Holiday Inn Express Edmonton Downtown by IHG — Hotel in Edmonton

I booked our stay months in advance for my husband's birthday, hoping it would be a special experience. Given that my daughter is celiac, I made sure to call the hotel on three separate occasions before our arrival to ensure that gluten-free breakfast options would be available. Every time, I was reassured that they had gluten-free options and that my request would be noted on my file, so a member of the breakfast staff could guide us through the available choices. This is not our first time staying at a Holiday Inn Express or Staybridge, so I am familiar with the breakfast options.

When we arrived on Friday, October 18th, around 4 pm, I decided to confirm the gluten-free options at the front desk. To my absolute frustration, the gentleman checking us in informed me that the hotel NEVER offered any gluten-free products. He also said there were no notes on my file about this, which was incredibly frustrating given how much effort I put into making sure this was sorted before our stay. If I knew they did not carry gluten free options then I could have changed my reservation all together. As a small gesture, he waived the parking fee due to the inconvenience, but honestly, this didn’t make up for the problem.

The next morning, during breakfast, I asked a member of the breakfast team if there was anything gluten-free available besides the usual yogurt, milk, and fruit. To my surprise—and frustration—it turned out that they DID, in fact, have gluten-free bread, which was provided to us upon request. The staff member was kind, professional, and recognized me immediately, ensuring we had gluten-free bread for the rest of our stay. Her excellent service stood in stark contrast to the misinformation from the front desk. It was frustrating that we had gone out of our way to buy gluten-free food for my daughter based on false information, only to find out the hotel did provide gluten-free options after all.

To make matters worse, after we purchased food for my daughter, we stored it in the mini-fridge in our room—only to realize the fridge wasn’t working properly. The temperature was off, and the food we had bought went bad. I notified the front desk on Saturday morning before we headed out for the day, and I was assured that maintenance would take care of the issue. However, when we returned that evening, nothing had been done, and the fridge was still malfunctioning. We were forced to throw away the food we had bought because it had spoiled, which was particularly upsetting given my daughter's dietary needs. This issue could have easily been avoided had the staff followed through with their promise to address the malfunction.

Adding to my frustration, I requested towels on Saturday and specified that we did not need full housekeeping ONLY for that day. Yet on Sunday, when we returned to our room, I discovered that housekeeping had made the beds, and changed the trash, but failed to vacuum or even remove the used towels I had left on the floor. It was sloppy at best, and it felt like no one was paying attention to detail.

On Sunday evening, the situation reached its peak. After a long day out, I called the front desk around 4:30 pm to request towels for my daughter to shower. The woman at the front desk assured me they would be sent up shortly. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I called again, as the towels still hadn’t arrived. This time, instead of receiving an apology or explanation, I was given a curt response—she simply said she had already requested the towels and to wait for them. I even asked if I needed to come down to get them myself, but she ignored my question.

After 15 more minutes of waiting—at this point, it had been almost an hour—I called a third time. To my shock, the front desk agent yelled at me, saying she had already requested (as if her only responsibility was to call for towels and not to ensure they are delivered) the towels and accused me of being impatient, as if it was my fault for asking. By this point, the delay and the rude response were simply unacceptable, especially after being left waiting for something as basic as towels for almost an hour.

To top it all off, upon checkout, the same gentleman who initially told me the hotel didn’t offer gluten-free options apologized, stating that he had “attempted” to call both my room and cell phone to inform me about the gluten-free bread—but I never received any call or voicemail. His apology came too late, and it didn’t change the fact that the stay had been filled with avoidable issues that severely impacted our experience. He offered me some points for the inconvenience however as I told him right there, the points did not amend or solve the problem.

Every inconvenience I encountered during my stay—from the misinformation about gluten-free options to the malfunctioning fridge which led to special food wasted, subpar housekeeping, and appalling customer service—was communicated to the front desk in a timely manner and could have been addressed without delay. Instead, these issues piled up, turning what should have been a pleasant experience into a frustrating ordeal. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the pool was green and slimy.

At this point I cannot in good conscience recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Edmonton. The lack of organization, unprofessional staff, and repeated failures to address simple requests were disappointing, to say the least. What should have been a special birthday weekend for my husband turned into a deeply frustrating experience, not to mention that I have a charge of $26.34 that I don't know what it is for, on top of the $50 hold. I will wait 3 days and see if it gets released, otherwise I will contact you again.

I trust that the hotel values guest satisfaction and takes feedback like this seriously. Given the series of inconveniences we experienced during our stay—particularly the miscommunication, the malfunctioning fridge, and the delays in service—I hope the hotel will consider an appropriate gesture to make up for the issues we faced. I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing how the hotel plans to address these concerns...

Recently stayed at this hotel and we will never be back. We had two hotel rooms to accommodate the number of people attending an Oilers game. Upon arrival, we realized parking was going to be an issue, as there were no open spots as this lot is also used for patrons of downtown businesses. As it was a game day for Oilers, a lot of the vehicles were parked in the lot for the Oilers game. We assumed there must be a parkade somewhere, however, once checking in, we were informed that we would need to park two blocks away at the over flow parking and walk back to the hotel. Inconvenient but manageable. The front desk staff were friendly and kind, and didn’t charge us for parking at their overflow parking lot.

Upon entering the elevator it was obvious this hotel was old, dirty, and in desperate need of up keeping. The staircase area was dirty with a large hole in the wall. This really showed how run down this place is. Both our rooms had dirty bathrooms, hair in the bathtubs, hair on the bathroom floor, dirty shower curtain, and it was clear that the shelf between the beds had not been cleaned in a very long time. Because we had two rooms I compared the cleanliness of both rooms and both rooms were equally as dirty, which to me indicates that cleanliness is not a high priority. The electrical outlets on the shelf between the beds did not work. The outlets were so loose that even if you plugged something in, it would just fall right out. The bathroom outlet had the same issue. The bed was comfortable but the bedding was horrendous. It barely fit the length of the bed and the material was slippery and cold. The hallways reaked of cigarette smoke even though all rooms were labelled as non smoking.

The location is within decent walking distance to Rogers.

When I addressed my concerns upon checkout the front desk employee was very appreciative of my concerns and stated he would have someone check into it. Unfortunately cleanliness is of utmost importance and had we not been rushed to get to the Oilers game I would have requested the rooms to be cleaned or perhaps even move to a different location altogether. The front desk employee did provide me a discount on both rooms without me asking which I did appreciate.

This hotel is in desperate need of a complete overhaul. It is dirty, outdated, and in my opinion does not meet the standards of other Holiday Inns that we have stayed at over the years. I would not...

We stayed at this hotel for 7 nights. We booked through the IHG Hotel and specifically asked for a pet friendly room. We were categorically told that the pet fee was 25.00 per night per room with no specification on the number of the pets (we have two). We have been hotels for some time waiting for our new home away from Edmonton, after two home invasions, so we know the drill.

When we arrived the front desk manager checked me in. As it turns out put us into a non-pet friendly room. We did not learn of this until this morning. Shame on him.

Every day we were current with the room charges. Even one day when they over charged.

Then yesterday, there was an increase in the room rate that did not agree with the website. A 50 dollar increase. At the same time I asked for a change in bedding from the front desk manager and let him know we would be staying.

This morning, I spoke early to the young lady at the front desk that I needed to do some banking and paying by 9:30. No issue.

When I returned to pay, the front desk manager demanded that I leave by noon that they were over booked.

The front desk manager then stated that yesterday afternoon he told me that we needed to be out by noon. I was with clients for all the previous afternoon and evening. When I returned I did not speak with any front desk staff and went straight to bed. Shame on him again.

During the same conversation, the front desk manager, stated that he visited the room when vacant and stated that there was dog feces everywhere. The room was never vacant. My significant other is a victim of stalking and has become an agoraphobe. She was in the room at all times.

Any accidents from the dogs was cleaned up immediately and any accidents occurred on the concrete of the balcony. Never did we they allowed to accumulate.

This tells me that the front desk manager was either a creeper or is challenged in the art of veracity.

The front desk manager went on to try to make fraudulent charges on my credit card for an additional 25 per night for the additional pet. Fortunately, I was smart enough to lock my card.

The front desk manager then has refused me our room deposit. We cleaned the room thoroughly and left it neat and tidy. My belief is that the entire exercise is an example in fraud.

I called the front desk manager on his statements. He then had us thrown out into the rain. It is my belief that he should be dismissed with...