Holiday Inn Express & Suites Auburn Downtown — Hotel in Auburn

We have stayed at this property multiple times. We had an extremely rough stay last time but the manager reached out and we chose to give it another chance due to a long history of good stays. A simple issue this time made our stay quite uncomfortable and affected rest and wellness for us. We asked for extra pillows as we always do because of a need for myself to sleep up at an angle. We do this everywhere and have never had a problem. Literally dozens of places including hotels, cruise ships, etc, We were told by the desk clerk that she wasn’t sure where to find them and was the only one at the desk right now but would look for them as soon as she could. This was at check in around 6pm. We said no problem we are going to shower then go out to dinner we will check back upon our return. We came back around 8:30-9 and she said she hadn’t had time yet. Three hours later. She then asked if we were aware that the room has two extra pillows already there on the top shelf in the closet and asked did we need more than those. I said no, I only needed two, and that would work. Keep in mind that the parking lot had maybe 20 cars in it and the hotel was far from busy. So it was bedtime and we had early plans so we went to the room and got ready for bed. After I got my kid to bed I went and opened the closet. Surprise! No shelf, no pillows. No room for a shelf only a clothes bar, no removable couch pillows, not enough bath towels to stack up, etc. and already my kid is asleep and I’m in pajamas. I was not going to call the desk and ask again because the clerk had been pleasant but basically totally unhelpful and I was in no mindset for more excuses. I had terrible discomfort, heartburn, and little sleep/poor rest due to this. She could have simply taken two pillows from another room if she couldn’t find any at the desk area as there were tons of empty rooms. And yes, we did note the need for extra pillows in our original reservation profile online. So technically they should have been prepared and already in the room or waiting at check in. This is now the second unrestful substandard stay at this location in barely over a month. Something as simple as a few extra pillows. Come on, this is a hotel!!! You definitely own pillows. This is a simple request which we made multiple times. And your desk agent should be better informed about the rooms and which ones have pillows on the shelves in the closet. Probably the rooms that have pullout couches, which ours did not. And yes, she asked our room number and checked the computer so yes she was aware of the room type and still gave the inaccurate information. And if staffing is leaving her alone at the desk and preventing her from helping guests then you should fully stock the desk area with the items guests commonly request like pillows and extra towels so she can still take care of people’s needs. She was concerned about leaving the desk unattended but there was no one else in line and no one in the lobby and it was only 6pm and the closet where the pillows are is just across the lobby seating area. It literally takes 1 min or less to grab the pillows, we have witnessed it happen numerous...

Booked a king room more than 6 months in advance for a concert at White River (booked Jan 28 for Aug 03). Received two texts and two emails the week prior saying how excited they were for my upcoming visit. No mention of any changes.||Arrive at ~3:15PM on Aug 03, check in. Go to room, it's a double queen. Go back to front desk and explain this is the wrong room. They responded that they had overbooked so bumped me. No explanation as to why I was bumped (maybe because I used points to reserve this?). Only option offered was to cancel the room and receive a refund then & there - not a real option as all other nearby hotels were fully booked (there was a concert that night).||Figured I'd just bite the bullet.||Head to concert. Afterwards, with traffic, didn't get back until just before 2AM. Lights from the next door hotel lit up our room pretty well. Went to close the shade (motorized). Hit the down button and the shade went down... then kept going. Had about a foot of excess on the sill. The shade is supposed to sit in a track to make it blackout, it was not in that track at check in. Hit the up button, the shade went up and then kept spinning, the bottom slat making a lovely clickety-clack sound as it kept rolling over the top. Remote no longer does anything. Wife grabbed the shade and held, it decided to stop - full open.||Went to front desk to see about a battery for the remote - that's a maintenance item, nothing can be done until morning.||No way to sleep with the shade up, we manually unfurled the shade to cover most of the window. ||Now 3AM. Pissed. Tired. Slept until 6:30AM, when all the light in the room made it impossible to sleep. Drank a cup of coffee, took a shower, got the hell out.||I have NEVER had issues with an IHG hotel before but I will NEVER step foot into this hotel again. And since I plan the outings with friends, I'll do my best to ensure they never step foot in this hotel again.||Note that the hotel NEVER notified me of a change to my reservation nor allowed me the opportunity to cancel the reservation and book elsewhere UNTIL I was standing at the front desk the day of the event, even though they could send me emails/texts the week before. Consider this a case of deceptive business practices and fraud.||Worst hotel ever. There are many nearby options (the Best Western plus next door is nice). AVOID THIS HOTEL!||Will contact IHG directly and see if we can resolve my...

Booked a king room more than 6 months in advance for a concert at White River (booked Jan 28 for Aug 03). Received two texts and two emails the week prior saying how excited they were for my upcoming visit. No mention of any changes.||Arrive at ~3:15PM on Aug 03, check in. Go to room, it's a double queen. Go back to front desk and explain this is the wrong room. They responded that they had overbooked so bumped me. No explanation as to why I was bumped (maybe because I used points to reserve this?). Only option offered was to cancel the room and receive a refund then & there - not a real option as all other nearby hotels were fully booked (there was a concert that night).||Figured I'd just bite the bullet.||Head to concert. Afterwards, with traffic, didn't get back until just before 2AM. Lights from the next door hotel lit up our room pretty well. Went to close the shade (motorized). Hit the down button and the shade went down... then kept going. Had about a foot of excess on the sill. The shade is supposed to sit in a track to make it blackout, it was not in that track at check in. Hit the up button, the shade went up and then kept spinning, the bottom slat making a lovely clickety-clack sound as it kept rolling over the top. Remote no longer does anything. Wife grabbed the shade and held, it decided to stop - full open.||Went to front desk to see about a battery for the remote - that's a maintenance item, nothing can be done until morning.||No way to sleep with the shade up, we manually unfurled the shade to cover most of the window. ||Now 3AM. Pissed. Tired. Slept until 6:30AM, when all the light in the room made it impossible to sleep. Drank a cup of coffee, took a shower, got the hell out.||I have NEVER had issues with an IHG hotel before but I will NEVER step foot into this hotel again. And since I plan the outings with friends, I'll do my best to ensure they never step foot in this hotel again.||Note that the hotel NEVER notified me of a change to my reservation nor allowed me the opportunity to cancel the reservation and book elsewhere UNTIL I was standing at the front desk the day of the event, even though they could send me emails/texts the week before. Consider this a case of deceptive business practices and fraud.||Worst hotel ever. There are many nearby options (the Best Western plus next door is nice). AVOID THIS HOTEL!||Will contact IHG directly and see if we can resolve my...