Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston IAH - Beltway 8 by IHG

I had to contact another manager, Portia, to sort out my refund after the third party I booked through called the front desk and was told by Thyke that I never showed up and my reservation had been canceled. That was unbelievable. The hotel has refused any compensation and says I used "abusive language," when I feel the staff were the ones lying and losing their temper when challenged. This was a creepy place with very suspicious behavior. Avoid it at all costs. I booked this hotel specifically for its airport shuttle because I had a 12-hour layover. When I landed, the hotel didn't answer my calls, so I had to call corporate to reach the front desk. I waited over an hour outside Terminal C at the exact pickup spot they gave me, calling the hotel many times. The front desk staff member, Tate?? sp??, claimed the shuttle had already come and called my cell, but I hadn't been there and hadn't answered. That was completely false. He then said the shuttle was coming back and would take 10-15 minutes. After another 22 minutes, I gave up and called an Uber. While waiting, I met a man with his family who said his brother had landed earlier and waited two hours for the shuttle before giving up. At the hotel, I told the front desk again how frustrated I was. He insisted his driver had called me and even said he had call logs showing my correct number. I showed him my phone, which had no call from the previous hour, but he wouldn't accept it. When he asked for my contact information to check me in, I said he'd already told me several times he had my number and asked why I should write it again. He threw up his hands and yelled that he wouldn't let me check in. The shuttle driver then came back with Burger King to eat in the lobby. The front desk guy went to the back and called manager Kim. Another guest waited a long time to check in while he was back there, until the driver finally went to alert Thyke. Kim arrived frustrated and unhelpful. She didn't ask what had happened or want to hear my side, and offered no option except to cancel the reservation. She told me, "you won't be happy staying here." I said I just needed somewhere to sleep that night. At 9PM, I had to find another hotel, pay for an Uber there, pay for the new hotel, and take another Uber back to the airport early the next morning.

I like the location and the reasonable price, and everything was new. We stayed two years ago and again recently, and the service has stayed consistently good. The staff are professional. A couple of the dining seats show wear and need replacing, but we love being less than 15 minutes from the airport. I’d recommend this over other nearby hotels. The price and service make it good value, one of the best combinations.

After more than 24 hours of international travel and layovers, my family of five arrived late in Houston after missing a connecting flight. We’d booked this hotel quickly at the airport because we badly needed rest. The night-shift front desk attendant and the day-shift Duty Manager were exceptions, but staff attitude overall, from arranging the shuttle through checkout, was disappointing. The airport shuttle driver arrived with the wrong guest name on his pickup sheet and was about to leave. We only avoided being stranded because we spotted our phone number on the sheet and pointed it out. If we hadn't, his shift would have ended and we would have been left without a ride. Check-in itself went well. But after we unloaded all our luggage and got ready to sleep, we found the room's sofa bed was broken and had to move to another room in the middle of the night. As a club member, I'm typically offered late checkout until 2:00 pm when available. It was available, but the front desk agent refused without explaining why, showed little consideration for our situation, and insisted on charging a full night's rate for a 2:00 pm checkout. The day-shift manager later kindly let us stay until 1:00 pm. Since there was no shuttle from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, though, we ultimately had to check out at 12:00 pm. The shuttle driver also said guests should plan for problems like missed connections and carry U.S. dollars for tips. He implied CAD 20 each way wasn't enough and meant nothing. That made things tense, and in frustration I asked him to take our luggage off so we could get a cab. It eventually calmed down; he took us to the airport and shook my hand. I think the staff are capable and well-intentioned, but in our circumstances the experience felt dismissive and sometimes uncomfortable, like the problems we ran into weren't being taken seriously.

The water system smelled strongly of chlorine, like a pool, and left my skin dry like pool water. Service at every Holiday Inn Express has been horrible, which makes me think it must be part of the training. Why have coin-operated machines if there's no way to get change unless you have singles? The laundry room is onsite, but I couldn't use it because I couldn't get coins. Housekeeping comes in to "tidy up" but leaves the used bedding in place instead of changing it. Nothing but problems with Holiday Inn. I can't wait to get out of this hellhole :)