Holiday Inn VESTAL BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY

This is about renting the venue, not staying in the hotel rooms. We had a party planned for 75 people, and although they said we could set up the night before, another group had the room the morning of our event until almost 2 pm. That left us just an hour and a half before early guests arrived, and we were still setting up as people came in. It was stressful, and we didn’t finish everything. They also let us use the back entrance, where there was a lot of ice and no salt. It looked the same for two days, so it wasn’t fresh ice. Two people fell, thankfully without major injuries. We were promised contracts and scheduled meetings, but they didn’t show up. I do want to say Stephanie was helpful and on top of everything, and we were grateful she was there.

We booked through hotels.com and stayed about an hour before switching to another hotel. The whole place smelled of cigarettes and weed, and it felt like a drug den. The walls were paper thin, so we heard everything. The bed was comfortable enough, but we were worried about our safety. The employee who checked us in seemed like she’d just walked in off the street, and complained about her job while doing it. It felt unwelcoming and frankly terrifying. I hadn’t realized how bad the reviews were. Take the previous reviewers at their word, it was as terrible as it gets. I’ve seen management respond to the negative reviews, but nothing seems to have been fixed. Stay away.

The service was helpful, which we needed more than once because our towels and room keys kept causing problems. For the price and convenient access to the university, there is some value, but we wouldn’t stay again. We were in town for a BU reunion and picked it for the location of the former Holiday Inn, which I remembered as the place SUNY students went for ice for campus parties. The building and rooms seemed frozen in time from 1970, with the old Holiday Inn layout and finishes. Our room was adequate, but dark and dated, with a tiny bathroom and very few amenities. The shower pressure was fine, though the floor felt slick, almost greasy, and the towels were small and well used. We skipped the continental breakfast, and the vending machines were useless. When friends came to pick us up, people leaving the hotel knocked on their car window and told them outright, “Don’t stay here.”

The room was over 80 degrees, and the AC only blew warm air. At the front desk I was told nothing could be done. Between the heat, the smell, and dirty walls, I wouldn’t stay here again. There were a few good things: the bed seemed clean, the room was a good size, and the staff were friendly enough. But the hallway carpets, lobby furniture, and walls throughout were dirty, and the smell was somewhere between musty and weed. I don’t usually stay at Quality Inn’s because I’ve never associated the brand with cleanliness, but I was traveling with a conference group. I’ll tell the organizers we should return to the Hampton Inn next year.