Holiday Inn Express Houston - Galleria Area by IHG

Samantha and Aaron made a wait for our room feel easy. My family of four came for one night to attend a basketball game, and arrived a little after 3 p.m. expecting the room to be ready. Samantha told us the type we'd reserved was still being cleaned. With the Christmas rush, there wasn't another room available, so she asked housekeeping to hurry and said it should take about 20 minutes. She suggested we use the amenities while we waited. The kids wanted the pool. Since we didn't have a room key yet, Aaron, the manager, offered to walk us up and let us in. While we waited for the elevator, he told the boys they could choose a snack to have by the pool, on the hotel. Less than 10 minutes later, Samantha came to tell us the room was ready, got us checked in, and kindly lowered the parking cost because we'd had to wait. Our room was clean, comfortable, and nice and cool. Breakfast was delicious, as it usually is at Holiday Inn Express hotels. This may be the best Holiday Inn Express we've stayed at, and I'd happily return next time we're in Houston.

The location was fine and the hotel seemed fairly new, but I didn't feel it was good value at $165 a night. In Houston, I think you can get more for that rate. The bed was okay. Service wasn't great: the breakfast sign said it ran until 11 a.m., but they stopped at 10. When I pointed out the mismatch, the front desk woman, who was usually nowhere to be found, said it was a mistake. When staff were there, the line was long. Their attitude made it seem like they were being forced to work or weren't being paid.

We ended up here after having to leave another hotel because it wasn't clean. The Sunday night desk staff were patient while we sorted out our online reservation, and at 11 p.m. they gave us water when we asked before heading to our rooms. The morning desk team were just as kind and responsive. I wasn't keen on the breakfast, though it was free, and the coffee was pretty good. This will definitely be our pick next time we're in Houston.

Breakfast was included and incredible. My room was very clean and spacious, with two queen beds. I was glad it had a shower instead of a bathtub. That's more practical for me.