Holiday Inn Express Winchester South-Stephens City by IHG

That lobby coffee machine was a nice touch, and I'll come back next time I'm in town. I arrived late, but the front desk staff were super friendly and made me feel welcome. The room was very clean, and I slept great.

The room had no lighting around the desk at all, not even a lamp, and the TV was so small it was hard to watch from bed. The photo below shows the room. It's conveniently right off the interstate, but when we checked in at 10 p.m., there were no lights under the awning, which seemed strange.

The room keys kept stopping working, sometimes more than once, and they really need to sort that out. Apart from that, I had no complaints. The room was clean, breakfast was good, and everything else was great.

I travel often for work and am an IHG member, so I know Holiday Inn Expresses well and usually favor them. This was the worst one I've stayed at. Their reviews had me worried, so I went by early to look around. There was no air conditioning in the lobby, and the pool was closed indefinitely, probably for good. I raised my concerns with my company, but they encouraged me to try it since Holiday Inn Expresses are usually reputable. I checked in, left my things, and went back to work. When I returned, the first room smelled very musty. The smoke detector had been knocked off the wall and didn't work, there was mold on the ceiling above the bed, and the bedroom and wet carpet had a musty smell. After about an hour, I had a horrible headache. Food was mashed into the carpet, making some spots sticky, and there were no lamps or chair. I asked to switch rooms. The second room was better, I guess, but it only had a ripped, sheer window covering that gave no privacy. The heavier curtains at the sides wouldn't move, and the carpet was visibly dirty. Don't drink from the in-room coffee pots. The shower curtain was torn off the bar at one end, and dirty, dried-up washcloths were hanging in the shower. The toilet wouldn't flush, and the outlet didn't work, so I had to sit in my car to charge my phone. I told the staff downstairs about the toilet and was told I would have to wait for "ERICA" to come in the next morning. Until then, I filled the ice bucket at the bathroom sink and poured it into the toilet to flush. Breakfast was pretty bad too, though you sort of expect that at a hotel, or maybe it should be called a motel, without a full kitchen. The food tasted stale, especially the bread and muffins, and the coffee was too bitter to drink. The fridge wasn't working and was empty, and I had to ask for milk, yogurt, and other refrigerated items. I changed hotels for the rest of my five nights working in the area, and I wouldn't recommend booking here unless some major changes are made. When I checked out, "Erica" was much less pleasant and very short with me, unlike when I first checked in. I guess my company had said something to her, but that's the hotel's or managers' fault, not ours. I've posted pictures of what the rooms really look like. They're very different from the website photos.