Holiday Inn Express Hopewell - Fort Lee by IHG — Attraction in Hopewell

My title is what I got out of my stay. I Reserved our room on a Friday morning through the HIE website (thankfully) for that Friday night stay. We drove up that night, arrived there around 11pm and was told they were Full! I explained that I had a reservation and I had 2 ladies tell me that it was first come first serve basis and they didn't have any rooms available. As I stood there wanting to loose my cool.....I tried to make sense of this whole mess and explained again that what was the point in someone going online and making a reservation if to only get there be turned away. She said well when you book with a 3rd party its not a guarantee that the room will be available.....first off they hadn't asked me they just assumed I had booked through a 3rd party.......so I pulled the email up and showed her that I DID NOT book with a 3rd party....so they both went to the computer and started looking and doing something and then one took a key and said let me go look and see if this room is clean and I'll be right back. Really? in the mean time this man comes up asking what was going on so the girl left up there with me proceeded to tell him so he started up with the whole 3rd party thing.....he looked at the computer and said yep I've got a wedding party here I've got to call and tell them we are over booked because they booked with *.com. smh Finally the other girl comes around the corner and said yep that room is clean so they finish keying whatever and gave me our keys and we were on our way. They never said how to get to the room....what floor we were on......nothing but I just took the keys and figured it out myself. I was so disgusted to say the least. Once we found our room, it was nice. It was clean, a/c was on, had a king size bed just as I had requested, bathroom had a nice stand up shower.....it was a nice room. Not long after we got in the room and settled....there were several gun shots which was not what we expected at all. Luckily that was the only time we heard that. Then as we fell off to sleep we were woke up by a BIG dog barking on our hall! Now that worried us! We really thought there for a minute that something may have been going on. Not sure if the Hotel permits dogs to be there or not but it was very uncomfortable to hear that dog barking throughout the night several times. We were thankful to just get a nights rest and get out of there the next morning. Will not be back. :) It took 4 tries to get this approved...

Room was pretty clean, although we did find a penny under the desk & a used coffee spoon in the room trashcan when we arrived. The room was quiet & could hardly hear other people on the floor with us.

The one big light we found in our room was slightly broken & hanging lower than its supposed to which became a head bonking issue trying to get into or out of the bed by the window. Ample light in the room besides this as we didn't need it.

Beds & pillows were comfortable. Bathroom was clean, stocked with plenty of towels & well lit. The room also has a kuerig coffee maker a mini microwave & a mini fridge. Not sure if our mini fridge worked though as it was warm inside when I opened it. Room also has a safe in the bottom of the little hanging closet. The window also had built in black out shades which was a very nice addition, although it didn't close all the way to the bottom or I just didn't get it to roll all the way down, either way I very much appreciated this feature.

Breakfast had a good spread of everything plus it was clean and well stocked of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, bacon & sausage. Along with a variety of muffins, bread/English muffins (which were all individually wrapped) for toasting along with cinnamon rolls and some other type of breakfast pastry. There was three different kinds of cereal was available as well( fruit loops, frosted flakes & raisin bran) the pancake machine was out of order though which was a bummer. There was also a couple different types juice in a dispenser machine and a mini fridge that had milk, yogurt & water bottles.

The pool was not available for use during our stay either which was also a bummer as we were looking forward to using it during our stay. It seemed they had it closed for maintenance and had finished filling it back up as we were checking out though.

The location was just right for going to the Upper Shirley Vineyards for a wedding. I would recommend this hotel if you are staying the...

This hotel has nothing to offer. The hot water takes forever to heat up. The mattresses are worn down but you will see the card next to the bed. That reads enjoy your comfortable nights stay in our new mattresses. I actually looked at the mattress that had stains on it and worn down. The room phone didn't work. I reported it three times I just gave up and gave my classmates my cell number They didn't act like they even cared.. The customer service is poor. Roberto is not very friendly. He had his feet up on a chair watching TV when I got there. No one at the desk. He was rude to a few of my classmates. He doesn't seem to care if you stay there or not. The washing machine didn't work. The breakfast was good they gave you as much variety has they had room to display. They had a display for hot chocolate but no hot chocolate packets , I'm not sure why it was sitting there. No one at the hotel seems to care about your nights stay. They don't greet you at the door. Checking out was about the same they didn't thank me for booking or even staying there. I am an IHG member. At other Holiday Inns I've stayed at they always give you a free gift, bottled water or candy.. Nothing they don't seem to care. I think this hotel is not managed very well. My bed was made daily they took the towels and garbage but you get no extra. I had a big glob of red hair in my bed the night I came in. Yuck! I wouldn't stay in this hotel again only if I had too. They call their selves an IHG Hotel Inn express not comparable to the other IHG Holiday Inn's I've stayed in. Very Disappointed! It would of helped some if the employees would had greeted you at the door thanked you for staying there. Asked me if everything was ok. They need to hire new people or train the ones they have. Or maybe just hire people that are passionate about their jobs and care about...