Holiday Inn Express Atlanta NE - I-85 Clairmont by IHG — Hotel in Brookhaven

I really try to share the positive in this journey of ours, but sometimes, it's necessary to highlight the challenges and injustices faced by the disabled community every single day. This is how we create change. ||With my son’s permission, I'm sharing our experience, after receiving no response from IHG Hotels & Resorts. ||Please note that I filed a complaint with guest relations. I shared the experience and requested to connect with the regional office. I was informed I needed to start with the hotel directly. I was told I should expect a response within 48 hours. It's been over 90 hours hours at the time of this post. ||Last Wednesday, we traveled to Atlanta for my son’s clinical trial appointment on Thursday morning. ||We drove from North Carolina, arriving around 8:30pm. We checked in, got to our room, and were immediately disappointed. The bed had a boxed-in frame, preventing the use of a Hoyer lift to transfer my son onto the bed. (The lift's legs need to fit under the bed frame to function.)||We've stayed at this hotel before without issue, but during recent "upgrades," the hotel clearly overlooked the importance of accessibility and inclusivity for all guests. This was far from an upgrade - it was a step backward. ||At the Holiday Inn Express Atlanta NE off Clairmont owned by IHG Hotels & Resorts, we received no real support after requesting on-call maintenance to resolve the issue. The front desk staff was as helpful as possible given their limitations. Management instead offered to call an employee who could “help lift your son into bed,” but they wouldn’t arrive until 10:30 p.m. because they lived far away. 🤨 Are they suggesting the hotel is willing to assume responsibility if something goes wrong or if he is injured? And yet, they refused to modify the frame to accommodate the lift, even though they marketed the room as accessible and received payment for the room. ||Those who know us, know we tend to go with the flow. We adapt the best we can. My son said, "I guess I'll have to sleep in my chair tonight." This young man has NEVER slept in his chair.| |Ultimately, we called Dekalb County Fire Rescue Department to assist not once, but twice. First to transfer my son into a bed and again to get up in the morning, ensuring we arrived on time for the appointment. (Thank you all for being kind and helpful). Thankfully, we had the Perfect Lift which made for a smooth and safe process. ||We made it work, but this is far from acceptable. ||By not meeting the needs of the community served and providing an accessible room, IHG Hotels & Resorts stripped my son of his independence. He lost the ability to decide what time to go to bed, when to use the restroom during the night, and when to wake up. They created an unsafe environment in the event of an emergency. ||We pulled the fire and rescue team away from their community to assist with an issue that could have been avoided completely. ||My son, at just 18 years old, expressed feeling embarrassed as other guests overheard our conversations and saw us call for emergency assistance. ||All of this is a direct result of IHG Hotels & Resorts choosing to disregard ADA compliance and neglecting the needs of the disabled community. ||We are not alone in this experience. Many face similar struggles every day.||My hope is that by sharing our experience, IHG Hotels & Resorts will be open to communication and collaboration in making the appropriate changes in ALL of their hotels and in the process creating a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone. I hope we can work together and create the expectation of all hotel chains. || Let's create waves of...

I really try to share the positive in this journey of ours, but sometimes, it's necessary to highlight the challenges and injustices faced by the disabled community every single day. This is how we create change.

With my son’s permission, I'm sharing our experience, after receiving no response from IHG Hotels & Resorts.

Please note that I filed a complaint with guest relations. I shared the experience and requested to connect with the regional office. I was informed I needed to start with the hotel directly. I was told I should expect a response within 48 hours. It's been over 90 hours at the time of this post.

Last Wednesday, we traveled to Atlanta for my son’s clinical trial appointment on Thursday morning.

We drove from North Carolina, arriving around 8:30pm. We checked in, got to our room, and were immediately disappointed. The bed had a boxed-in frame, preventing the use of a Hoyer lift to transfer my son onto the bed. (The lift's legs need to fit under the bed frame to function.)

We've stayed at this hotel before without issue, but during recent "upgrades," the hotel clearly overlooked the importance of accessibility and inclusivity for all guests. This was far from an upgrade - it was a step backward.

At the Holiday Inn Express Atlanta NE off Clairmont owned by IHG Hotels & Resorts, we received no real support after requesting on-call maintenance to resolve the issue. The front desk staff was as helpful as possible given their limitations. Management instead offered to call an employee who could “help lift my son into bed,” but they wouldn’t arrive until 10:30 p.m. because they lived far away. 🤨 Are they suggesting the hotel is willing to assume responsibility if something goes wrong or if my son is injured? And yet, they refused to modify the frame to accommodate the lift, even though they marketed the room as accessible and received payment for the room.

Those who know us, know we tend to go with the flow. We adapt the best we can. My son said, "I guess I'll have to sleep in my chair tonight." This young man has NEVER slept in his chair.

Ultimately, we called Dekalb County Fire Rescue Department to assist not once, but twice. First to transfer my son into a bed and again to get up in the morning, ensuring we arrived on time for the appointment. (Thank you all for being kind and helpful). Thankfully, we had the Perfect Lift which made for a smooth and safe process.

We made it work, but this is far from acceptable.

By not meeting the needs of the community served and providing an accessible room, IHG Hotels & Resorts stripped my son of his independence. He lost the ability to decide what time to go to bed, when to use the restroom during the night, and when to wake up. They created an unsafe environment in the event of an emergency.

We pulled the fire and rescue team away from their community to assist with an issue that could have been avoided completely.

My son, at just 18 years old, expressed feeling embarrassed as other guests overheard our conversations and saw us call for emergency assistance.

All of this is a direct result of IHG Hotels & Resorts choosing to disregard ADA compliance and neglecting the needs of the disabled community.

We are not alone in this experience. Many face similar struggles every day.

My hope is that by sharing our experience, IHG Hotels & Resorts will be open to communication and collaboration in making the appropriate changes in ALL of their hotels and in the process creating a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone. I hope we can work together and create the expectation of all hotel chains.

Let's create waves of...

My family stayed here for 8 Days when we evacuated from South Florida for Hurricane Irma a week ago. It was a very stressful time for us, we had traveled 12 hours in a car with my two year old twins, my partner and my mother and upon arriving realized that in the craziness of leaving out home we had made the reservation for the following day rather that the day we arrived. The front desk staff were so sweet, they immediately corrected our days and found a room for us and checked us in quickly so we could rest. It was a very busy and stressful week for most people who were staying there, the lobby was full of people trying to find some relief from the idea that they may not have a home to return to and i can honestly say that the staff made us feel so comfortable and went above and beyond to ensure that we had everything we needed. I have been traveling for many years and have stayed in hundreds of hotels over the last 18 years and i have to say that having great customer service is one thing, but when staff actually takes the time to talk to you and connect with you on a personal level it creates a totally different experience. Misty ran the morning breakfast service most of our stay and she was so sweet. She was able to maintain a clean area for guest to eat, stock all of the food as soon as it got low and all while taking the time to talk to people and joke around with us. We definitely needed some positive energy at that moment and it was greatly appreciated. The front desks staff is amazing. Sabrina greeted us like family and made my kids laugh every chance she could. Every time i saw her she was helping someone, getting something for someone or helping the other staff members. Jo Ann, Anotnio, Keke, and Mia were also very helpful and always asked us how we were doing, if we had questions they were more than happy to offer whatever assistance they could. They helped us find places to eat locally, recommended activities to do with our children, they were great!!! Not to mention they had fresh cookies for us almost every night!! Also housekeeping was excellent, Tawanna always made sure our room was clean and stocked with supplies even before we ran out. She took the time to write us a very sweet note and left it for us in our room which we received once we returned that day. She thanked us for being nice and that really meant a lot that she would go out of her way to let us know she appreciated us. Jeremy was so sweet, he was always working hard and kept the lobby spotless. He would come and check on us anytime we came down to see how we were doing. My overall experience here was great, Atlanta was great to us and the staff of this Atlanta Holiday inn Express in Brookhaven was hands down the best experience i have ever had staying in a hotel. If i was the owner i would give them all a great holiday bonus this year because it is very obvious they take pride in their jobs, they work hard and they are what made this terrible situation seem not so terrible after all. I tried to find contact info for corporate so that i could let them know what an amazing job their staff did but i was unable to, so im hoping that this makes it to...