Holiday Inn Express & Suites Jackson Downtown - Coliseum by IHG

The room was full of problems. Rust covered the lamp bases, one shade was cracked and broken, one lamp had no bulb, and another had two different colored bulbs. The mirror lights were dim and mismatched, and the bathroom light was very weak. The bathroom vent barely worked. The toilet needed the handle held down for the full flush, and the wall mounted soap holder was broken, apparently with the lotion missing. There was also a hole under a wall light, stuffed with what looked like tissue or toilet paper and painted over. There was nowhere practical for someone to work in the tiny lobby. One person was holding a conference call on speakerphone, with papers spread across the only table in front of the TV, and the sound carried throughout the lobby. When I went to check out, nobody was at the desk. I waited several minutes before Larry came off the elevator and asked if I needed to check out. We arrived around 10:30 at night. The area felt somewhat shady: people were walking down the middle of the road, and one woman looked dressed like a prostitute. There’s a chain-link fence around the property, the grounds were overgrown, and the small parking lot is shared with the neighboring hotel. We parked right in front because we were worried about the area and didn’t want to bring all our things inside. I was told after checking in late that breakfast wouldn’t be served because of an electrical problem in the kitchen. The staff member couldn’t say whether there’d be compensation. We were just passing through and needed sleep before the last leg of the drive, and had hoped breakfast would save us a food stop. They didn’t even put out fruit, packaged pastries, cereal, or anything that didn’t need cooking. I was very disappointed. Larry, the manager at the front desk, barely apologized and offered no compensation or reassurance. He acted like he didn’t care. We stayed anyway because we needed somewhere to sleep. The online photos made the place look nice and new, but that wasn’t how it felt in person. If we pass through again, we’ll avoid this hotel and probably the whole area. Don’t stay here expecting anything better than a motel.

Our family of five had a terrible stay. We’d reserved a room with two king beds, but after getting keys, the elevator to the third floor felt unsafe and the keys wouldn’t work. My husband went back twice to get them reactivated, only for us to discover our assigned room was under renovation, with very dirty carpet, no bed sheets, and paint supplies still inside. The next room had one king bed. Staff said the hotel didn’t have rooms with two kings, but claimed the sofa bed was king-size and that linens were there. It turned out to be a full-size bed with no linens, and there was no cot available. Both beds were very uncomfortable, and the service was poor. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The location and service were good, but that was all we liked. We got in around 11 p.m. after a long drive from Florida. The woman at the front desk was pleasant, though we noticed a family leaving who looked upset, and I told my wife it didn’t seem like a good sign. The heater in our room didn’t work. The carpet looked dingy, so we kept our slippers on, the couch was disgusting, and the bathtub had stains. We were too exhausted to ask for a different room and went to bed because the beds looked clean. The next morning, we went to shower and found there was no body wash. I hope IHG sees this and takes another look at the hotel.

After a long drive south, we stopped here overnight on the way to New Orleans. The staff were friendly and gave us a room near the parking lot door, as requested, but the hotel seemed short-staffed. Our room was dirty: there was hair on the sheets and what looked like an old coffee stain in the sink. There was no ice bucket, cups, or complimentary in-room coffee. We asked for a bucket to make drinks, but the lone evening front desk employee couldn’t leave the desk to find one. The hotel needs a refresh and more people on staff to maintain Holiday Inn standards.