Best Western On the River

Location was great

Large room and large bath. Clean. Good breakfast

Tony did an excellent job at Check-in. Our rooms were on the 3rd floor overlooking the pool; we thought it might be noisy, but the rooms were very quiet!
Beds very comfortable
Good selection at Breakfast.
Nice that there was a grab bar in the tub for safety, but the bottom was slippery.

La posizione

Great selection

Good location, very large comfortable room, parking good

It's not about the bottled water! Haha.... Diamond Select member with best western which is their highest tier of elite status customers. This property did not honor any of the status benefits... no early check in, no room upgrade, no late check out allowed, and no welcome gift of bottled water. Everyone is treated as a basic member with no benefit to brand loyalty.
To add to this, after we exited the pool we observed an employee named Shane literally scream angrily at all the pool customers to get out at 902pm when the pool closed at 9pm. He seemed extremely angry that there were customers staying at the hotel.
Weird property to treat travelers so mean when it's such a welcoming friendly community outside it's doors.
Best western corporate should keep an eye on brand management here.
------
7/12/26 update:
Apparently the rude employee mentioned in my honest review of how the property treats diamond select members is the property owner who does not handle travel reviews well, but as top tier members with several hotel brands and travelers who spend well over 100+ nights per year in hotels, i believe we are able to give well balanced reviews of hotel properties.
Several other guests (perhaps around 15) were present to witness the rant that occurred of the employee/ owner closing the pool for the night 2 minutes past closing time. Since we were not in the pool and had already exited and dried off it was pretty appalling to see families and under age children be yelled at in a public hospitality setting. This is never permissible in the hospitality business.
The response from the hotel going on a rant blaming us and customers for being the problem is also extremely bad PR to allow. I suspect since their location is fantastic and they are one of only a few hotels in the area that the owner has a sense of superiority over the area.
We never asked to stay a 2nd night or refuse to pay for anything. Nor did we demand any late checkout we simply asked for a late checkout based on our status level offering that as a perk we've earned through repeat business and were told they could not honor this but offer us 30 minutes extra to pack our things and leave... these were blatant lies from the business owner written in an attempt to minimize our review or make it it look as though we were being unreasonable. In comparison, our equalavent status level with marriott generously offers a 4pm checkout which is 5 hours beyond most checkout times. So the hotel management throwing in our face that we were given 30 extra minutes to leave is quite insulting and suggesting we were talking down to them by claiming our hotel status level is also insulting since repeated business earn status levels with hotel brands and that is exactly the purpose of a tier status system so guests can earn and redeem perks not offered to everyone.
Bottom line is that hotel brands definitely need to ensure their privately owned franchise owners adhere to the standards they advertise. There are some marriott and Hilton properties within a short drive of Hannibal that offer a better experience in adhering to status recognition and not treating their customers with content for simply providing them business and revenue.
FYI, yes 2 bottles of water were offered at check out after we pointed out that the property denied all status benefits for diamond select. We are sorry the owner was extremely offended that we referred to him as an employee. That does reflect however on the personality type of the individual who runs this establishment. HVAC return was observed as clogged and dirty with debris. Likely IAQ concern. Hotel management not open to constructive criticism. Best Western corporate reached out to us as well inquiring about further details regarding hotel management responding to reviews with angry and degrading responses that include generating lies about customer behavior and adding customers to a list banning them from the property for simply posting honest hotel reviews. A strong arm black mailing tactic like this is highly illegal to coerce only positive reviews.

Original response from the owner was as follows:

We are sorry but your status with Best Western did not show on your reservation as an elite member when you arrived, you were a basic member and that is the reason you were not given the free water at check in, or upgraded for free. Also, You did call the desk and asked for a later check out, and still you were given a late check out for 11:30 am. That was not good enough for you, but then you wouldn't want to pay for a 2nd night, when you tell us what time you want to check out at 2pm. No sir, that will not be happening.

You came to the front desk and you were given 2 bottles of water and we fixed your status on our end, Best Western Corp office needs to ensure that your status is showing up and you will be offered the elite status. As far as Best Western keeping an eye on the management here, we are privately owned and they were the ones that caused you this problem, so seems like you need to ask to have them supervised.

As far as the pool staff yelling at you, he is not an employee, he is a business owner and he did not scream or yell at you to get out, he has never raised his voice in 20 years to any one. There is signage all over the pool area and you are told at check in the pool hours, so why were you not out of the pool when he alerted you at closing the first time? Your elite status does not cover that. NO ONE AT THIS HOTEL TREATED YOU IN ANY OTHER WAY THAN NICE. We are sorry that you felt that way.

As far as checking in early, if the rooms are not ready, then no, we are unable to check you in. We go over and above for our guests on a daily basis, but when you treat everyone here like they are beneath you, that causes a problem. No matter what status you are, you have to go by rules sir. No one treated you badly, and it shows in this review how we were treated by you. So, we are sticking up for ourselves!

Staff was very friendly. Explained where everything was right away. The room was beautiful. Without asking we got a room with beautiful view of river. The pool was easily accessible (though we did not use it) and breakfast easy to find. I highly recommend and will definitely use this hotel again if needed in future.

The best location in Hannibal and the included breakfast gets everyone going! This BEST Western has the ultimate safety set up. This original indoor pool layout is still the best. I give this FIVE STARS for the value!
I cannot name one tourist location anywhere that has this much bang for the buck! Don’t let the reviews scare you off. I’m sure glad I didn’t.
And yes, there are two pools. One in and one out.
Thanks for the great stay!

The proximity to all the attractions

We stayed in the newer building breakfast was next door which wasn't explained when we booked no coffee in room or the one in our lobby didn't work had to go next door.

My daughter and I decided to visit all things Mark Twain and booked a trip to Hannibal, MO. We booked a room at The Best Western because of the location to the little town. The gentleman who took our reservation was so kind and professional, that I didn't hesitate making the reservation with him. When we checked in, the same gentleman was working and again, he was just a so approachable and helpful. The biggest surprise was the pool and hot tub in the lobby! It was so exciting. You don't see that anymore. The breakfast was delicious with a lot of options. I would visit this town again just to stay at The Best Western on the River!!!! Don't pass it up!!

Good

Staff were so friendly and helpful! Lovely walkable town, catfish bites at 'Rumor Has It' were delicious, comfortable room, good breakfast.