Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gaylord by IHG

My husband and I loved our week here. It could get a bit noisy, but the service was great, and the location was nice with everything close by. James was especially good during breakfast, very attentive and kind. Breakfast was great, and he went above and beyond.

The location was excellent, but I had several concerns. The elevators weren’t working, and I’d had hand surgery the day before, so I told the front desk associate I couldn’t carry my luggage upstairs and asked to move to the first floor. He said he couldn’t change my room and didn’t offer to help with my bags. There were stains from food or something else on the chaise sofa in my room. The entry door looked as if it had been sprung, with a large gap by the locking mechanism and door jamb that could make guests feel unsafe.

There were several bugs on the same pillow. The first one was so big it looked like this had been a problem for a while. My daughter said, “eww, I’m not sleeping here, there is a bug!” I caught one in a hotel cup, told my husband to pack up, and took it to the front desk. The guy took the cup and called a manager. I believe that was the manager who came about half an hour later while we waited in the lounge. They talked about the room, and he went upstairs to look, but they never spoke to me. Their solution was to pay for another hotel, but the only vacancy was an hour and a half away. We had to drive there at midnight through fog, an immeasurable inconvenience that ruined my family’s entire trip up north. Management never reached out to apologize or discuss the issue, and my repeated requests for an incident report have gone unanswered. I’d never recommend this hotel to anyone. We found BED BUGS crawling all over the pillow. Disgusting!

Jessica, as I understand the front desk agent’s name to be, was absent for at least 15 minutes on two separate occasions. When I finally found her each time, she was either on her personal phone or chatting with another employee in the breakfast area. I shouldn’t have to go looking for staff to get basic service. Both of them were dismissive and irritated, as though I was interrupting their personal time while they were on the clock. The disrespect and lack of professionalism were disgraceful, and the experience ruined my stay. I’ll never return to this property, and I’ll strongly advise everyone I know to avoid it. No guest should be treated this way.