Holiday Inn Austin Midtown by IHG — Hotel in Austin

THERE WERE BED BUGS IN MY ROOM!!!

I have stayed at this particular Holiday Inn in the past, and my experience has always been a good one. And this time around, the experience started the same way - great staff at the restaurant, responsive concierge at the front desk. I was in a room on the 9th floor my first night stay. On Thursday the 27th, I was moved to a room on the fifth floor. The first bite appeared on my leg on Friday afternoon. Friday night was much worse - where I actually felt I was being bitten in bed. I turned on the flashlight on my phone around 5:30AM and found two bed bugs on my pillow!!!!!!!!! I came down to the front desk with the pillow with the bugs on it, and here is where my experience with this hotel took a bad turn: First of all, the concierge took one look at the bugs and said, those aren't bed bugs. Then a maintenance guy came by and said that yes, they were bed bugs. He took the pillow from me to the laundry. I was left at the front desk for a while until they gave me plastic bags to put our stuff in. The staff promptly moved us out of our room. I know that the management was fast in getting a crew into that room to evaluate the problem, but how they dealt with me was terrible! - Other than the manager who apologized to me, the rest of the staff was defensive and un-informed. One guy behind the desk said, "They're just bugs. No big deal." Our clothes were washed by the laundry service, but returned to us really damp (and I'd read enough about bed bugs at this point in the morning to know that drying clothes for an extended period of time is the only way to rid them of the bugs) When I brought down the wet clothes to the front desk, the guy behind the counter (a different one) was dismissive, defensive and told me my clothes were fine. He said that bed bugs "don't stay in clothes. They fly away." Yikes. And at this point in the day, more bites were showing up on my hands, face and legs. In the end I had about 30 bites in all. Also, we were missing some of the clothes we'd given them to dry. The guy behind the desk told us that we must be mistaken. That we weren't missing clothes. Later that morning, they found our missing clothes and the same concierge said that they'd never had this problem before and implied that I or my roommate had brought the bugs into the hotel?!?! I felt ignored, disrespected and angry after this experience. Please educate the staff of this hotel about bed bugs so that they recognize them and know what to do. And remind them that they are in a service industry and not to be dismissive and rude to their guests. Terrible...

We stayed here for three days, roughly, during a convention. The room was nice. Very quiet, very easy to sleep in. There was a small stain on my bed's comforter, but my roommate didn't find any on his. Our alarm clock was malfunctioning when we first checked in. Not sure if the maid staff fixed it or my roommate. I used my phone's alarm anyway, so I didn't really care. The balcony left something to be desired. Because of the lights shooting up around the building, this hotel has a particular problem with bugs. Our little balcony was filled with beetles and the like. Even without the bugs though, I doubt it would have been very attractive. The bathroom was the worst element of the room. The paint they used on the ceiling bubbled and sagged whenever we took a shower. Not sure if the paint job was rushed or what that was about. The room could have used more power outlets, too. I feel like the average hotel room I stay at has a few more places to plug in.

Now let's get to the maid service and lobby desk service. Oh boy. The maids here are very nice, I think, but incredibly skittish. If they see you anywhere near your room, no amount of convincing will make them stay long enough for you to grab some tylenol or your earbuds. We scared them off three times on the first day, and we were trying to get in and out of our room at lightning speed. Very frustrating. One time I was about to leave and they knocked. I told her very nicely, just wait ONE SECOND, I'm grabbing my backpack. Five seconds later I'm at the door and she's GONE. Cart and all. GONE. Then there was that time they nullified our cards and someone came up to CHECK INTO OUR ROOM. So we had to get new cards. The next day our cards stopped working again. So we had to get new cards. AGAIN. What is so hard about letting us have the room for three days? Why is that so impossible to get right?

Then there's the breakfast. Free tip- don't order from the menu. The buffet is average but at least it has some flavor. I'd go on about how this wasn't a very good place to hold a convention but that doesn't have much to do with my stay at the hotel, I suppose. Constant technical issues, squeaky chairs, claustrophobic hallways and depressing banquet catering... yeah I have a few complaints, there. I really hope that con isn't here again next year. I'd really prefer some place else. Look, final thoughts? This hotel is okay. It looks nice and it was pretty quiet. But the food situation wasn't great, the con area wasn't great, the bathrooms and balconies aren't great, and they'll kill your room card daily. If that sounds good to...

Stayed here for a couple of days for a working vacation in June 2021. There was no free breakfast provided, which I assume was due to Covid, but the breakfast sandwich available behind the front desk was a $6 charge per day, which I think was ridiculous. Not sure if there is a separate way to book the room that includes the breakfast but if it does, that's all it came with, a sandwich and juice. The pool in the back of the hotel was very dirty and is surrounded by trees which explains all the shrubbery inside of it, only used it for a few minutes as I found a small area that was clean. There is no shuttle to the downtown destinations 5 miles away. Would be nice to have a shuttle that runs every few hours. Also, the free coffee is only out until 10am, and then put away. Would be nice to have coffee available longer than that. Also, the parking area could use a big fence protecting the perimeter, as it is wide open and connected to other lots. Anyone can really stroll onto the parking area if they wanted. Hotel overall looks nice from inside, what you would expect from a Holiday Inn. I liked the fact that it was relatively quiet, and you can get a room higher up that has a balcony and downtown view. There was no room service for the entire duration of the stay, due to Covid, and if we wanted anything, we would have to call it in or go downstairs and request it, like more towels, etc... I felt indifferent about that as I didn't mind not being bothered by housekeeping every morning. One other thing I did notice was a police car out front everyday parked near the front lobby area, no lights on, but just sitting there. It was a different car everyday I think. Not sure what it was doing there or it if was tending to some matters at the hotel, but I find it weird there was one there every single day of my stay, and I didn't bother to ask the hotel why. Overall, I would stay here again probably but may try find another option that offers a large free breakfast, at a comparable price and...