Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Bay City by IHG

We liked staying here this past weekend. Breakfast at the hotel was convenient, the bed was comfy, and being close to i75 made it easy to head to places like Frankenmuth and Saginaw. Our room wasn’t cleaned on the day we hadn’t put our cards in the door. That may have been on us, so we’re not upset about it. The pool was freezing, though. We enjoyed the visit and would stay here again next time we’re around bay city or the east side of Michigan.

I was awake at 2:47am on my second night, wishing I’d booked somewhere else. The beds are painfully hard, and you can hear through the walls, so it’s loud. Some former guest left a cricket chirper behind, and it went off every 30 minutes to an hour. Update: we found it under our door, and I attached a picture. Guest services showed no compassion and wouldn’t help look for it, saying they weren’t comfortable coming into our room. They’d been in to clean just an hour before I called. Their suggestion was that we pack everything up and switch rooms, which sounded like a lot of hassle. Breakfast was awful. Nothing tasted like real food, just processed stuff. I definitely wouldn’t stay here again.

The room was spacious and clean, and breakfast was plentiful. But I waited 45 minutes to check in, and this was the loudest hotel I’ve ever stayed at. Staff said they’d enforce the rules, but a crowd of unsupervised kids were still running around at 10pm. For 90 minutes, the walls shook while they played in the hallway, waking my daughter. I booked a place just to sleep, and it didn’t work out. Three stars.

Paige was so sweet and helpful throughout our stay, including fixing the reservation I’d messed up. The room was clean and modern, with good lighting and working AC. The window could’ve used a cleaning, but it didn’t bother us, and the nights were pretty quiet. Both beds had firm and soft pillow options, and the beds were comfy. Breakfast was wonderful, much better than the usual disappointing hotel breakfast. This is our new favorite place to stay when we head up to the UP each year.