I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for 5 nights and was thoroughly disappointed. Although I was told I had been given a slightly bigger room, it turned out to be a disabled-access room with a walk-in shower, which was inconvenient and not what I expected. The room was small, with no wardrobe, no conditioner and felt very basic for the price I paid.
Shockingly, the room was never cleaned during my entire stay. When I asked the reception, they told me that at “Express” hotels, you need to specifically request housekeeping. I find this unacceptable – regardless of the brand, you would expect at least basic room cleaning and bathroom mopping daily. The bathroom floor was never touched, and the sheets had stains that were ignored by housekeeping.
Breakfast was extremely limited and low quality – definitely not worth the rate they charge per night. I even had my hotel card removed from the room, which I was using to keep the air conditioning on, and had to go back to reception to request a new one.
The overall experience was just unpleasant. Staff were not particularly friendly or helpful – they kept repeating “it’s an Express” as a reason for everything lacking. I honestly wish I had known all this beforehand. For the price I paid, I expected much more. I will never be staying at this hotel again.