Holiday Inn Express Grover Beach-Pismo Beach Area by IHG — Attraction in Grover Beach

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS - GROVER BEACH: Located next to the 101, it's freeway-convenient. Note that the sole entry/exit driveway has no signage and is on a very steep hill with poor visibility. Going in, from either direction can be hazardous if you're being tailgated by a speeding car that doesn't see the driveway. Use your turn signal! Once safely on the property you'll note that it's a collection of 2 & 3 level buildings that look like they were originally an apartment complex. The lobby isn't immediately obvious. It's on the right side just before the pavement rises to the upper-level parking lot.

Check-in is at 3pm. And they mean it. At 3pm, the front desk is pleasant, and the check-in process is smooth. I was sent to the low-300's building. There was plenty of parking near the door. The hallways were plain blue & white, antiseptic looking. My room was HUGE, easily 50% larger than most HIE rooms that are double the price in more upscale CA locations. I'm convinced that it was originally a studio apartment. A combination makeup room & kitchen has a sink, 2 wide counters, microwave & (not-a-tiny-cube) fridge. This area & the bathroom were spotless. No hairs, mold or dust bunnies were seen. Water temperature & pressure were fine.

There was plentiful & convenient counter space in the room. The A/C, lights and (50")! Samsung TV all worked fine. With the windows closed, there was no traffic noise or annoying nighttime lights. Neighbors were quiet.

Breakfast starts at 7, not 6. It was the usual HIE fare. As is increasingly common in HIEs, I didn't see bacon or biscuits & gravy the days I was there. At least there were PORK sausage patties, not turkey. Notably, the main dishes were in home-size consumer-grade warmers, not the usual HIE gleaming chrome commercial grade ones. The "juice" machine was out of order. This was fine because there were actual orange juice cartons in the fridge with the yogurt. But they were small. 1 carton filled a coffee cup 1/3. The eggs & potatoes were spiced. They tasted MUCH better than expected.

I eat breakfast early and then do my outdoor vacation activities full bore and return for the day at about 2pm. Unfortunately, at least in my building, housekeeping service was AFTER this time. They got going just as I settled back in for the day. I put the "busy" tag on my doorknob. My stay wasn't long and I'm fairly neat. So, reusing towels and not making the bed wasn't ultra-annoying. It felt like home.

Be careful exiting the parking lot. Cars accelerating up the hill can't see you emerging until they're...

First, I want to say Thumb Up to the manager that actually read this column and corrected the breakfast complaint by getting the HI famous Cinnamon Rolls back to the breakfast menu. Our family of 4 stayed 1 night after visiting Santa Barbara and Solvang. Check in is speedy because we did the online check in. We are assigned to the Chablis building on second floor Room 200 and I actually paid extra to have balcony as this is our first time staying in hotel after the pandemic. For 2 years, we haven’t the confidence to travel and stay in hotel till recently all members in the family are fully vaccinated with my husband and I have our booster shot and the 2 teenagers have at least 2 shots as well as the pandemic seem not to morph into common flu. ||Spacious room and love that a built in area that one can open the luggage easily and there are built in hanger/hook that we can hang hat, jacket and handbag! I found this feature also in the HI Fisherman Wharf. ||Front desk person is responsive to needs after entered into room, we needed extra towels and a razor though we didn’t received in the room because delivered to the wrong room and we had to walk back to lobby to get them. I am glad that the front desk communicated to us why the items not delivered. We understand the mistake but we appreciate the communication so we know that the items are delivered except to the wrong room. ||Might want to send someone to fix the handle of the drawers on the bottom, loose and crooked to the side of pulled. Also, the bath tub handle, the water came out from top and bottom this the water pressure very low coming out from the shower head, this needs fixing. Sorry, we should have told the front desk when we checked out. ||Love the newly added cinnamon rolls and they have the auto made pancake! Hooray, you bring back one of the most significant features of HI complimentary breakfast! I am not sure I am being greedy to ask for waffles in the future? No need self made, just pre-made a small batch, don’t use the bought from store pre-made as we can taste frozen and fresh from waffle iron. That is if can accommodate as I am waffle rather than pancake eater.||Overall, LOVE this property and highly recommend if you are visiting Solvang, Santa Barbara or SLO, stop at this property as the management does seem to care about the comfort of the guests and actually reading this column to see can improve. For this, please support this property if you are around the area visiting and need a place to rest. It is a...

I stayed at this Holiday Inn Express with my family about a week ago. Overall it was a satisfactory experience, but there are definitely areas of this location that could be improved.

Some positive aspects to note: All the staff and employees I encountered were extremely friendly, caring, helpful, and professional. This made for a very personal experience. We arrived early and were given the pool and WiFi access codes to use while we waited for our room. Additionally, the pool area was very private, peaceful, and relaxing. It was very open and the sunshine didn't get blocked by anything. The hotel is in a very convenient and accessible location. There are a variety of restaurants nearby, and it was far enough from the highway to be quiet.

Some drawbacks I had with this hotel that didn't ruin my experience, but could be improved for better customer experience: There were some ants in the shower. Our room was on the bottom floor, so they are probably hard to control, but pest control efforts by the hotel could be improved. The location did not have a gym on site. This was a major drawback for me, because I had to alter my workout plans. The pool needed better keeping. I went to swim in the pool, but there were so many dead flies and little bugs spread throughout, that I only wanted to use the hot tub. There was cleaning equipment lying out around the pool, but it obviously hadn't been used in a while, considering the condition of the pool. Additionally the lack of storage for the machine that was sitting out on the pool deck took away from the overall ambiance. The lighting in the room was very poor, even with the curtains being wide open.

Overall, I was satisfied and would stay here again, considering convenience, price, and customer service, but I could tell the physical property was being neglected. It would be in the property owner's interest to put some money and development in to this hotel, to better it for the future. I loved the change of scene with the hotel being on a hill and having separate buildings, compared to the usually boring architecture and design of most chain hotels. That being said, with some renovations and re-purposing, a small gym could easily be added, along with improvements to the quality, ambiance, and appeal of the location.

Hope...