Holiday Inn Salem by IHG

The hotel felt old and unwelcoming, and I wouldn’t choose it again if I planned to spend time in the room or had little kids or pets. There was a bad smell as soon as I entered, almost like a dorm where someone had been cooking SpaghettiOs in the back room. Our king suite was huge, but the walls and decor looked like the 1980s, and there wasn’t a lamp on my side of the bed. Traffic outside was loud, and there were many homeless people nearby, which left me feeling unsafe and not at all cozy. People had been complaining that breakfast wasn’t included with their rooms, so it seems the hotel tried to make up for that with a trimmed-down free breakfast.

The rooms were very clean, with wonderfully comfortable beds and pillows, and the staff were friendly and welcoming. The location is handy right off the exit, though the number of homeless people nearby made the area feel less safe than I expected. There are some practical drawbacks: the so-called complimentary breakfast is only for Diamond members, and it’s served in the on-site restaurant, which doesn’t open until after 6 AM. That timing doesn’t work well if you need to leave early for work. There also isn’t coffee readily available in the lobby; you have to go through the restaurant, which seems odd for a hotel at this level. It’s a very nice place with great rooms and people, but those quirks and the surroundings could be a downside depending on what you need.

The location is excellent, with cheaper places to eat nearby. The restaurant here was a little pricey. Our room was nice and quaint, and the heat and AC worked great, but street noise was noticeable. The shower felt cramped for a husky guy.

The front desk staff were welcoming, but someone else gave us an evil eye, as if we were personally stealing from them. Our room was clean but short on basics: a room for four had only one roll of toilet paper, two towels, and two coffee cups, and the coffee maker was broken. The building also didn’t feel secure, since you could enter the hotel, use the elevators, and access the stairwells without a card. The side exit door had a hole in it. The area wasn’t the best, with lots of homeless people and a few cannabis stores nearby.