Holiday Inn Express Williamsburg by IHG

The room smelled so strongly of paint that I felt nauseous. Although I’d requested and been granted a late checkout for an important morning meeting, staff pounded on the door and came in while I was in that meeting. At checkout I was told, “yeah, sorry about that. I told them too late. We are still working on our communication.” That was another excuse, with no fix. The Wi-Fi didn’t work at all, and they blamed a “storm,” though it never got more than a sprinkle. There were black marks across the sheets and pillows, plus small hairs in the sheets. I mentioned it at checkout and they brushed it off as “just our washing machine.” No solution, just an excuse. The woman who checked me in was incredibly kind, but that was the only positive. Customer service was awful, and I should have received a full refund and IHG points for this disaster. They acted like it was no big deal. UPDATE: I called Steven Cecil, the AGM, as he asked, and left a message. Several days have passed without a response, despite his offer to resolve this.

After a long day on the road, the spacious room, comfortable beds, and crisp linens were just what we needed. The rooms were surprisingly quiet even though the hotel is right off the highway, and the location was convenient. It felt like good value for the money. The hotel was modern, clean, and welcoming. Everyone at the front desk was friendly and went out of their way to help us during our road trip through Kentucky. Breakfast was fresh, had lots of variety, and was genuinely delicious. A fantastic stay.

Our remodeled room was lovely, and the front desk clerk was super nice at both check-in and checkout. We stayed one night and had a wonderful time, though we missed breakfast after sleeping in following New Year’s. Parking was the one snag. The lot is extremely tight with a big truck, and anyone towing a trailer should avoid pulling in. Even driving around the building in a truck without a trailer is really difficult. It seems they could use a little more land to make that easier. We’ll definitely stay again.

Steve at the front desk was very nice and got us settled. The room was clean, and since we were there for just one night, the renovation underway around the hotel didn’t affect us much. Breakfast was good. We expected sausage patties or links, but got ham that reminded me of lunch meat. It was a pleasant surprise to find gluten-free bread and bagels. I usually stay at Holiday Inn Express, but the prices keep climbing for what you get. My biggest issue, here and at the others, is the coffee. For some reason my wife and I just think it’s plain bad. Gas station coffee is much better.