Holiday Inn Kingston-Waterfront by IHG — Hotel in Ontario

I stayed at this hotel with a friend when we went to a mutual friend's wedding last year. While the room we stayed in was comfortable, clean, pleasant enough, and we enjoyed walking around the waterfront area, things did not go smoothly or completely well, from the very beginning, and I was overall pretty dissatisfied with the experience.

Right from the start when I was booking the room, I was unhappy. I called the hotel to ask about what the price for a room would be. I wanted to confirm with my friend if the price was OK with her or if we wanted to compare with somewhere else. I called and was informed of the price for a regular room with two queen beds. Then I got off the phone and talked to my friend. When I called the hotel back about an hour later, the agent I spoke with gave me a different price, higher than what I was initially quoted. I was given no warning that they had a fluid pricing scheme that would change in such a short period of time, and the agent didn't care that I had been told a different price and had not been informed and that I was unhappy, so I ended up having to pay a bit more for the second night which made me mad.

The room we were assigned was close to the elevator, which was nice for convenience but we could hear the elevator every time someone got on or got off. It was a little annoying, but mostly tolerable, but things got worse from there.

The night of the wedding we got in kind of late because we were up dancing with our good friend, so we slept in the next morning. Fairly early in the morning, I could hear two people talking loudly outside our room. I could tell from what they were saying to each other than they were hotel staff, I think maintenance staff most likely. They hung around in the hall near our room for quite some time. I just tried my best to ignore it until finally they went away. When I raised this with the receptionist later on, she asked if we had called the front desk. It had not crossed my mind. While perhaps I should have done so, and I will keep that in mind in the future, I did not appreciate that this had been a problem to begin with and I thought it was very inconsiderate.

The morning after the wedding my friend and I had planned to take a city bus to the train station because the fare is pretty reasonable. I had looked into the bus routes a little bit ahead of time, but I figured the front desk would have information about the bus schedule and which route would be the best one to take to the train station. I figured that was a pretty common thing that guests would ask about. Ha! When I went to the front desk, they had absolutely no information about the bus schedules whatsoever, and simply said "We recommend you take a cab." Well, we didn't want to take a cab, we wanted to take a bus. We ended up figuring out where the bus stop was on my friend's phone on Google Maps on our own. I was pretty disappointed that the front desk was no help in that regard.

One positive thing I can say is that they had a room behind the front desk where we could keep our bags until we left, since we were going to get something to eat in town after check-out time. But I think all hotels have that, so it's not...

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE by Front Desk multiple times in just one day of stay. And the hotel had no water running 2nd day from 9:30am onwards and they don't inform to room guest.

To start with once I made online booking through 3rd party website, I called the Holiday Inn to check if I can pay extra amount or use IHG points to upgrade the room as I was travelling to celebrate my daughter 1st birthday.

I spoke to Casey or Corey (sorry for not remembering the right name) requested if I can get an upgrade to the room by paying off extra amount or use IHG points. He mentioned I can't use IHG points as I booked through 3rd party site. He asked what was the occasion of the trip and I shared that I am visiting Kingston 1st time to celebrate my daughter 1st year birthday.

To my surprise he said let me see what i can do to make my family trip memorable. And he confirmed a free upgrade to the corner room facing water side.

Upon checking was faced with an unfriendly lady who didn't even greeted upon arrival. When I mentioned if I have an upgraded room I was told I get what I booked. I mentioned that I was confirmed by Casey or Corey and she said it's not possible as their is no male front desk guy. I mentioned is it possible the call went to IHG general customer care no and she confirmed it is possible.

I mean if I spoke to a gentleman for over 20 mins did no one made a note to my reservation?

Now comes the best part arrival at room: Room was okay with some dead flies sticking to the ceiling of the wall. Upon walking to the balcony we notices that the chairs are full of dirt and webs of flies/spiders. I mean c'mon this is how you give room to your guest??

Upon requesting to get the chairs and balcony cleaned from the same receptionist she mentioned someone will be there shortly to clean it. More than 2 hours passes by and no one came. Came down to the reception again and we have 2 new set of receptionist mentioned it will be cleaned in 20 mins. Upon checking how it was cleaned the cleaner only cleaned the chair seat and still there is web cobs around leg of the chair.

This is a worst place to stay at.

2nd day during check out. When I went to take shower between 9:30-10 there is no water coming. Upon calling front desk the lady mentioned they will send someone to fix it. 30 mins passed by and when I call again she mentioned they have some water issue and no one will come. And I asked did you knew about the issue when I called earlier she said yes and sorry I forgot about it. Seriously IHG who are you appointing your front desk employees??

Upon talking to the assistant manager he says we can't do anything for you as you have already paid for the room stay? Who doesnt pay for stay at check in or before check in.

I was told they will not charge me $30 for the parking and that's the best they can do. Upon surprise 2 days later after check out there is a parking charge in my credit card.

This hotel is a scam place and is worst than a motel. I request travellers to avoid this 1 star motel at any cost.

I have been calling this location past 4 days and no one...

Sadly I have to post an unfavorable review of our recent experience at the Kingston waterfront Holiday Inn. My sisters and I stayed one night mid September 2022. We are not in the habit of complaining and we all have extensive travel experience. The first thing I will say is that the location is great, the two Queen beds (super comfortable with great pillows + bed coverings) were excellent and the bathroom was very small but very clean! The front desk staff was pleasant although I called and emailed twice prior to our arrival to inquire about microwave and mini-fridge availability and never heard back. Although we did not get to use the pool or gym due to our time constraints we did go to look at them and they were both well equipped and very nice with a great view from the clean looking pool! When we arrived, the room we were in on 4th floor (overlooking the parking lot, with a distant view of the Lake and ongoing, very noisy in early morning construction (hotel website does warn about this possibility) did have both (microwave and mini fridge) and a nice Keurig coffee machine with a few complimentary coffee pods. The hallways, elevators, hallway furniture was all dark and appeared dirty. The icemaker was leaking and there were towels on the floor surrounding it (first thing you encounter when you get off the elevator-4th floor). The most disappointing thing about our stay was the cot (for which there is a charge). We returned the first cot (which was held together with a broken and old bungie cord) when we lifted it up and found debris from former guests under the mattress which literally had the springs popping out of it and was, by the look of it, very old. It was covered in stains, ripped in many areas and completely unacceptable at a hotel with this kind of rating. We were given another cot and not charged for it and it was slightly better (springs were very much there but the second one had not ripped yet and was slightly better and cleaner than the first). I expect a cot that is not made from spring coils when I am paying a lot of money for a nights stay. In fact, I expect a decent cot no matter the price. I have stayed at many hotels which have excellent quality, modern cots (no hard coil springs in your back). This Holiday Inn needs to throw out all of these ancient cots and invest in new ones immediately. The room was lacking basic furniture like side tables on each side of the queen beds and a chair in the corner. There was plenty of space for these furniture items and they would make things a little more comfortable. I took a lot of photos to document our experience. So much potential to clean this place up and make it a place worth staying and paying for when you are visiting the lovely city of Kingston! I hope things improve soon -with some attention to cot improvement, additional room furniture, balcony chairs, and common area hallways it really could be...