Holiday Inn Milwaukee - Brookfield, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Brookfield

We booked this Holiday Inn in Brookfield, WI, for a very last minute getaway to celebrate my youngest child’s birthday a little extra, and we were excited for some relaxation—especially in the hot tub. That was their only request for the hotel. Unfortunately, the stay ended up being more frustrating than fun.||The hot tub and room availability was the entire reason we chose this particular hotel, and we didn’t get to enjoy it for even a minute. When we got in, it was just us and few older kid. Within minutes, a dozen more kids and toddlers seemed to pile into the hot tub—not the pool, the hot tub. They started throwing a reusable water balloon at each other, hard enough that I was worried someone might get hurt. Meanwhile, some parents decided to sit their toddlers right on the hot tub steps, so there was no easy escape. Between the yelling, splashing, ball-throwing, and sheer overcrowding, the hot tub was a complete disaster. It was clear this hotel attracts local groups and parties, which would’ve been absolutely fine if there had been any staff managing the situation. Instead, it was an absolute free-for-all. Don’t misunderstand the kids were all very sweet, and absolutely just being kids having a blast indoors during a WI winter, even if some were engaging in roughhousing. Kids, to be expected, right? Parents and older kids were doing their best to manage the chaos. It’s just that THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE in a small space. It was wayyy too many kids screaming and way too many adults shouting over them. Again, had this been expected I’d have had zero issue. I wouldn’t have booked here this time, but I would have liked having the choice. I will say, luckily we were unwilling participants with this group rather than a group with parents through back booze and ignoring their kids—I’ve been there at a hotel. If you’re going to end up at a hotel with a loud and bonkers group—these were the people you’d want. So there is that. ||The chaos wasn’t confined to the pool. The whole hotel felt like it was hosting multiple parties at once. Kids were running and yelling in the hallways late into the night, and the walls were so thin we could hear everything happening in the room next door.||The room itself wasn’t much better. The bed was comfortable but squeaky, there was an odd white stain on the dust ruffle. The bathtub was dirty—and it’s not all permanent stains, I was able to scrub some of it off. Oh! And down at the pool, instead of proper pool towels, they put out bath mats—likely because they didn’t have enough towels to accommodate all the party traffic. Back in the room, the towels we did get were scratchy and discolored, the hand soap dispenser was broken, and there was no body wash in the dispenser provided. On top of all that, the room phone wouldn’t even connect to the front desk, which made dealing with these issues even harder and when we did attempt to chat with the front desk this morning—there was no one there. Thankfully my husband is an honest person and didn’t grab the cash sitting out on the desk… ||The only real positive was the check-in process. The front desk staff was friendly, professional, and gave a great first impression. It’s a shame the rest of the hotel didn’t match that standard.||As an IHG higher tier member who’s stayed at many Holiday Inns, I expected much better. I specifically chose this location for the hot tub, my kid loves them, but it was completely unusable thanks to the lack of oversight and rule enforcement. If this hotel is going to market itself as a local family-friendly party spot, they need to at least manage the common areas so they’re usable for everyone. We should have known when they told us we had to wear wristbands in the pool. Interestingly none of the dozens of partygoers were wearing one. ||If you’re looking for a relaxing getaway or even just a useable hot tub, I’d suggest looking elsewhere. But if you thrive on chaos and enjoy hot tubs that double as splash zones, this could be just the place for you. These hotels have their place and I love that they cater to the locals! But maybe a little mention of this somewhere during the booking process is a good idea. I’m down for a good pool party, too, sometimes, but a standard sized hotel isn’t it. Even just note that on the weekends we host...

We booked this Holiday Inn in Brookfield, WI, for a very last minute getaway to celebrate my youngest child’s birthday a little extra, and we were excited for some relaxation—especially in the hot tub. That was their only request for the hotel. Unfortunately, the stay ended up being more frustrating than fun.||The hot tub and room availability was the entire reason we chose this particular hotel, and we didn’t get to enjoy it for even a minute. When we got in, it was just us and few older kid. Within minutes, a dozen more kids and toddlers seemed to pile into the hot tub—not the pool, the hot tub. They started throwing a reusable water balloon at each other, hard enough that I was worried someone might get hurt. Meanwhile, some parents decided to sit their toddlers right on the hot tub steps, so there was no easy escape. Between the yelling, splashing, ball-throwing, and sheer overcrowding, the hot tub was a complete disaster. It was clear this hotel attracts local groups and parties, which would’ve been absolutely fine if there had been any staff managing the situation. Instead, it was an absolute free-for-all. Don’t misunderstand the kids were all very sweet, and absolutely just being kids having a blast indoors during a WI winter, even if some were engaging in roughhousing. Kids, to be expected, right? Parents and older kids were doing their best to manage the chaos. It’s just that THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE in a small space. It was wayyy too many kids screaming and way too many adults shouting over them. Again, had this been expected I’d have had zero issue. I wouldn’t have booked here this time, but I would have liked having the choice. I will say, luckily we were unwilling participants with this group rather than a group with parents through back booze and ignoring their kids—I’ve been there at a hotel. If you’re going to end up at a hotel with a loud and bonkers group—these were the people you’d want. So there is that. ||The chaos wasn’t confined to the pool. The whole hotel felt like it was hosting multiple parties at once. Kids were running and yelling in the hallways late into the night, and the walls were so thin we could hear everything happening in the room next door.||The room itself wasn’t much better. The bed was comfortable but squeaky, there was an odd white stain on the dust ruffle. The bathtub was dirty—and it’s not all permanent stains, I was able to scrub some of it off. Oh! And down at the pool, instead of proper pool towels, they put out bath mats—likely because they didn’t have enough towels to accommodate all the party traffic. Back in the room, the towels we did get were scratchy and discolored, the hand soap dispenser was broken, and there was no body wash in the dispenser provided. On top of all that, the room phone wouldn’t even connect to the front desk, which made dealing with these issues even harder and when we did attempt to chat with the front desk this morning—there was no one there. Thankfully my husband is an honest person and didn’t grab the cash sitting out on the desk… ||The only real positive was the check-in process. The front desk staff was friendly, professional, and gave a great first impression. It’s a shame the rest of the hotel didn’t match that standard.||As an IHG higher tier member who’s stayed at many Holiday Inns, I expected much better. I specifically chose this location for the hot tub, my kid loves them, but it was completely unusable thanks to the lack of oversight and rule enforcement. If this hotel is going to market itself as a local family-friendly party spot, they need to at least manage the common areas so they’re usable for everyone. We should have known when they told us we had to wear wristbands in the pool. Interestingly none of the dozens of partygoers were wearing one. ||If you’re looking for a relaxing getaway or even just a useable hot tub, I’d suggest looking elsewhere. But if you thrive on chaos and enjoy hot tubs that double as splash zones, this could be just the place for you. These hotels have their place and I love that they cater to the locals! But maybe a little mention of this somewhere during the booking process is a good idea. I’m down for a good pool party, too, sometimes, but a standard sized hotel isn’t it. Even just note that on the weekends we host...

I want to start by saying the front desk gal was VERY nice and helpful. None of this was her fault and she was doing her best, which we very much appreciated! (I wish I would have caught her name) For reference we rented the suite with 1 King and 2 Queens for our family of 7.

Pros: Love the live plants in the commons area. Super cute and homey. Great layout and very spacious. The room was large with enough space to move around easily. Beds, desks, tables, bathroom and chairs appeared to be well cleaned.
The beds, pillows and blankets were very comfortable. The view from the suite was nice (it looked like a golf course?) The furniture was nice and in good condition. There was a painting in the suite which gave it a really homey feel. Cons: There were renovations being done throughout the main area. Meaning everything (including the live plants and the pool) were covered in drywall dust. The hot tub was also closed off for unknown reasons. The bathroom sink drain plug was broken off. We arrived and our hotel door was open. Propped open by the security bar. Security bar latch was missing. This was a big deal because we have a two year old who could then leave the room themselves as the lock disengages automatically when you twist the handle. The front desk was not able to contact maintenance so we were given a doorstop to try and help with this issue, however it didn’t fit under the door. There was garbage in the main room receptacle. There were what appeared to be used towels on the bathroom sink. There were NO clean towels in the pool area or anywhere in the room. Guests around were putting garbage and old towels on the floor outside the rooms which was kind of gross. TV in the main area was lose and wobbly on the wall. The coffee cops and condiments were no where to be found. (We were able to walk to the desk and get water cups) The AC is in the back suite so the beds in the main area were very warm… especially if you wanted the bedroom door closed. There were also no fans. There were people smoking weed by the main entrance. I don’t mind the weed part obviously, but would prefer not to walk through smoke at all to get to our vehicle. Guests were hanging out by the lobby door. They had a little one who was throwing landscaping rocks into the lobby doors, parking lot, and even hitting other cars parked in the lot at one point. The gal at the front desk was not able to get in contact with maintaince or housekeeping in the roughly two hours we were checking in with her, but she did end up finding 4 towels for our family of 7. We were not able to change rooms due to the size of the room/rooms needed and availability. Also, $108.20 was held on our card above room cost. I understand security deposits but it was a weird amount to hold? Overall I would consider staying here again if the above issues were fixed, but I definitely wouldn’t have stayed last night if I had known the conditions. We only stayed because it was late and my kids were sick of being on the road for the day without the unnecessary headache of trying to find another hotel with...