Holiday Inn Express Cedar Rapids I-380

The staff I met were friendly and nice, and the room had been cleaned well. I’m sure they’re doing their best to keep the place running. The hotel itself is bare bones and unpleasant, even for a Holiday Inn Express. The PTAC units smelled old, the beds were lumpy, and the bathrooms were bare minimum. The walls are paper thin, so you hear the upstairs neighbor get up to use the bathroom or the person next door cough. The shower and sinks barely had any water pressure. It wasn’t just the cheap low flow showerheads you’d expect. Water dribbled out. I had to wrestle with the lousy bathroom faucet, which was cracking apart from all the people doing this, just to get enough flow to clear the counter ledge. Clearly something’s wrong, and management has chosen not to deal with it. I booked without much thought or research. I had one night in Cedar Rapids and didn’t want to stay at the airport, but this hotel is poorly located in the middle of highways, auto parts stores, and cheap motels. It’s bleak. Downtown Cedar Rapids was pretty dead too, but I’d still choose to stay there if I ever came back. When a strong gust of wind eventually takes out the cardboard building, I hope management gives the staff a nicer place to work.

There’s hot breakfast, decent beds, and a choice of pillows. The hotel is a short drive from the convention center, and the front desk was very friendly and patient. The train noise was loud because the hotel is near an industrial park, and there’s very little sound insulation. My adjoining room neighbors checked in around 10:30 PM on our second night and were extremely loud. You could hear doors, talking, luggage rolling, and plenty else. I know it’s a hotel, but a little quiet would’ve been nice. The cleaning staff played audio loudly while working without headphones. I normally wouldn’t mind, but the volume was way up. The bathroom fan made a questionable noise during its first minute, like it hadn’t been used in a while. The bathroom door only latched if you forced it with your whole body weight.

From 7 AM onward, there was noise everywhere. Even the cleaning staff yelled, played music at full volume, and slammed every door as they went in to clean. The bathrooms were old and disgusting, everything was uncomfortable, and the bathtub and towels were stained. I came to relax, but this was one of the worst Holiday Inn hotels I’ve stayed in. Don’t stay here. It’s horrible!

It’s a convenient spot near the airport and the site I was visiting. The rooms were clean, the staff friendly, and the basics were all taken care of, just what I’d expect from a solid Holiday Inn Express. I get up early whenever I stay so I don’t miss the biscuits and gravy or cinnamon rolls.