Holiday Inn Express & Suites Carlsbad — Hotel in Carlsbad

I visited this Holiday Inn property in October 2012. This was my first time to come to Carlsbad, NM. I had some work going on in the area. I arrived to the hotel at around 4:00 in the afternoon to check in. The outside appearance and the lobby of the property were very clean. Then I walk up to the counter and the first thing the lady says is "what's the name of the reservation." I told her my name and she began to check me in, saying nothing more until she handed me my cards back and told me where the elevators were and what time breakfast is at. I made it to my room to find that it was very clean and big in size. The internet connection in my hotel room was very poor and slow. That evening I had to set off to work and departed the hotel through the lobby and the front desk ladies just stared and made me feel like I was doing something wrong. The next day I returned to the hotel to sleep during the day and return to work at night. I displayed the Do Not Disturb sign on my door so I could get some sleep. I fell asleep only to be wakened up by the room cleaning service trying to come in my room and stopped only by the top latch on the door that made a loud bang when it hit. Then I was not able to return to sleep because of all the noise the cleaning service was making in the neighboring rooms. I finally fell back asleep for a couple hours to be awakened again by my room phone ringing....it was the cleaning service saying, "I saw that you have a Do Not Disturb sign on your door, do you need any towels or anything else?" I couldn't even believe this was happening so I said no and hang up the phone. Sleep ruined!! The next day, the same thing happened again with the room cleaning personnel trying to come in my room while I had the Do Not Disturb sign was displayed. No phone call on the second day though. I was sooooo mad. I finally fell back asleep and woke at 4:00 p.m. and had reservation for one more night to have some leisure time to explore the area, however I just wanted to leave this hotel immediately so I checked out a day early and drove to Odessa to get a hotel which is a couple hours away. I went to the front desk to check out and told the lady I was checking out of my room, and she did not say one word the whole time and just handed me my receipt. Looked like she could care less to be there, so I didn't even share my complaints with her. I will be returning i the future foe a lot of work but will not be staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Carlsbad. I will use some of the competitors down the road and I never do that because I like the priority club program. In this case it is just not worth it, the room rate is expensive for poor service....

Check in was fine, not overly friendly, but efficient. We were informed that the elevator was not working correctly (our room was on the third floor). When we got into the elevator there was a sign saying not to call the office if the elevator is slow to open, that they were aware of the issue, and the elevator would open. Sure enough, we got to the third floor and it took about 45 nail biting seconds for the door to open. I could see why people had called the desk. We avoided the elevator for the rest of our stay, opting for the stairs instead. The room and bed were spacious and comfortable. I was glad for the microwave and refrigerator. The next morning, they were almost completely out of hot breakfast. We came down at 8, and breakfast was going until 9, so it's not like it was the end of breakfast time. No eggs, no potatoes, no bacon. I asked the woman working the breakfast area if there were more eggs coming. She said, "There are no eggs? I just put some out." And then she walked away from me to empty a trash can. I persisted, asking again if there would be more eggs. She replied that their main oven was broken and they were using a smaller oven, so everything was taking longer. Sooo... I never saw more eggs come out. They brought out more potatoes that were not even cooked. We tried a couple, but they were inedible. One reason I had chosen the Holiday Inn was because of their breakfast, so that was a disappointment. In addition, I have gotten much better service at much cheaper hotels. It seemed like the response of the workers to customers complaints/concerns was to brush us off. I know it can be frustrating for the employees to deal with these issues as well. It would be nice if they could at least acknowledge the frustration of the guests rather than walk away without answering a question. I also had an opportunity to use the fitness area, wanting to do some weightlifting. They have free weights, which I enjoy, but it seems like somehow they've lost (or someone stole) their 20 and 25 lb weights, which are probably the most popular size. Only options were to 15 lbs or 30 lbs and up. This seems like a simple thing to make sure that the weight rack has all the correct weights. Overall, the building seems to be falling into disrepair and it seems like management is neglecting the issues...

When I booked this room I was told that there were no AAA rooms/rates available, but to check with the desk when I checked into the hotel and they could/would give me a discounted rate. When I arrived in Carlsbad, I mentioned that the person on the phone told me to talk with the front desk about getting my AAA discount. I was informed by the front desk that she could not change a rate that it would have to be a manager. There was no manager available until the next morning. The next morning after getting a horrible night sleep because people were running in the halls late at night and doors started slamming at 6am I went to check about getting the AAA rate. I was told that an internet rate could not be adjusted. I informed the young lady I called the 800 number. She informed me that they book online and she couldn’t adjust it. She told me that maybe the manager could do it, but he/she wasn't there yet. I was informed that I could call the 800 number and they should be able to give me the discount. They could not give me a discount to begin with so I am not going to waste my time. I stayed at Holiday Inn because it does offer an AAA discount. I was very disappointed that I was given the run around and never got a discount. The breakfast that was served was one of the best hotel breakfasts I have had. What was supposed to be hot was hot, what was supposed to be cold was cold and there was a very good variety. The staff did a very good job keeping things stocked. Everyone in our group enjoyed it. During our last stay there were people running up and down the halls late at night and the next morning doors were slamming very early. I probably would not have noticed as much had I been able to keep the fan on the AC going the entire time, but that wasn't an option and it kept cutting on and off. The room got very stuffy at certian points in the night. I had stayed the previous weekend and we had a very loud family above us. It was overall an ok place to stay. It looked better than any other hotel in Carlsbad so if I stayed in Carlsbad again I would probaby stay at this hotel. I would just ask for a room on the top floor and call in plenty of time to get the...