Holiday Inn Chicago - Schaumburg by IHG

The turkey sausage was delicious, and the coffee was superb. Erica at the front desk gave excellent service, and the restaurant staff were amazing too. The hotel felt calm and peaceful. We also used the gym and indoor pool, both nice to have.

The room itself was very clean and well kept, but the front desk experience was awful. I booked through Booking.com, the reservation went through, and the payment was taken. I travel for work every weekend in different states, so I've dealt with hotels often. When I arrived, the woman at the desk rudely said the room wasn't ready and to come back in an hour. I did, and she still said it wasn't ready and that she couldn't see any payment in the system, only the reservation and confirmation number. I showed her the payment information from my bank and Booking.com, and she snapped, 'listen to me, I said you did not pay, go solve your problem yourself or pay again at our hotel on the spot, I will give you a room'. When she heard I was contacting technical support, the payment somehow appeared in the system. Five stars for cleanliness, one for the front desk.

This was my second stay, and it was lousy after a great first visit. The lot hadn't been plowed even though it snowed the day before and the day we were there. When I asked, they said they hadn't hired anyone yet to do it. A room next door took three hot showers and somehow triggered an alarm that beeped loudly for over 45 minutes. Our room phone didn't work, though we told the desk three times. We were there Friday to Monday and planned to watch the packer / bear game with drinks and appetizers at the bar, but it was closed Sunday. They'd said the pool was closed when we booked, which was fine, then at check-in told us the pool was open and only the hot tub was closed. We planned to swim Sunday, but found the pool locked. The front desk said it was broken; after I pointed out people had been in it the day before, she checked with the manager and confirmed it worked. It took another 30 minutes to find someone to open it. There were no towels and it was very cold, so we left quickly. Very disappointing, and I probably won't return.

That new open shower layout some 'modern' hotels use is ridiculous. Without a door, several ounces of water splash onto the bathroom floor, where it has nowhere to drain. Then you're stuck mopping it up with the extra towels that don't exist. I'm sure housekeeping loves the extra work, all because a designer wants the rooms to look cutting edge. And the refillable shampoo, soap, body wash, and lotion bottles are supposedly for the environment, though I suspect saving money is the real reason. They all look and smell almost the same, with similar consistency. A guest could easily end up putting body lotion on in the shower instead of body wash. My million dollar idea is to use different colors so people can tell them apart. Otherwise, guests may smell like lotion and hand soap all day instead of body wash. Hotel, don't untag yourself. You earned this post and review, so live with it and learn from it. If you untag yourself, this review goes to Trip Advisor, Yelp, etc. Harvey Mills IHG Diamond Elite Member since the program's inception