Holiday Inn Express & Suites Springfield

We were in town for a convention, but checked out immediately after seeing the room. The front desk guy was very nice, though we’re still getting texts as if we’re checked in. I expected more from a HOLIDAY INN. The room was tiny, and a cabinet drawer wouldn’t close, sticking out where it could hit a guest’s shins. When we opened the curtains, the view was a massive wall of Crown Plaza air conditioning units. It was stuffy, and we couldn’t open a window. The thermostat was already set as low as it would go, 72 degrees. My kid spotted a blinking motion sensor with a wire running behind a grate. It was labeled “a/c sensor.” We were supposed to trust it wasn’t a camera, but even if it was just a sensor, it seemed the air conditioning would shut off if we weren’t moving enough. The temperature couldn’t go below 72, and we worried it might turn off while we slept. That didn’t feel hospitable, more like cheap service. The most concerning thing was plastic bags over the sprinklers. We hadn’t put them there, so we assumed previous guests had, but housekeeping hadn’t removed them. It was the first thing I noticed on entering. I went straight to the front desk, and they said they’d send maintenance up to remove them. Then we noticed the supposed sensor and decided the room already had too many problems. We left.

The room was average, but clean, and everything worked as it should. The property itself is clean and well maintained. Breakfast was the usual Holiday Inn Express spread, with everything fresh: plenty of fruit, sweet rolls, bread, sausage and biscuits, pancakes from the machine, juices, and coffee. I’d stay again.

Breakfast was the only good part. At check-in, I stood right in front of the man working at 4:30 p.m. on 5.17.26, and he stayed on his phone without acknowledging me. The bed was very hard, and the toilet was awful, taking two flushes to clear anything. The room’s AC didn’t work. Strike two. At checkout, the app wouldn’t let me leave, so I had to go to the front desk and deal with a Black woman who had a bad attitude. This franchise owner needs to retrain the staff.

The pool listed here is actually at the hotel next door, and they send you there for the bar and food too. That place had the same problem with staff not being around. At this hotel, I waited 25 minutes after arriving because nobody was at the front desk, though there was supposedly a sign. The room was rough: the AC was coming off the wall, the tub barely drained, and the bed was rock hard.