Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston IAH - Beltway 8 by IHG — Hotel in Aldine

On August 24th it took me more time to get away from the airport to the Holiday Inn Express Suites than it did to fly from Mexico to Houston. The renovations at Houston airport are extensive. Upon seeing them in terminal E, I asked the airport information desk where hotel shuttles now pick up. They sent me to C terminal via an underground train corridor. Arriving there I called hotel reception who told me to go to door 102 of B terminal. I returned to the underground - to B terminal to look for door 102 which - on August 24th didn't exist - so, I followed the signs for hotel shuttles which took me into a parking garage where the airport parking lot shuttle drivers assured me that I was in the new place for hotel shuttles at terminal B.

I called the hotel again to reconfirm my pick up now that I was in the correct terminal: B terminal. Construction chaos wreaks havoc in the best of airports so I waited patiently. Each time I called I was assured that the driver was close and that I should continue waiting in the parking garage next to the sign for hotel shuttles. I stood there long enough to start recognizing shuttle drivers from other places. I called the hotel a total of 5 times from the parking lot. The last time the front desk person said that the hotel would refund the cost of the Uber. This softened how much of my time was wasted waiting in a parking garage which was more than 1.5 hours.

I was given a room on the ground floor. Hungry after not eating all day, I began searching for some take out options. Before ordering food, I decided to close the curtain to have a little privacy from the parking lot. There was no curtain. I doubted myself - I was having a bad day after all, right? How could there be no curtain? I called the front desk where I was assured that that room definitely had no curtain (why would they rent a room they knew had no curtain?) and that once housekeeping finished cleaning the rooms I would be moved. So I waited and continued searching for something to eat. I preferred to wait to eat when I could settle in and actually relax. At this point I had already been there an hour for an hour and a half.

After another hour I called the front desk to point out that I was still waiting on my room with a proper curtain, but that I would like to order some food and would just send it to the front desk given that it was now 5:30 and I still didn't have a room. After another 30 minutes I went to the front desk with my luggage as my lunch which had now become dinner would soon be arriving. Reception was not busy. In fact, they were totally surprised to see me.

I started my experience thinking I was simply having a bad day, but with this, I began to feel like my patience was making a fool of me and I began to wonder if hotel staff was not completly apathetic about completing regular every day tasks. Nobody was rude or unpleasant they were simply: unmotivated. My room was clean and comfortable, but some important expectations were not met like: a restful day, an airport shuttle (a big reason I reserved with this hotel) and a privacy curtain in a ground floor room that faces a parking lot. I don't like having to be outwardly upset to get people to give me the basic services that I have paid for, but that is what it took to actually get a proper room. I have never spoken to the front desk of any hotel so many times in one day.

I was also told to forward the receipt for my Uber ride to the hotel email address which I did immediately and 26 days later have not received so much as an acknowledgement never mind a refund. I don't love writing reviews, but this hotel could easily be a very good hotel so I did write up my experience privately to the same email address. I have also heard nothing in return and so I share my experience here as a head's up to you. Deal with front desk as little as possible. They are polite, but not useful. Either drive or take an Uber to this place and, if you stay on the ground floor, ask if the room has a curtain before you settle in.

09/26 Still no...

I travel a lot and have stayed in many places. I usually don’t write reviews but this one needed to be done. I called the Hotel from the airport to get the shuttle service they offer. The girl at the front desk Porscha (on the first call) told me to go to Gate B and call back for the shuttle. I call back and tell her I’m||At gate B she says “ok it will be there in 40 min and hung up on me”. This is my first time to Texas. I wanted to make sure I was in the right place. So I call back to CONFIRM I am in the right place and ask why it’s going to take 40 min when they hotel is 10 min away. Porscha tells me “traffic”. So all I can do it take her word for it. Fast forward an hour later and I am STILL standing outside the airport waiting on a shuttle. I asked multiple shuttle drivers if there was traffic (as I seen the same people coming in and out multiple times) and they told me it was clear roads. So what is taking so||Long. I call back a 3rd time to||See what is going on and Porscha says “stay and wait or don’t” and hung up on me AGAIN for a 2nd time. Great customer service right. This is all by phone. ||||I finally get to the hotel one hour and 30 min later (shuttle finally showed up after a hour waiting ) and Ms Porscha is at the front desk. She knew I was the customer who kept calling about the Shuttle and she kept hanging up on me. She was rude in the check in process, laughed in my face when I told her that her customer service is unacceptable and I wanted to speak to a manager. She said “I’m in charge” which I highly doubt. ||||She put us in a room where the front door does not lock (I took pictures and videos) and I asked her to move us to a safe room with a door that locks and she laughed and said no. ||||I wil be reporting all of this to the daytime manager and corporate. People pay lots of money to travel and stay at these hotels. This is the last thing we need when we come stay at a place. At least , we would like to feel safe with a door that locks but to Porscha and her attitude, that did not matter to her. She needs to be fired. That should never ever be tolerated at a front desk. ||||STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE. I wish I could...

Holiday inn and holiday inn express hotels used to be quality, comfort and good costumer service, unfortunately this is not the case anymore. Customer service is so downgraded that people don't even say a simple hi, go out of their way to make you feel welcomed or at least tried to make sure that your requirements are met. Management is no where to be seen most of the time and when you require a manager they immediately tell you they're not available for several days, even during important situations that require a manager. I have always taught my daughter what to do in case of an emergency anywhere we go, how to look for emergency exits or areas of refuge, where to look for an extinguisher, etc. However, I was quite impressed to find out the most of the fire extinguishers if not all are expired since 2018,the alarm system was showing deficiencies, which you can see right when you're checking in. I was really happy to see they had an area of refuge,however, it was locked, I asked the front attendant about their procedures of this area and she looked at me like I was speaking a different language and then said: " oh yeah, the house keepers uses that room for storage", I was so surprised to hear that and when I asked for a manager to ask a few questions, I didn't get a response until almost the end of my stay which was pretty much at the end of the week. My room had a fire door and it was hard to open, while some other fire protection equipment around the hotel seemed as they needed maintenance. The shower water pressure was low for a hotel this size, but we made it work. I was happy to hear they had breakfast every morning and had decent rooms although our light did not work and the remote was malfunctioning. It was surprising they only had house keeping at your request, but I guess covid 19 has hit everyone severely, even a hotel like Holiday inn express. Our stay could have been better regarding customer service, and they most definitely need someone to check into fire equipment maintenance, therefore, I will be looking for a safer and more customer service oriented...