Holiday Inn Express & Suites Forest Hill - Ft. Worth by IHG

Breakfast was pretty standard for a hotel, but it’s a nice extra when you’re traveling with kids. The rooms are a little dated, though they were surprisingly comfortable. The front desk woman was so sweet and kind. I wish I’d gotten her name. After our long travel day, she offered to keep the pool open so my kids could have some fun. We were too tired to take her up on it, but it was a lovely gesture.

The best part was the employee overseeing breakfast on Saturday. He was friendly and attentive to the guests. Also, we didn’t see any roaches or bed bugs. That’s about where the positives end. This was one of the worst hotel stays I’ve had as an adult, and I’d have moved elsewhere if I’d had the money. We booked it just to sleep for a night and regretted it as soon as we arrived. There was what looked like dried coffee on the entry floor when we checked in at 4pm, and it was still there at checkout the next day. An alarm was blaring inside, with an employee trying to shut it off. The person checking me in barely greeted me, spoke in a flat monotone, pushed a form at me, and told me to fill in the highlighted spots without explaining anything. The whole place felt off from the start. The elevators smelled and weren’t well kept. In our room, the sofa bed had only a cover, with crumbs on it. The other beds had crumbs, too, even though we’d just walked in and hadn’t brought food. I messaged the desk through the app asking for sheets and blankets for the sofa bed and got no response. I went downstairs instead. Mr. Apathy asked whether I’d checked the drawers or closet, which I had already done before messaging to avoid going down. The handles were sticky and crusty, but he did give me a fresh bag of linens. The carpet was heavily stained. The tub had hair and dirt in it, there were little bits of dirt on the floor, gum on the wall under the TV, and the box spring upholstery looked like it had been puked on and stained. There was trash and wrappers behind the beds, too. I asked about moving to a sister property and what the penalty would be. Mr. Apathy said they don’t do that, showed no concern, and didn’t ask what was wrong. We left for Six Flags and dinner, then came back. Before bed I went down for two more clean rolls of linen for the other beds because they were gross. The night shift guy seemed nice, but didn’t care when I said we’d checked in that day and the beds were dirty. After a long drive and Six Flags, even my kids didn’t want to return to the hotel. We didn’t want to eat there, and none of us wanted to risk using the pool in case it was just as bad. The area wasn’t great, though manageable. When we stayed at the one in Lenexa, KS, it was the complete opposite. They even gave me a goodie bag for being an IHG member. Save yourself the trouble and headache. I have pictures for proof.

Laura made check-in much easier and saved me time and money while multitasking like a pro. Breakfast is available, too, and I’ll definitely be back. Among the hotels DFW has to offer, few compare in cleanliness, luxury, comfort, and maintenance. I chose this location because, unlike many hotels in the area, it doesn’t have bed bugs or disgusting bathrooms. A friend recommended somewhere cheaper, but here you really do get what you pay for.

The sheets and towels were spotless and soft, the shower was clean, and the room was spacious. But the hotel is noisy and a bit run down. We’re light sleepers, and my request for a quiet room wasn’t addressed by the receptionist. We ended up right by the ice machine, facing the highway loop, exactly where I didn’t want to be. We arrived at 1am after a 14h drive, exhausted, and couldn’t rest because of the noise. At 10am, cleaners knocked and opened the door, even though checkout was at 11am, as if they didn’t know anyone was in the room. The hotel is older, there was no inspection slip visible in the elevator, the rooms smelled of mildew, and the shower tiles had been mended.