Holiday Inn Express & Suites Frazier Park by IHG

Great views of the mountains, and the parking lot was well lit. I didn't have time to try the included breakfast. The room was extremely clean and the bed comfortable, and the front desk staff were especially nice and hospitable. Lucky there was availability for our last-minute trip. It's a great place to stop between Northern California and the Phoenix area of Arizona, and I'd definitely stay again if I was nearby.

For two weeks, the toilet ran day and night, and nobody replied when I reported it once or twice in the text app. Breakfast was short a few items the whole time: no sausage or bacon, and the pancake maker was broken for both weeks. Also, there's NO GYM. I've stayed at well over a hundred HIEs across America in the last decade and never encountered one without some kind of gym. The room was the usual Holiday Inn setup and was fine. Ask for the west side of the hotel, because rooms on the east side are very close to I-5 and LOUD. It's at a truck stop, so know what you're getting.

I didn't expect much from a quick overnight stop on a long trip, but the room and bathroom were impressively clean and in good shape. There were plenty of charging ports and wall outlets for personal devices, and the staff were very nice and professional. A small surprise: they put my last name on a little board to recognize my IHG status. The complimentary breakfast was great too, and they had freshly ground coffee brewed in a nice Costa machine. I didn't get a chance to take a picture by that wall frame.

The room was clean, but I could hear everything from the rooms next door and above, so I slept terribly. I'm a truck driver stranded here because my truck broke down. My company had paid in full, but they refused to rent me a room because I didn't have a credit card for the $50 incidental hold. They treated me like a third-rate citizen, as if not having a credit card meant there was something wrong with me. Management got combative and hostile while enforcing the policy. I'd stayed the night before without a card on file; when I pointed that out, they said that employee shouldn't have checked me in. This is an absurd policy when the company has already paid for the room, and it feels predatory to reveal this hidden charge at the very end of check-in. I won't use Holiday Inn again after this, and I'd discourage others from staying here unless they're rich. They showed no compassion to someone in need, and I worry the one person who did help will get in trouble. Bad form. Enjoy your empty room, Holiday Inn!