Holiday Inn Express Benicia, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Benicia

My first stay at a Holiday Inn Express as I was running late in my car trip and needed to stop driving for the night. It was very clean and nicely decorated, with a comfortable bed and nice amenities in the room (cable TV w/access to Netflix, microwave, mini fridge, Keurig coffee, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, hair dryer). It's not beautiful inside, but nice enough, and quiet. They have an exercise room and laundry available (didn't use) and an odd but pleasant "sun deck" which was a long rectangular open-air space in the middle of the 2nd floor - the walls are a bit high to get much sun, but nice to have a little outside space since there is no outside yard whatsoever. It's just off the freeway on a busy street and the streets outside are not particularly nice for walking or hanging around (perfectly safe, just not inviting).

I was happy that breakfast included hot items and a choice of proteins, but the things I ate were just mediocre. Three kinds of eggs: hard-boiled, scrambled, and egg white "omelettes" with bell pepper bits (weird taste, no cheese), and two kinds of sausage: turkey patties, pork sausage links (yummy). Sadly, the oatmeal was runny, gloppy, and bland, but I saved it with brown sugar, butter, walnuts, and raisins. Also a pancake maker (!), lots of pastries and breads, with a toaster available, fruit, cereal and milk, and sweetened yogurt (I didn't try any of these). Obviously, food is important to me, and I was a little disappointed but still happy to leave with a full stomach.

The staff was almost always friendly and helpful, and I felt well taken care of. It was not so welcoming at first, arriving at night. I arrived late and tired and stressed, around 10:00 p.m., without a reservation - the front door was locked and I couldn't see anyone at the reception desk. There was a small sign on the door with a phone number to call if you didn't have a room key yet. No bell to ring. I was glad that my phone was charged and I had my readying glasses to see the phone number. The evening receptionist was very businesslike and not welcoming - but she warmed up later. Then all went well after that.

The elevator jerks when it starts, which is a little unnerving, but the nice day receptionist said the inspector told him "It's not elegant, but it's got the best machinery and it's in great shape". However, you can take the stairs in the back of the hotel if you don't like the elevator.

I wouldn't choose it for a romantic getaway, but it was a very nice play for a...

The front desk staff are pleasant and efficient. Except for the one time I asked for help with my room and was greeted by an employee via video in the lobby whom I could barely understand because of their mumbling and the lobby music being too loud.

Rooms themselves are fairly decent. The bed was lovely and comfortable. My shower had a long repaired crack that was visually unappealing. Shower pressure wasn’t great. Bathroom toiletries were great, Dove products.

Another note on the rooms, despite playing with the settings and having the fan set on high and not auto (having auto on resulted in the same outcome), the AC turns off during the night. I did not sleep well at all during my stay as the room would get too warm for me to sleep. I asked the front desk to have this rectified for me and they said they would but the next night produced the same results. Hotels that have the AC turn off during the night enjoy a certain level of sadistic torture with their guests.

Walls are also thin. You will hear your neighbors conversations nextdoor to you.

I love natural light and the windows to my room opened up with a view to a general all access little outdoor patio. I never actually saw anyone out there but anyone could peer in my room window if my curtains weren’t closed. Odd and uncomfortable to say the least.

I walked by the fitness room with maintenance doing some work in the ceiling so the room was closed off but it looked incredibly small.

Breakfast was nice as they actually had hot food like eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and the like but I caught the last 45 minutes of the free service and they had run out of cream cheese for the bagels and had to ask the staff to locate me more which they obliged. While they had juice and coffee they did not have water coming out of the dispenser and my friend was directed to go back to her room to get water if that’s what she wanted.

Overall service was mostly great and the room served its purpose but I’m glad I won’t have to stay in this hotel again in the future. It is of my opinion that I paid too much...

I have stayed at this particular Holiday Inn Express for work many many times. My stay here was a pleasant one as usual.

Generally speaking, I recommend this hotel if you're coming to the area, and it is a solid choice as a hotel, and a good Holiday Inn Express.

My main issues were:

1. The WIFI reception

The WIFI reception in the rooms are weak. Each room has a desk and chair set up which clearly is to be used for computer work, but I often have to resort to using my phone's mobile hotspot to get a consistent high speed internet connection. The hotel internet is particularly poor during peak hours (8pm-12pm) where internet speeds slow to a crawl, and disconnects are frequent.

2. Wall sockets

There are wall sockets and sockets at the desk for my computer, however I have noticed consistently over several rooms the following regarding sockets:

a) the desk sockets are already being used by the coffee maker and lamp or other appliance

b) there are no sockets at the bed stands (which is very common at most hotels); the bed lamps are plugged in behind the bed board, requiring me to move the entire bed frame which making access to them not worth the effort

c) the nearest sockets to the bed are along the wall which requires that I leave my phone on the floor as it doesn't reach the bedside tables

d) the sockets in several rooms are "loose" so that any time I plug in my electric plug into the wall socket, the plug simply falls out of the socket and onto the floor. I noticed this same issue across several different rooms in this hotel across several stays over the past few years.

The above minor points aside, this hotel is a solid choice. I list the above points in hope that the hotel (and guests that care) are aware of these issues in the hope that one day they will...