Holiday Inn Grand Haven-Spring Lake by IHG

We were in town for a local hockey tournament in February, and we'd stay here again. The breakfast buffet was decent and especially worthwhile if you're traveling with kids. It's an older property, but clean and well kept, with a good location and plenty of food and activities nearby.

The location is perfect, the rooms are nice, and the staff are friendly. I had hoped to make this Holiday Inn a regular summer stop, but I won't return after how the billing problem was handled. Manager Brandon Tomlinson called after hearing about it, then stopped responding and never made it right. Another staff member told me many customers at this location had been double charged too. Based on that, I believe there's a wider IHG/Holiday Inn billing problem, and I'd tell others to avoid this location and Holiday Inn in general. I'm a single mom and carefully save and budget so I can take my kid on a summer vacation. I prepaid the whole stay on purpose. At check-in, I was told my debit card on file would have a temporary hold for incidentals. Great Wolf Lodge, where we'll go from now on, charged $100 per night for incidentals. Instead, this hotel charged the full $756 again without telling me that would happen. If I'd known, I would have used a credit card for the temporary charge. The extra charge tied up the money I'd saved for food and other travel costs. My account went into a tailspin, with $245 in overdraft fees, because the money should have been available. I had to use funds set aside for our dog's surgery and borrow money to cover the difference in fees that remained even after the temporary charge disappeared. It caused a lot of stress and anxiety during our vacation. I reported it to the front desk, where I also heard from another staff member that many guests were having the same double-charge issue, and I called Holiday Inn customer service right away. Even though I was frustrated, I spoke kindly to the staff and support agents. I asked them to stop the double charging by looking into the wider problem and to reimburse me for the overdraft fees. Brandon Tomlinson eventually left me a voicemail. I called back and left a message, then tried to reach him several more times without hearing from him again. They don't respect their customers or seem to care about the customer experience. I wanted Holiday Inn to be our go-to wherever we travel, since most locations have a pool my kid enjoys. After this and what I learned about the billing issue, I won't give them my business anymore, even when I have more of a financial cushion.

The room was very clean, and the staff were professional and courteous. But I booked an accessible room with a walk-in shower, and it had no grab bars in the shower or by the toilet. I don't consider that safe for someone with a disability. The pool water was unbearably cold, there were no fresh towels to dry off with, and ice machines on three of the four floors weren't working.

We were very disappointed and won't be back. The hotel was a mess, with stains all over. The bathtub had stains that looked mysterious, and there were more on the ground floor and ceilings. When we went to use the electric car charger, a non-electric car was parked in the charging spot. We complained at the front desk, but nothing was done. We paid a lot for the room and expected a breakfast buffet, but instead we were offered made-to-order breakfast. Everything felt overpriced. Worst hotel experience.