Holiday Inn & Suites Raleigh-Cary (I-40 @Walnut St) by IHG — Hotel in Cary

We had a terrible experience with this Holiday Inn in Cary, NC. My wife surprised me with an overnight date night that she had been planning for months. She chose to stay at the Holiday Inn in Cary, NC, specifically and solely because it had an in room Jacuzzi. We had a relative come in to watch our children, and were really looking forward to a romantic evening alone, which for the parents of two toddlers is extraordinarily difficult and rare. She booked the special Jacuzzi room on the hotel’s website itself, not through some third party booking app, but the hotel’s website itself. One would assume that the personal website for the hotel one planned on staying would have up to date information concerning the status and availability of their rooms, but alas, it apparently did not.

Our issue began at check in on March 10th 2018. When we checked in at the front desk the clerk did not tell us or care that our room was not and had not been available. At first she did not even tell us! Thankfully my wife looked at the check in sheet and saw that the rate was different. Only when she questioned the check in clerk about it did the clerk fess up that the room was no longer available. The front desk clerk told us that the Jacuzzi rooms had not been available since December 2017, but my wife booked the room on January 20th 2018! She even called the hotel after booking to make sure the Jacuzzi was big enough for two people and they told her yes, the Jacuzzi was big enough for two people. Fast forward two months to our check in (plenty of time for our reservation of a room that was no longer available to be flagged in the system). She told us that the hotel had switched us a newly renovated room with a discounted rate, and given us 1000 extra bonus points, which was ridiculous! The hotel did not call to inform us the room was not available at any point before our check in, nor did they call us to see if we wanted to be switched to a “newly renovated room at a discounted rate with extra bonus points”. We would not have come if we knew that the Jacuzzi was not available (which was the sole reason booked the room). It seemed like with all the renovations the hotel did not want to miss out on a booking so they intentionally did not call so that we would almost be forced to check in once we arrived at the front desk. After an hour and a half drive we had reservations to dinner and a show soon after our check in, and did not have time to switch hotels or believe me; we would have left right then and there.

Also aggravating was later on that night when we stopped at the hotel bar to have a few drinks, and over the course told the bar tender of our situation with the room, and our disappointment. He then proceeded to go tell the hospitality manager on duty (who could see us, as it is a straight line of sight from the bar to the office), and the manager proceeded to not to care and go back into the office. Not come over and talk to us, not offer another apology, nothing. Went straight back into the office with an air of “oh well”! “Oh well” succinctly sums up the attitude of the whole front desk and managerial staff there towards our situation.

We were extremely disappointed, and it really ruined our entire overnight date, which took quite a bit of planning and preparation for months. Thanks for nothing Holiday Inn. Literally. We will make it a point to never return to a Holiday Inn. One star, zero stars if I could give it, two...

We have stayed at this hotel many times in the past while attending swim meets at the Triangle Aquatic Center. In the past, while the rooms and hotel were a bit dated, they were always clean, and the staff were eager to make customers feel at home. This is apparently no longer the case.

We had three rooms booked (two for us and one for our coach) and the entire experience was much less than expected. Several other families from our swim team also expressed similar experiences to me during this stay.

At check in (4:30 pm), not all rooms were ready even after being assured the night before that everything would be set by 4:00 pm, and possibly earlier. The front desk seemed to be unaware of my reservations asking if I wanted double beds in all rooms (even after explaining I had reservations for two king rooms and one double room). I had called the night before to ask that the rooms be close to each other, and away from the elevators which are very noisy. I also told the front desk I would like rooms away from the elevators. After about 20 minutes of "checking in", I went to the rooms. I was given one room directly across the hall from the elevator, and the other two rooms were directly beside the elevator.

Went downstairs to complain and they did give me different rooms, however, housekeeping had left one of the room's door propped open and it looked as if someone had slept on the bed, and the carpets were visibly dirty as if they had not been vacuumed.

Once again downstairs to change rooms. Almost an hour to get checked in!

Floors were dirty in all rooms. One of the king rooms air conditioner had to be set to 58 degrees in order for the room to cool. Bedside lamps had switches that were not properly attached to the lamp (loose and one was actually recessed completely into the lamp).

After the first morning swim meet session, we returned to the rooms after lunch and housekeeping had not even been on our floor. Had to sit in the lobby for almost an hour waiting for our room. Housekeeping did not replenish the shampoo or coffee, and again, the floors were visibly dirty.

After our morning session on Sunday, we returned to the room to pack and check out (11:00 am) but none of the keys worked. The hotel had already locked out all the rooms before checkout time.

Breakfast (which used to be free) is now $10 for scrambled eggs and bacon. No yogurt, pancakes, waffles, etc.

Not once was I recognized as an IHG member.

Front desk was usually understaffed, but there were always 2-3 employees outside the side door smoking with the door propped open with smoke entering the hallway. Dirty housekeeping carts were usually left in the hallways for hours, or even overnight.

The dryer in the laundry would only display 12 minutes available for $1:00, and the dryer was VERY hot.

After speaking with the Swim Meet Director, I have found that this hotel is no longer a recommended hotel for their swim meets, and that they have several hotels nearby that will give swim meet visitors a free 4:00 pm checkout.

To the hotel's credit, they did give me one night free on one of the three rooms for the check in difficulties.

We (or other families from our swim team) will not be returning to this property. Sad, because this used to be a great hotel with great service. But after two bad experiences in one month, we will be taking our...

I called 3 times prior to my stay to ensure a cot would be available. I explained each time, we all were disabled. I explained I needed extra pillows and they needed to be non-feather due to asthma issues. Each time the person at the front desk I spoke with assured me everything would be taken care of. When we arrived, the first thing we noticed that no one ever mentioned was the construction on the entire front of the hotel. So for 3 handicap people, 1 who uses a walker, parking in the handicap spots was not good. Then getting into the building was even more difficult. Had to walk to the side of the building, with a bad ramp and a door with no automatic opener. Get to the front desk and they inform me they have no cot and made an excuse about the workers taking all the cots. Which is odd because 3 of the floors didn't have guests due to construction so there should have been plenty of cots available. We get to the room and there are no extra pillows. Had to request those again. And had to request a second set because all the soft pillows were feather pillows. So that request was ignored as well. Then we tried to get into the beds. New bed was so far off the ground, with our handicaps, we could barely get into them. We (not the hotel) had to bring in pieces of wood for my 78 year old mother to use as a step so she could get in and out without difficulties. To make things even worse the new shower was horrible. Being handicap and having glass doors does not work. It makes it almost impossible for anyone to assist and turning around is very difficult. And to top off the whole experience, the new décor and furnishings were horrible. The only good thing was the new sleep sofa with no bar in it so it didn't hurt a person's back. But the new bed was too high, the new chair was small and uncomfortable, the multiple prints didn't go together, the new dressers were small, there were so many different colors that it was not a good relaxing environment. To top it all off the hot tub and pool were both out of order. Hot tub was dug up and there was just a big hole there. And we couldn't use the pool because there was so much debris from the dug up hot tub, that you couldn't walk around the front of the pool where the handicap steps to get in the pool were located. I felt like the 3 calls I made and talk to people were just ignored. Why didn't anyone tell us about all the construction? Didn't anyone think when I told them we were handicap, they might want to fill us in on the new bathroom situation or the new bed height? Customer Service isn't about just being nice.

I have stayed at this location multiple times before with little to no problems. We have never had any issues with the regular rooms and beds, showers or décor. I don't know if we will stay again at this location. And if all the Holiday Inns are changing to the same décor and furniture, I will definitely rethink using Holiday Inn...