Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Mount Airy by IHG

The employees’ lack of empathy was awful. They were talking among themselves about customers cancelling and saying they didn’t see why hot water mattered. When we arrived after a six-hour drive for our 30th anniversary getaway, the pool was out of service. Then we were told there was no hot water and we could either cancel or stay without a discount or extra points. I know the water problem wasn’t the employees’ fault, but their response was still terrible. We’d booked weeks ahead through a flash deal that fit our budget. We found a room at The Hampton, but at the last minute it cost twice as much, even after using my Hampton points. I’ve stayed at Holiday Inn’s across the country, and this was by far the worst location I’ve encountered.

We were exhausted after a 12-hour trip and just wanted to sleep, but woke at 6:30 a.m. to hound dogs howling and kids running and screaming in the halls. Breakfast was awful too, with dry muffins and orange juice that had particles floating in it. I felt the place was especially unsafe for a woman traveling alone. The front desk employee, Edwin, was very nice, but our room had clearly been broken into. The latch and the inside of the doorjamb were damaged, as the photos show. We called Edwin after entering and asked if it had been broken into. He said no, then came up, looked at the door, and said it didn’t look that way to him. He was nice and offered to move us, but we were too tired to switch rooms.

The first room’s bathroom fan didn’t work, and the bed and bath area smelled strongly of mold. We switched rooms, then a bug crawled out from under the pillows while I was sitting on one of the beds. I took it down to the front desk and asked to move again, but the representative didn’t even apologize. The indoor pool was out of order too. It was a nasty experience, booked through booking.com, which I also wouldn’t recommend.

Check-in was friendly and easy, and the staff were accommodating. We had our dog with us, and the outdoor area had pet cleanup bags and a disposal bin.