Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Elgin

Samantha was the one bright spot during my Christmas stay. She was attentive and helpful. I wasn't impressed with the afternoon-shift woman, who spent her time on the phone, and the place itself is run down. I'd stay far away.

The room and lobby both smelled bad, and the front desk clerk was so focused on a movie while checking us out that she wouldn't even turn it down to talk with my wife. They also charged my card $100 more than the room cost. When we called, they said it was for incidentals, though nobody mentioned that at check-in. The clerk first said $25, then changed it to $100. For a roach hotel, that makes no sense. We'll see whether the money comes back. This was the worst Holiday Inn I've stayed at.

The floor near the window felt so flexible from what may have been old water damage that I wondered if I might end up on the second floor, even though I was on the third. There was also a mouse in my room on my last night. The smoke alarm was hanging from the ceiling by one cord, the refrigerator wasn't cold, and the bathtub wasn't as clean as I'd expected. When I raised this with the front desk, all I got was “Sorry about that.” I called every day for a week trying to reach a manager, but no one was ever there or returned my calls. I would never stay here again.

My mother and sister were put in a room with an overwhelming mothball smell. The next morning they both woke with bad headaches. When my sister asked to move, she was told the hotel was full. Later I insisted that my mother be moved out of what seemed like an unhealthy room, and a kind, understanding woman found her a room on the first floor. We came back at 3:30 p.m. to find another man at the desk. He was kind and told us the elevator had been out for about a week. My 75-year-old mother has bad hips, but there were no rooms left on a floor she could manage, so he put us on the third floor. I'd seen reviews from a month earlier that also mentioned no elevator. Earlier, when we arrived about two hours before check-in, I politely asked the woman at the desk what time check-in was. I hadn't noticed the sign. She just looked at me and pointed to it. After my family used the restroom and got some water, she came over upset and asked me to move my truck from the entrance. I said we were already leaving. The halls and rooms had an old, damp smell, though our room seemed clean enough. The coffee maker still had old coffee in it, so we skipped making coffee in the morning. That night the room was so humid the sheets and pillows felt wet. There were four of us and only two towels, so I went to the desk for two more and toilet paper. We didn't bother with the free breakfast either. I regret choosing this Holiday Inn. We should have stayed at the newer Quality Inn down the road.