Holiday Inn Express & Suites Alpena - Downtown by IHG — Hotel in Alpena

..I can't say enough good things about the staff here, and the rooms. I booked a top-floor, king sofa suite, and it was absolutely sooo serene and relaxing, and quiet-which is what I was hoping to get for a three-day "me" time. The staff upgraded me, free, to the sofa room vs the chase room I paid for. The room was SOOOO CLEAN. the bed was extremely comfortable. The television was new, could pull out and be directed at various angles, and the channels were amazing lol (spent lots of time on ID Channel and TLC). The room was massive for one person. It was near the elevator and somehow, incredibly quiet. IT WAS PERFECT. the prices are definitely expensive and the most expensive, compared to other local hotels, but if you can afford it, no questions asked, stay here, vs any other place in the area. The managers went above and beyond to even carry my room rate over to an extended day, even though the daily rate that day was $70 more. That meant the world to me. No questions asked, the manager offered me the previous day's rate, which I didn't expect. Because of the freaking amazing service, and because I felt SO SAFE, I will more than likely, (based on funds at that moment), ONLY stay here when I am in Alpena. And for some reason, I feel if I have a question on some rate help, that they probably would accommodate me (within reason), because that's what this hotel staff does-they personalize your stay, no questions asked, as long as you are kind, thankful, appreciative, and low-key.

Thanksgiving was terribly traumatic and sad for me, as I am a multiple violent crime survivor. I treated myself to this hotel for relaxation and to give myself some grace on the C-PTSD and Complicated Grief that consumes my life. It was not only serene, it was perfect. Thank you to all the staff I encountered, ESPECIALLY the manager who so kindly honored that rate, and to the housekeeper, who works her batootie off, and who cleans so well, there wasn't a speck of dust in that room. Thank you for the amazing customer service, which has disappeared in the hotel...

Had an incredibly unpleasant encounter with staff. We came in for a hockey tournament (this was explained at booking). There were four other teams staying there for the same tournament. A staff member (I was told her name is Ses) in the cleaning staff confronted us aggressively over noise, blaming our group without listening to any explanation. This was at 12:00 PM. When trying to explain, she repeatedly cut us off and displayed extremely rude and aggressive behavior. Another parent intervened, highlighting the overall unfriendly atmosphere and again tried to explain what happened. Our attempt to clarify that it wasn't older kids that she confronted by yelling at them (they weren’t in our group) but my 3-year-old with ADHD, was met with indifference. She replied with “I have ADHD too, you don’t see me running down the halls” and threatened to kick us out. My son ran down the hallway 2 times and we tried to explain that we already put him back in the room for running before she even came up there. The situation escalated, with the staff member making empty threats, swearing at us, raising her voice, and getting in our faces. Thankfully, the manager intervened after we asked for her to get her manager several times (I believe another employee who saw the interaction sent her up), but the experience was chaotic and unacceptable. On top of that, the entire weekend was greeted with unpleasant staff and unwelcoming comments. It definitely felt as if we were not welcome there. We will not be booking this hotel for future tournaments and would advise against anyone else booking...

Upon check in, receptionist appeared to be quite preoccupied, speaking with another employee regarding a phoned in complaint of unknown nature.

Our room was clean and ready to go. At breakfast, the following morning, we were treated to the employee maintaining the breakfast bar, upset about refilling the mix in the pancake machine because he was closing down soon. A mother of 4, as well as several other guests were waiting for the pancake maker as it is a slow process. The employee relented, refilled the machine, and the guests were now happy. Upon or return to our room in the afternoon (5 pm), we realized our room was not cleaned and no new towels supplied. We had to request new towels and at approximately 9pm we received them. The next day, housekeeping arrived at our room at 9 am. I asked if he could return in a few minutes as my wife was still in the shower. The gentleman stated "no problem". After our day away from our room...once again...our room was not cleaned and still had 2 days worth of damp towels in the bathroom. Garbage cans are now full. I happened to now notice that the garbage cans on the exterior of the building were either full or overflowing. We dried a couple towels for the next morning's departure. Upon our check out, the receptionist, while kind and polite, was upset because a coworker called off work and she now had to perform her job, in addition to her own. The receptionist was advised that we had no room cleanings for 2 days resulting in no clean towels and full garbage cans to which she smiled, said "Oh" and then handed my wife...