Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bourbonnais East - Bradley by IHG

The rooms were clean, nice, and smelled really good, and the housekeepers were sweet and helpful. The full hot breakfast was something I loved. Everyone at the front desk was friendly, and the manager was great and accommodating. Gie, the little lady, was the best and made it feel like home. This is the best hotel we've ever stayed in, and we'll definitely come back.

I felt profiled by the staff, and what should've been a birthday treat for my mom turned into a miserable stay. She's 65, and I planned a relaxing day with a massage, dinner, a suite for her and her partner, and another room for me, my daughter, and my young granddaughters so we could swim. I drove two hours in freezing weather. At first I was told I'd been flagged, couldn't check in, had to leave, and wouldn't get my money back. The front desk worker said hearing the word “party” meant he had to turn us away and report us to the authorities. I had no idea what he meant. My mom's room would have had only two people, and ours four, including an infant and a seven-year-old. Being told I'd lost $450 felt insulting. My husband paid another $150 to supposedly get around the flag, and then I could check in. I went to the pool with the kids, and somehow every staff member on duty ended up there. Nobody else used the pool while we were in it. I spent the rest of the visit in my room, feeling watched and just wanting the night to end. Trying to do something kind for my mom, who many people no longer have, was ruined. I work too hard to be treated like a party animal. I'm 46, for Christ's sake. I felt I had to stay invisible so they wouldn't keep my husband's extra incidental fee on top of what I paid to book. People were nasty for no reason even though I'm always kind. I wish I'd left, but it was the coldest storm in history and below zero, so I felt I had no choice. After checkout, the hotel charged another $120, saying there was blood on the duvet in my mother's room. I asked for photos and believe they were from someone else's room. I checked the rooms myself; my mother used only the fridge, ice bucket, and a face towel. She is 65 and wouldn't bleed on a duvet. They sent a towel with multiple colors on it, and I believe they're lying because my mother didn't use any towel besides the face towel. With the temperatures so low, she didn't want to shower and then go outside, so she planned to wait until home. It seems the BBB should look into this. After I spoke with the GM, I felt confirmed that the hotel wouldn't hear out guests or take concerns seriously. I stand by what I said: the pictures weren't from our rooms, and staff did profile my family. We were allowed to stay only after my husband offered another $150 deposit per room, $300 total. Calling the staff reasonable for letting us stay is insulting. They said they monitored the pool because of high traffic, but only my family was there. I reported this to Corporate and the Better Business Bureau to look into the hotel's practices and profiling guests. Stay at your own risk, especially if you're Black or a minority choosing a hotel in Bradley, and particularly Holiday Inn Express.

The rooms are quite oversized, and the facility seems reasonably new. There's a spacious lounge, pool, fitness center, on-site washer, two elevators of different sizes, and event rooms on the first floor. The washer door wouldn't open with my room key. The left elevator is the larger one. One downside: the chocolate and regular milk cartons at breakfast smelled and tasted spoiled, even though they were about a week from their expiry dates. One sip upset our stomachs.

READ BEFORE BOOKING!!! The repeated staff checks at the pool made my family feel targeted. They came into the pool area three times in 15 minutes to “look around.” My family left after 25 minutes because they were uncomfortable. As they were walking out, my wife saw the same two front desk workers coming down the hall as if for a fourth visit. She said they turned around when they noticed the family leaving. It felt like they saw Black people leaving and decided another check wasn't needed. The next day, while I was driving home, I spotted another $120 charge. The hotel said housekeeping found blood on a duvet. I asked for photos, and Jeremy, who made the decisions, sent some. They looked like marker and burn marks to me, not blood, and I know they weren't from our rooms. My mother-in-law hadn't even showered because she felt uncomfortable. I knew how clean we left the rooms. My wife had booked two rooms for her mother's 65th birthday. We planned dinner, a relaxing stay, and swimming. Her mother lives locally and tried to check in before we arrived after our two-hour drive. On the road, we got a call saying she was refused check-in. When we arrived, my wife was told both reservations were canceled, we had to leave, and we'd still be charged $450. Staff said someone had mentioned a possible “party.” We weren't having one, and we'd never heard of such a policy when booking. While my wife cried, I read the rules posted at the desk. The front desk gentleman said staff could deny a room and still charge guests if they suspected a party or even heard the word “party” during check-in. He said gift bags, cake, cupcakes, or even a cooler could lead to cancellation because the rules let staff assume there might be a party. We had none of those things. The assumption was absurd. I asked if bringing a cooler back from the beach could get a room denied under that logic. He said yes. It felt like profiling. My mother-in-law is a dark-skinned country woman in her 60s, and I strongly believe staff made assumptions about her instead of relying on facts. When I asked for the general manager's information, the front desk agent offered a deal: if I guaranteed there'd be no party, we could check in with a $150 incidental deposit on one room instead of $50. I probably shouldn't have accepted, but I did, and agreed to pay $150 for each room to show good faith. My wife and I both have more than five years of hotel experience, at Marriott, Courtyard Marriott, and Best Western. I mention it because we try to break stereotypes. When we leave hotels or Airbnbs, we clean them very well. We tip well at restaurants too. We're respectful guests, and I knew we'd leave the rooms cleaner than any other guest ever had, so I didn't mind paying the extra $100 per room in incidentals. My wife had booked the rooms to celebrate her mother's birthday, with dinner and time to relax. Situations like this still happening in 2026 is disappointing. After reading other reviews of this property, I'm unfortunately not surprised. I'm extremely disappointed in IHG for allowing this behavior and leadership. Holiday Inn also seems to tolerate profiling and false accusations under its brand. Other reviews for this location suggest this isn't isolated. If you're a person of color, this is not the hotel for you. Stay away!