Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Indianapolis North Carmel by IHG

For the NCAA championship, we found this was one of the few hotels with rooms still at a relatively reasonable price. The front desk staff were pleasant, breakfast was as expected, and our room was clean and well kept. Just what you’d expect.

The smell in the hotel was awful, and there were random noises at all hours. We had to buy air fresheners, and the room keys kept failing. The room was generally clean, but it was missing a shower curtain. They did bring and install a new one. We took the sign off the door and left it on the counter because we wanted our room cleaned. After we’d been out for four hours, it was obvious cleaners had entered, but instead of cleaning, they’d put the sign back up so they wouldn’t have to.

The rooms, staff, and location were good. I’m giving one star because of the policy: they wouldn’t add my points since I’d booked through a third party, which I think is unfair. If I could give just one star, I would.

I called the front desk at 7:52 pm. The noise settled for a few minutes, then started again with doors slamming and kids racing down the hall. At checkout, I noticed a baseball team had stayed that weekend, but there seemed to be no supervision. I didn’t expect total silence, but I saw no parents around, including at breakfast. During my weekend stay, children in the room above ran, yelled, and jumped around from early morning until late evening. Their parents kept shouting at them to stop, which only made it louder. Unsupervised kids on my floor also played around the elevator directly across from my room. With doors slamming and shouting in the hallway, it was hard to relax or sleep. There was no apparent effort by management to control the noise or let other guests rest. I left more stressed than when I arrived. If you want peace, quiet, or even basic rest, I’d strongly suggest staying elsewhere. One star.