Holiday Inn Express Red Deer by IHG — Hotel in Red Deer

When traveling I mostly use Holiday Inn hotels because the service, cleanliness, quality, and breakfast selection is usually standard so I know what to expect. I've also never had a bad night sleep at a Holiday Inn since they seem to strictly enforce quiet time after a certain time, the beds are comfortable, and it's easy to make the room dark.

The service, cleanliness, and enjoyment of the room/pool was a little better than I was expecting. We were upgraded to an executive suite at no additional cost (not sure why, didn't ask). I checked through the room for dirt or signs of bed bugs (mattress, furniture corners, windows, tub, etc.) and found even areas that are typically out-of-sight were clean.

I had to make changes to my reservations two times with no difficulty. The day I arrived in Red Deer, the hotel called to let me know the credit card didn't go through, I let them know I used it to hold the suite but would be paying with debit. They informed me they needed to deduct a security deposit but we were able to quickly work things out over the phone and I paid the deposit through debit when I arrived. Her manner was friendly and polite the entire time. Next time I'll remember to have the security deposit amount already on my pay-as-you-go credit card.

The staff were always friendly and seemed genuinely happy to help. The breakfast had a good variety and they even took out some gluten free products at my request (the night before). The egg wasn't kept a hot as I would have liked while under the warming rack, but everything was delicious, there was plenty of room for many guests getting breakfast at the same time, and as items ran out they were quickly replaced with little to no wait time.

The room itself was a refreshing place to be after a long day. The lighting was perfect and easy to adjust as I wanted the room brighter or dimmer, the beds and pillows were exceptionally comfortable and the hotel seemed very quiet all night since my family and I slept through without being...

We stayed at this location for a hockey tournament over the weekend. We called down to ask them to do a quick clean of the room when we were away (beds, towels, garbages). We had left all bags and other personal belongings on the desk. I put my son’s iPhone and AirPods into a brown party bag which also had various items he had received the day prior from the tournament (hockey cards, candy) as I did not want him to have it at the arena. When we got back later in the evening the brown bag was missing with all his personal items. We called down to the front desk explaining that it had gone missing and they told us they would investigate. While at the hotel we expressed our concern of us leaving the following morning very early and then having no recourse and they assured us that would not happen but that is exactly what has transpired.

I was told housekeeping management would be personally coming down to look through the garbage on the day we checked out - no follow up or answers regarding if this was done. While at the hotel we were told by a staff member asked to look through bags that if we wanted the garbages searched we should be doing it ourselves as this was our fault. Other staff members were totally disrespectful during this incident as well.

The regional manager, Jamal, did call and told us that this was a case of my son misplacing his phone. Not once did he try to problem solve or deescalate the situation. Was only full of excuses as to why his staff inappropriate behaviour were justifiable.

I would not recommend this hotel based on the premise of the hotel staff accountability and credibility. At this point, the missing phone/airpods are not even the big issue, it was the lack of respect from the staff involved. If a regional manager can justify those behaviours then that goes to show the true integrity of...

Okay where do I even begin. Such a mess from start to finish. My daughters dad has a cc I do not, he called a week ahead to pay witj his credit card for the room to avoid paying the $250 deposit when paying with debit only, we arrive to find the staff telling us that he didnt give consent to use the cc for that, so i still had to pay the 250 dollar deposit, I do not care that it was returned, these people lied, scammed and were not honest. This was after a long 4 hour drive. The pool was DISGUSTING, scum build up along the pool walls, the slide was stained with what looked to be feces, it was also filled with scum, no maintenance in site. The room was below average as the bed frames were metal rolling bed frames from the 90's, the beds were rock solid it felt like the floor. Stained carpets. We even had 1 dirty and stained green towel left for us to use. IT GETS WORSE. after checking out, I received not ONE, NOT TWO, NOT THREE, BUT 4 personally sent text messages from a man working at the hotel, wishing us safe travels, I didnt respond to any of the 4 and he kept sending them individually. I should have screen shotted them, but I did indeed show our friends these texts and we all said, "how creepy". this location is also terrible, tons of druggies, homeless etc. We went for a walk and quickly realized it was best to go back inside. NEVER AGAIN. This entire hotel needs serious upgrading. Oh and not to mention, the pool is surrounded by other hotel rooms, so other guests can literally open their curtains and watch...