Holiday Inn Express & Suites Shelbyville by IHG

The room was large and the bed comfy, with a fridge, microwave, and keurig in it. Breakfast had a good range, including an egg white omelet, turkey sausage, gluten free muffins, and all the usual stuff. The staff were friendly. Nice hotel right off the highway.

We’ve stayed here countless times while visiting family in the area, and it’s great every time. The rooms are always clean, the folks are super nice, and breakfast is always yummy with lots of variety. Love, love, love this hotel. Recommend 100%.

The room was comfortable and clean, with a microwave, frig, and Keurig together at a coffee bar. There was even a sink right beside the Keurig. Every hotel should do this. The weekday price beat the other hotels nearby, and the clean lobby and breakfast area felt inviting. Hot breakfast had a nice range of choices, all laid out and organized. We really enjoyed our stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Shelbyville and hope to stay here again on our way home.

During Derby week, my wife and I, both longtime IHG Platinum Elite members, stayed in Room 319, with two queen beds, at the Holiday Inn Express in Shelbyville, Kentucky. We thought it would be a convenient base for our Kentucky Derby trip, but it became one of our most frustrating hotel stays. We would never recommend this property. I’ve opened a case with IHG corporate and look forward to hearing back. My opinion could change if we get a response from the manager or ownership, and I’ll happily edit the review if they reach out. For now, it gets a strong avoid from us. I’ll also share this if I see anyone on social media Derby sites asking for hotel recommendations. Photos and videos are attached. The gym was very lackluster, just one treadmill, one elliptical, and a few free weights in a tiny room. They left the heater running, so we opened the windows and immediately got heavy cigarette smoke from staff smoking right outside. We saw the maintenance gentlemen smoking at least three times in one hour. We kept a window cracked overnight for cool air and to avoid running the AC constantly, but after the Derby our room smelled strongly of smoke every night. The night staff’s smoke breaks woke us up, gave my wife headaches, and ruined our Derby experience. We got locked out because the lock was broken and told the manager about the smoking. He apologized and confirmed the property is non-smoking. Staff changed the lock but didn’t replace the “Do Not Disturb” sign. Then housekeeping entered while we were out, with jewelry, electronics, money, and clothes left everywhere. It felt very uncomfortable to know people had been in our room without our knowledge. On Sunday morning, after seeing staff smoking right outside the gym, we raised the issue politely again. Two of the ladies became extremely argumentative. They said they smoked “behind the pool house” and tried to claim vaping has no effect. In reality, they lit up as soon as they went out the back door, smoked the whole way, and put their cigarettes out just before coming back in. There’s an ashtray by the back door and one in the garbage can, directly contradicting the no-smoking signs in the elevator. After we raised these concerns, police knocked on our door and asked us to leave the property. As longtime IHG Platinum Elite members, we found that incredibly embarrassing and unprofessional. We moved across the street to Candlewood Suites, also IHG, and it was much nicer, cleaner, and smoke-free. As a business owner myself, I’m highly disappointed in how this simple request was handled.