nice. we walked all over downtown on a day about 20 degrees, using the skywalk, no coat needed. shopping on skywalk is fun. room was good, took a bit to figure out heating system, room never quite warmed up either. easy to restaraunts using sky walk.

Stayed for just one night mid-week on our way back to Chicago from Kansas City. Wanted to see an Iowa Cubs game (the Cubs AAA affiliate) and the hotel had a nice offer of hotel room, plus they secured your tickets for you and shuttled you to the game (ends up they'll shuttle you most anywhere in the area). They have a London Taxi Cab (no charge) for smaller trips, and a van that picked all of us up after the game.
The hotel itself evokes a grander era and the common areas are quite impressive. The rooms themselves are a bit worn down, but clean and suited our purpose (although my son didn't like the "feeling" of the room). The swimming pool area was unique -- on the 6th floor of the hotel, but with skylights above. When you get into the pool area, you have to walk around a wall and up some steps to get to the pool. The pool was thin, but quite long and very clean. The hot tub was nice and hot/bubbly.
We didn't stay long enough to utilize any of the restaurants.
It was nice to be in downtown Des Moines, but my one complaint is lack of free parking.