Holiday Inn Ex & Sts Houston NASA-Boardwalk Area

This is a lovely, well-furnished hotel with clean rooms and common areas, comfortable beds and pillows, and super friendly front desk staff. There was a little mold starting in our shower, but not much, and I’m sure they’ll address it after we leave. Maybe the room had been vacant for a while before we arrived. We love staying here before a cruise and will definitely be back.

The bed and pillows were comfortable, but breakfast was poor: old oranges, broken toaster wires, and awful sausage. The hallway smelled strongly, and room 224 had a very strong musty odor. Housekeeping sprayed the room at the front desk’s request, which helped a little but left the smell pretty bad. We were told there were no other rooms. We had to stay because we’d prepaid through hotels.com. I always try to leave an honest review, and I don’t recommend this hotel.

Our family stayed for a weekend, and every room had a strange smell when we walked in. The hotel seemed to be falling apart. We found stains on the sheets and by the light fixture, and when my daughter pulled back the bedding in one room, there were stains on the sheets there too. We told the woman at the front desk, who offered another room, but it had the same odor and was in similar shape. She asked if we wanted to change the sheets ourselves since she was the only one there. My daughter put on gloves and changed them. Each time we asked for towels, we were told the hotel had run out and needed to wash some. How does a hotel run out of towels? We had to email the GM, as she instructed. The GM apologized for the inconvenience and said the stay shouldn’t reflect on other stays, that they normally aim for 100% satisfaction, and that she had taken a percentage off the total for both rooms. She said we should expect a call and email showing the folio difference and that staff would reach out that day. An employee called Monday morning to say my sister and I couldn’t get a partial refund, but my other sister could because she had booked directly instead of through a third party. More recently, the GM said no refund could be issued because we booked through a third party and that the third party wasn’t willing to refund, which had nothing to do with the hotel. So my other sister and I got nothing back for this awful stay just because we booked through a third party. Stay clear of this hotel.

The bed was hard as a rock, unlike any other stay we’ve had with IHG. Everything else was great, and the price was exactly what we wanted. We stayed the night before our trip into Galveston, and the location worked perfectly for us. Leslie at the front desk was a 10/10. You can tell she cares about customers and enjoys her job. I’d stay again for Leslie alone.