Holiday Inn Express Dothan North by IHG

I had to switch rooms for several reasons, plumbing being the main one, along with a loud, mysterious noise from the roof above. The attendant was very nice, accommodating, and helpful. The parking lot has a couple of huge potholes that are hard to see at night, especially in the rain. One was so deep I may need a front end alignment. I'm baffled that they don't at least put cones around these hazards. Breakfast was one star. The eggs looked like there was something in them, and the meat was gross. Thankfully, they had yogurt. Honestly, I don't think I'd come back. I was disappointed given the reviews I'd read before booking.

I travel for work every week and have stayed at plenty of Holiday Inns. This was easily the worst. The first room had roaches, hair around the sink and counter and across the shower floor, and a filthy shower. I was moved after a night because I was too tired to deal with it right away. The next room's door wouldn't close, and the one after that had dog hair along the baseboards, in the carpet, and on the bed. Its shower was grimy and so scaled up it wouldn't open. The last room seemed better, but its safety lock was missing. The front desk women did their best to find me a clean room, but the hotel itself is a joke. The owners should be embarrassed by how it's run. I won't come back, and I'll stick to Hilton properties from now on. I'd tell anyone to stay far away.

We had plenty of room to park our big truck and trailer, and the location worked perfectly for where we needed to go. The room was nice, though there wasn't a coffee maker. That's not a huge deal. There was only one washer and dryer for everyone, so they should add more and post a sign asking guests to remove their laundry. After waiting two hours for someone to come back for his things, we took them out, and he wanted to fight us over it. The man working that night was great and helped deal with the whole mess. We'd stay again, but extra washers would make this a five-star stay.

The beds were comfortable and breakfast the next morning was decent, but those were about the only easy parts of this stay. Our room still wasn't ready at 5 pm. After a 45-minute wait in a long lobby line, we were told to come back later. The desk agent was alone and seemed new or untrained, and I felt bad watching her struggle with each guest. When we returned, my third-party reservation confused her too. It took about 20 minutes and a call for her to take my card, check me in, and hand over a key. Then we learned the elevators were out. At least we were on the second floor. The room was worn. The TV remote only worked close to the screen, a lamp had no shade over its bulb, and the shower was stained and not very clean. Those things were minor compared with the billing problem. The hotel charged my card for the stay even though I'd already paid through the third party. The card I gave at check-in was meant for damages or incidentals, and there weren't any. It seemed the agent didn't know how to handle the reservation. I contacted the hotel as soon as the charge appeared and was told Mr. Mike would call me back. Over the next two weeks I called seven more times, and also called and texted the number I was given for him. No response. The third party couldn't get him to call back, and neither could IHG. After three weeks I had to dispute the charge with my card company, which thankfully resolved it. I don't understand how Mr. Mike responds to negative reviews but won't answer a guest whose card was charged incorrectly. They took money from me and didn't want to return it. That's wholly unacceptable. I'd choose another hotel, or at least hope nothing goes wrong if you stay here.