I've driven past the Russell Street exit off I-29 a hundred times — that stretch where Sioux Falls starts to thin out before you hit the farmland heading north. The Baymont sits right there at 3101 West Russell, one of those workhorse hotels that sees more truckers and traveling sales reps than tourists with Instagram itineraries.
I stopped in on a Wednesday afternoon when the parking lot was half-full with semis and dusty pickups. The lobby smelled like burnt coffee and industrial carpet cleaner — not unpleasant, just honest. The woman at the desk had been working there six years and knew exactly which rooms got the best water pressure and which ones faced away from the highway noise.
This isn't the kind of place you choose for ambiance. You choose it because you need a clean bed off I-29, because you're visiting family out in Hartford and don't want to pay downtown prices, because you're between jobs and need somewhere stable for two weeks. The breakfast bar runs until nine — scrambled eggs from a warmer, those little boxes of cereal, coffee that does its job.
The 3.3 rating tells you what you need to know. Some rooms show their age more than others. The WiFi drops if you're streaming anything serious. But the sheets are clean, the locks work, and nobody's trying to sell you something you don't need.
I think about the layers of this city sometimes — the polished Phillips Avenue hotel lobbies with their local art and craft cocktails, and then places like this, three miles north, where people are just trying to get some sleep before tomorrow's shift starts. Both matter. Both are Sioux Falls.
The ice machine on the second floor was broken when I visited, which feels about right.
— Grace
I stopped in on a Wednesday afternoon when the parking lot was half-full with semis and dusty pickups.