Holiday Inn Express Bakersfield by IHG

We'd booked 11 rooms, and around 10 a.m., an hour before the 11 a.m. checkout, all the key cards suddenly stopped working. That made checkout unnecessarily difficult. The front desk woman was rude, didn't apologize, and acted as if it was our fault. She said it was caused by “mobile magnetism,” which made no sense as an explanation. It was frustrating, and her attitude made it worse. I'll avoid this place in the future at any cost.

The front desk woman was very unprofessional and wouldn't apologize when our room key stopped working at 10 am, even though checkout wasn't until 11 am. We were locked out for at least 30 minutes. She called it normal and blamed cell phone magnetization. I pointed out that we carry our phones in our pockets all the time without this happening. Since we'd been stuck outside the room, we asked for a 30-minute checkout extension, but she refused and said they'd charge $35 for every hour after 11 am. The key problem was their service fault.

The hills around the area, dotted with oil wells, looked almost like Mars. I was here for work and stay at so many IHG hotels it's truly absurd, but this hotel's breakfast and overall quality were up to IHG standards.

We felt disrespected and unwelcome as a Black family because of how Vee treated us. She's the Latina woman at the desk with glasses and a blue shirt. When my husband first came in to check in, she seemed bothered and said, “Check-in is at 3 p.m.” We went away to look around and came back later. She seemed even more bothered, as if we might be rude or steal something. While my family and I waited in the lobby, she kept staring at me and rolled her eyes. I saw her smile and chat with a Latino man and then an older white couple. She treated my husband badly just for asking about check-in, as though we would wreck the hotel. We don't think we'll return. If Vee reads this, not every Black person is bad. Maybe past experiences were negative, but we're not all alike. On 9/28/25, Ms. Vee wasn't wearing her glasses. I know one of the women at the desk told her what I'd written, and that's okay. She was rude for no reason. I've worked in hospitality and dealt with customers, but always kept a good attitude and treated people with respect. Thanks to the white woman who told me the rude employee's name, and to the woman who was kind and sweet to us during our stay. We're not coming back.