Holiday Inn Express Branford-New Haven by IHG — Hotel in Branford

Super easy friendly checkin. Always a great start. Had rooms and keys already prepared all we needed was to verify if and sign. Wonderful process and the lady was funny friendly and caring. The rooms are big in space, bathroom good size and updated furnishings. I love this little lounge seat with a table to sit food or drink on. The TV is a little small but not bad. The breakfast was great the chef was very busy, this was the busiest breakfast I have encountered. Seemingly from start to finish. She deserved a tip. The only negative is that being so busy they have a fairly small area that people have to sit in. Way to small for the volume of people eating. But again it was in no way negatively affecting my stay. The gym is ok, just normal, 2 treadmills,2 other cardio,and free weights up to 50lbs and bench. Basic scenario. The pool is beautiful! Only thing I always tell my who story. This incident really shook me up for a few minutes but again, this did not affect my rating of this stay. I had a great stay overall and would definitely stay again. But I digress. I was sleeping in my room after work , post gym nap. Mind you the door hanger was in door " do not enter/busy come back later" sign. I first guessed that they knocked and I guess it woke me from my sleep but I didn't realize what was happening, all the sudden the door bust open and I hear someone say hello, I need to fix your TV. LUCKILY, the door guard was on , I was completely naked under my sheet and basically in the space between awake and asleep not really knowing what the hell was going on. I yelled I was asleep, my TV if fine. They left, I called the fronted desk, voiced my angry opinion and tried to finish my nap. Had a difficult time falling back to sleep but I played there for a bit and rested. That was the only little thing that made this stay just outside of perfect. Things happen, in not going to slam the entire stay for a 60 second incident that really caused no harm, just a ruined nap. Very nice stay, very nice staff, very close to new Haven where I...

I booked a block of rooms for my daughter's wedding. I had the worst experience ever working with the event planner, Samantha. The week before the wedding I left her messages on three different days for her to call me to review guests to insure we had enough rooms booked and I would be able to get my $199 deposit back after the wedding. I left her another message on the following Monday. No call back. I received an email from another person which stated she was "OOO"...out of the office. Very unprofessional. When I called him, he picked up the phone "hello." I said is this the holiday Inn, he said no. I said you just sent me an email? And, I knew she was at the hotel and not "OOO." Then he said yes, holiday inn. I did speak with her briefly and she said she eight rooms (and I had ten). I asked for the hotel manager's direct number. She was able to work with me to confirm all the guests and find out why our numbers didn't match. I then received an apology email from Samantha, but in it she stated she only had one missed call from me that day. This was a lie, as I left her multiple messages the week before. Anyone reading this, I would never recommend using this hotel for an event or a block of rooms. I have never had a problem with any of my stays at other Holiday Inn Express hotels. My main complaint is about the poor customer service I received by two event planners.

Also, my 88 yo disabled mother needed to book two nights vs the one in the block. She called three times on different occasions to ask that they not make her change rooms. She needed a handicap accessible shower. On the day of check in, the hotel staff told her she would have to change rooms, AND get this, she had to go check out and check back in because one room was in the "block" and the other room they had for her was not! She was able to stay in the same room, but they did not give her a handicap shower as I had requested back in May. She end up with a regular tub with grab bars which she was not able to...

This hotel is in a nice location. The grounds and building look nice. However, after staying here for about 8 years (annual vacation) it's obvious that the interior, especially the rooms, are showing wear and tear and are in need of updating. We stayed for 9 nights but not consecutively so were in 3 different rooms. Furniture and carpet - look worn. Beds could be better. Most hotels have updated their mattresses and bedding considerably. Some AC units work better than others. Food service staff here is excellent - friendly and accommodating. Maintenance staff is excellent. We had a leaky faucet and it was attended to immediately. However, we discovered an error in one of our reservations and were told we had no room reserved for Saturday night and the hotel was booked. The front desk person said I made the mistake, and I know I did not, and was not apologetic or accommodating at all. She did not offer any suggestions (another hotel to call etc…) By chance we were able to get it resolved when the manager arrived 2 hours later but I felt that the staff was more concerned about their 3 different wedding party guests than me and my family. The walls are pretty thin so if you’re staying on a busy weekend you better bring ear plugs. You can hear people in next room talking and snoring and people in the hallway. There was loud music playing at 2 a.m. down the hall. Smoking area outside is located directly outside front entry and needs to be moved off to the side of building so non-smokers do not have to walk through cloud of smoke constantly. Spa was not working most of time we were there. Pool looked a bit green. Washer was ok but dryer barely worked and very loud. Do not get room located near laundry area or room above...