My family and I stayed 3 nights in this hotel. First of all, the front desk was very helpful and provided us a lot of information for first-timers to Rushmore. The pool was very refreshing and clean but the hot tube was way to hot! The exercise room was nice, cool and clean. The beds were a little soft for me but everyone is different on this point. I could not get wireless internet service in my room and had to relocate closer to the lobby. Overall this was a good experience, not necessarily 5 star, but that's not what we were looking for; just a nice room to sleep my wife and three kids.

We stayed in rm 336 on 22-23 July 2010, paid rack rate of $179/night. For that, we got two double beds and a double-sized sleeper, easily accomodating our two adults and three kids. The beds and the pillows were fine. Our stay was pleasant and satisfactory in every respect. During 24 years in the military I stayed in dozens of hotels in the US and every continent except Antarctica, and this one is perfectly fine. The room was large, and this effect was amplified by the eighteen-foot ceiling (it was probably 20 feet, but I don't want to embellish). The room was quiet, looked and smelled very clean, and was tastefully decorated. Our check in clerk was friendly and courteous, and it took about five minutes to check in, one minute to check out. They mean it when they say CONTINENTAL breakfast, they have coffee, juice and milk, toast, bagels, pastries, and yogurt, and that's it. When the house is full, as it was the second night of our stay, the breakfast room is too small for the task, is a hornet's nest of activity, and there is not enough parking. The location is excellent, it is easy to find, and is a four minute, 37 second drive to the main entrance at Mount Rushmore. Keystone now has one Mexican and one Chinese restaurant to add to the traditional western American fare, both within 2 minutes of the hotel. The helicopter tours, which operate from 9am to 7pm, launch and land across the street, but at no time did they ever distract from our stay, nor can I imagine how they would. My hesitation would be on price. Even with a heated indoor pool, to my mind, this hotel was on the outer limits of the value proposition. Next time we go back to the Mount Rushmore area I think we will try to find some cabins to stay in.

The pictures you see online show a nice, updated lobby. The hallways were also updated with new carpet and wall trim, but the second you open the door to the room you're in 1970's hell with dollar store decor. We had a "family suite". The ONLY window was next to the door. It was double paned with honeycomb wires through it. You only get light from, and see, the hallway. No view. No fresh air or natural light. You're in a cave with one prison window. (Isn't it illegal not to have an exterior window in a hotel room? There's no way many people could break the window there, or fit through it!) The room they call a king bed "suite" is not large and is a small L shape. While sitting in the king bed (with 3 Chicklet size pillows to share with my husband), I could throw a sock and hit the bunk beds. Yes, it's that close. No privacy or changing area for a family except for the tiny bathroom. We had to shower with 30 minute waiting periods in-between to give the steam to die down in the room. Forget about turning on a hair dryer for more than 2 minutes or the room heats up. The bathroom fan was loud and weak. The shower head goes up to your chin for an average person, and you have to fight the flimsy plastic shower curtain from sticking to you. There was a nasty huge soap dispenser in the shower. Thankfully it was empty. I've never seen a "gas station bathroom size" community soap dispenser in a private shower. Besides not having a window in the room, I was shocked that THE BATHROOM SINK IS IN THE ROOM - NOT THE BATHROOM! There is a tiny area for hanging a few garments. The small TV has some black & white channels (but who needs TV when claustrophobia kicks in and all you want to do is get out of the room!) The TV can only be seen from sitting on the king bed- incredibly uncomfortable for a family of 4 who wants to relax before sightseeing. There was 1 small round table with 2 dingy chairs (for a family of 4??) I always felt like I had to put a towel down before I sat on them. The free breakfast is 99% sugared crap. Lots of Barbie sized pastries. No hot food. I had a Barbie sized yogurt. Since we were in the back part "tucked away" in our nearly $150 p/night prison cave room, the helicopter noise didn't affect us. Although I felt like Radar in M*A*S*H running to and from my car with a huge helicopter looming overhead. I'm not a snob. I wasn't expecting the Ritz or even close for that price in a touristy area, but at least something along the lines of a nice Comfort Suite. This place is a dump. The first clue was there's rusty tin can ashtrays with plastic chairs outside room doors in the front. The front is like a motel, and the back, I guess, is suppose to be like a hotel with its interior hallway (seriously, I think the fire department needs to check it out. I've never seen a setup like that.) I'm not surprised Rushmore Express takes the money out of your account 14 days before you get there, because you're surely not going to get a refund once you get there and see that you didn't get anything near what you paid for! My kids went to the pool and said it wasn't bad. You can see the gym equipment upstairs from the pool area and that looked decent but we didn't use it. But now I know it's all smoke & mirrors until you open the door to your room - which they must have used 1,000 watt lighting for the online photos. Our room had no overhead lights, only a few small lamps. There is no restaurant, and you take your own life in your hands walking to any place not fast foods as there's no sidewalks around this place. The one and only decent thing about this place was the staff. Every single person at the desk or walking around was friendly. They can't do anything about the horrible accommodations and are not responsible for the marketing scam. Our entire family agreed we would have drove much further to stay in a decent place.The location doesn't justify the cost one bit.

I was planning a 9 day trip to the Mt. Rushmore, Rapid City area and chose to stay at this hotal because of the family suites available. The family suite was very large, just as advertised and the pictures are the same as the web site, and I will post some. I looked at the other rooms because of what people said and found them to be newly decorated with the hickory furniture that reminded me of tree limbs and a rustic western, Texas theme. The pool was on the smaller side, but stayed open late enough for adults to enjoy.

Dennis was a wonderful help at the front desk, and as we checked in we were given in detail information to decide what to do along with coupons. (i suggest you look through the book because there are many!)

As for the helicopter, I will post pictures because the pad is not on the hotel property, but it is accross the street and a bit down from the endest rooms. many people in the rooms sat on their balconies to watch the helicopter. The tours we not fast, so it did not come and go often. the tours started at $49.00, per person and stopped eraly in the evening. we could not hear it from our room 238 which was the end room with the view of the mountain wall with a fence in front of it to prevent rocks from falling on any guests. The workout room was adaqaute, the breakfast is continential! Proteins were offered to get the day started, and at least there was something rather than nothing.

Taffy was left on the table from the candy store down the street. The room had two tvs, and my son's hooked up their game system in the living room part and played a long time at night. I did not hear anyone, and I knew the hotel was full. We asked for extra towels and received them. The bathroom had a gift box full of items. I could not get another, but was given different shampoo and soaps. I guess this is what the standard rooms receive, but not the suites. The gift box was really nice!

I have had the priveledge to stay at upscale hotels that I have not wriiten reviews about, and the bedding in our suite was not like what one would expect. I am use to a down comforter and duvet, and do not like bedspreads even nice ones. (Do these get washed after every guest stay?) The basic bed had a small pillow top, but nothingalong the luxury line. Is there such thing as basic pillow top? I just compare it to the one I have at home.

There were buckets at each entrance that offered towels to wipe off the cars. I found this as something new, but there are a lot of grass hoppers in SD! So many people were using the towels to wipe off the bugs on their cars. Nice extras!

***Parking may be on the side of the hotel, and the hotel is very secluded, but within walikng distance to shopping, food and fun.