Traveled twice to this hotel for a local conference with a colleague. This hotel was surprisingly nice and clean. There is a bar and restaurant attached to the hotel, as well as a conference center. The hotel is located near "town", with restaurants and shopping centers nearby. At the same time, it is only steps away from rural SD, with many pheasant hunters staying at the hotel as well. Dogs were allowed, and it was nice to see so many hunting dogs in a hotel! I would recomment this place to both casual visitors of the area, as well as hunters. The Terry Redlin art museum is also in the area, which sells his beautiful paintings and other Terry Redlin merchandise.

I grew up in Watertown and regularly travel back to visit my Mother. I haven't stayed at the Ramkota in at least three years, with good reason. It USED to be a nice place but has fallen into disrepair and sloppy service. When my Mom was in the hospital a few years ago I spent close to a thousand dollars on a several night stay. On the next to last day, I left a few bags of trash on the floor next to the garbage can with a nice note that said, "Trash, please take. Thanks." I'm talking three of those little plastic bags you get with your groceries, nothing major or objectionable. The person who cleaned my room did not take them. When I brought this to the attention of the front desk, It took an hour for someome to come down and get the trash and they were not nice about having to do it.
That is just one example of the things that went wrong during my stay.

My husband and I now stay at one of two hotels in Watertown, The Holiday Inn Express on east 212 or The Traveler's Inn on 9th Ave SE. Both provide clean rooms and great staff. Hope this helps the next traveler avoid a costly mistake.

The room smelled horrible on arrival. Went to my meeting and returned late. The next morning discovered someone must have thrown up on the other side of the bed. The box spring had a big stain that was covered by the bedspread and the floor had a big wet spot. That explained the smell. Complained at front desk and since there were no other rooms avalible they said they would get it cleaned up. I suggested replacing the box spring. When I returned to the room the stain appeared to be cleaned up but the smell was still there. There was a note from the manager apologizing for the inconveinence and a little gift bag. She said they applied a discount for that night's stay. When I checked out there was only a $20 credit on my bill. Obviously she did not see or smell the mess. This was the nastiest, grossest thing I have ever encountered in traveling. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
We were there for a convention and overall the food and convention center were pretty good. One noon lunch we had that was buffet seemed to be very unorganized. We got there at noon and some of us didn't get our food until one. The evening meal was very good and the service was excellent.
I also used the fitness center and that was very nice.
The bar staff were very friendly and efficient.

My work brings me to this hotel every year - 3 times a year. The major consistant problem is always: the non-working bathroom, slacker front desk people, very poor maid service. The shower head, plunger and drain have not been replaced, serviced or in working order since mid- 1980's as I stay in the same rooms every year. The floresent overhead light is horrible in the vanity area. The table and Chairs for working on are way too large for the space between the heater and the bed. New beddings good and mattresses are rock hard.

The maid service this April was terrible. A 4-yr old could have made up the bed better and they couldn't even clean out the coffee pot. I mentioned the non-drainable tub and non-working shower head to the maid and nothing was repair. For the value of the dollar it was terrible. Next time I will stay at a hotel 4 miles away and drive back and forth for 4 days.

Upnote! The wait staff in the bar and cafe are Excellent! They should give a few lessons to the front desk 3pm - 11pm folks! The food is excellent as well.