Crowne Plaza Cleveland at Playhouse Square by IHG — Hotel in Cleveland

🌟 Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza Cleveland – Where Looks Deceive and Maintenance Lags

As a global traveler with three decades of experience, I’ve stayed everywhere from mountain retreats to boutique city lofts. I know how to spot quality—and how to spot corner-cutting. During a recent stay at the Crowne Plaza Cleveland, I got a good look at both.

Here’s the stay, from check-in to check-out, in honest chronological order:

🕰️ Late-Night Check-In: Remote Excuses & Blue Screen Blues

After a smooth check-in late at night, my colleague and I dropped our bags and went out to dinner. When we returned, we were ready to settle in and unwind. That’s when we discovered the TV was unusable, displaying only blue tones across every channel.

We called the front desk, and a staff member promptly came up—with a new remote. But once it failed to solve the issue, they finally admitted what we suspected: they knew the TV was broken, and it was “on order for repair.”

Here’s the kicker: they still rented out the room, fully aware that this amenity—a basic standard in any hotel—was non-functional. No warning. No adjustment. Just quiet omission. That’s not hospitality—it’s bait and switch.

🛏️ Beds & Climate Control: Bare Minimum, Below Expectations

We didn’t request a specific bed type, assuming we’d be given a queen at minimum—a standard in most hotels at this price point. Instead, we were placed in a room with two doubles. Tight for adults, and not ideal for two professionals traveling for business.

The air conditioning, meanwhile, couldn’t keep up with the 90-degree heat outside. Even on full blast, the room remained warm and stuffy. After a long day, sweating through the night in undersized beds with broken tech is not the way to restore energy for a workday.

🚫 Housekeeping Confusion: Mixed Signals

The next morning, I allowed myself a slow wake-up and hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. I left the room around 11:00 AM, greeting the housekeeping staff in the hallway and wishing them a good day.

But when I returned hours later, the sign had been removed from my door—yet no service had been completed. Another subtle miss, another moment of confusion that broke the flow of what should have been a seamless guest experience.

🏊‍♀️ Pool & Jacuzzi: Hot Tub Heaven, Mildew Mayhem

Later in the day, I headed to the indoor Jacuzzi, which was beautifully hot and deeply relaxing. The attached pool is small—just 4.5 feet deep—but equipped with kickboards for light laps, which I appreciated.

However, that’s where the praise ends. The air reeked of mildew, and within minutes, I developed a headache. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a film of grime lining the Jacuzzi and pool tiles, indicating that the area hadn’t received a deep cleaning in quite some time. The floor was dangerously slippery, and no cleaning crew or maintenance signage was anywhere in sight.

When I asked if the hotel had partnerships with other nearby properties offering outdoor pools or day passes, staff weren’t able to provide any direction or recommendations.

🎭 Final Impressions: Theater Crowd, Ballpark Budgeting

The Crowne Plaza Cleveland sits in a prime location—right in the Theater District, not far from Progressive Field. But it feels like the hotel is banking on location alone, assuming that transient guests coming for a show or game won’t care about the details.

And that’s exactly the problem.

From broken electronics to insufficient cleaning and climate discomfort, this hotel is cashing checks without delivering the experience. The structure is here. The potential is here. But the execution is lazy, and the maintenance? Lacking.

Would I stay here again? Only if I heard they’ve overhauled operations and started delivering the kind of experience their name—and price point—suggests.

Until then, it’s all polish and no...

🌟 Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza Cleveland – Where Looks Deceive and Maintenance Lags|As a global traveler with three decades of experience, I’ve stayed everywhere from mountain retreats to boutique city lofts. I know how to spot quality—and how to spot corner-cutting. During a recent stay at the Crowne Plaza Cleveland, I got a good look at both.||Here’s the stay, from check-in to check-out, in honest chronological order:||🕰️ Late-Night Check-In: Remote Excuses & Blue Screen Blues|After a smooth check-in late at night, my colleague and I dropped our bags and went out to dinner. When we returned, we were ready to settle in and unwind. That’s when we discovered the TV was unusable, displaying only blue tones across every channel.||We called the front desk, and a staff member promptly came up—with a new remote. But once it failed to solve the issue, they finally admitted what we suspected: they knew the TV was broken, and it was “on order for repair.”||Here’s the kicker: they still rented out the room, fully aware that this amenity—a basic standard in any hotel—was non-functional. No warning. No adjustment. Just quiet omission. That’s not hospitality—it’s bait and switch.||🛏️ Beds & Climate Control: Bare Minimum, Below Expectations|We didn’t request a specific bed type, assuming we’d be given a queen at minimum—a standard in most hotels at this price point. Instead, we were placed in a room with two doubles. Tight for adults, and not ideal for two professionals traveling for business.||The air conditioning, meanwhile, couldn’t keep up with the 90-degree heat outside. Even on full blast, the room remained warm and stuffy. After a long day, sweating through the night in undersized beds with broken tech is not the way to restore energy for a workday.||🚫 Housekeeping Confusion: Mixed Signals|The next morning, I allowed myself a slow wake-up and hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. I left the room around 11:00 AM, greeting the housekeeping staff in the hallway and wishing them a good day.||But when I returned hours later, the sign had been removed from my door—yet no service had been completed. Another subtle miss, another moment of confusion that broke the flow of what should have been a seamless guest experience.||🏊‍♀️ Pool & Jacuzzi: Hot Tub Heaven, Mildew Mayhem|Later in the day, I headed to the indoor Jacuzzi, which was beautifully hot and deeply relaxing. The attached pool is small—just 4.5 feet deep—but equipped with kickboards for light laps, which I appreciated.||However, that’s where the praise ends. The air reeked of mildew, and within minutes, I developed a headache. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a film of grime lining the Jacuzzi and pool tiles, indicating that the area hadn’t received a deep cleaning in quite some time. The floor was dangerously slippery, and no cleaning crew or maintenance signage was anywhere in sight.||When I asked if the hotel had partnerships with other nearby properties offering outdoor pools or day passes, staff weren’t able to provide any direction or recommendations.||🎭 Final Impressions: Theater Crowd, Ballpark Budgeting|The Crowne Plaza Cleveland sits in a prime location—right in the Theater District, not far from Progressive Field. But it feels like the hotel is banking on location alone, assuming that transient guests coming for a show or game won’t care about the details.||And that’s exactly the problem.||From broken electronics to insufficient cleaning and climate discomfort, this hotel is cashing checks without delivering the experience. The structure is here. The potential is here. But the execution is lazy, and the maintenance? Lacking.||Would I stay here again? Only if I heard they’ve overhauled operations and started delivering the kind of experience their name—and price point—suggests.||Until then, it’s all polish and no...

This hotel was a complete letdown from start to finish. As we got close to the hotel, I called to see if we were able to check in early. It was around 2 PM and check in wasn’t until 3. The lady on the phone verified that my room was clean and that we could check in early. I dropped my car off for valet and carried our luggage in. When checking in, the lady asked if I wanted to sign up for the IHG rewards program. I politely declined. She proceeded to tell me that I would not be able to check in early unless I signed up. I was not told that when I called or else I would have waited to check in.

The room was dark, dingy, and looked nothing like the pictures online. Even with every light turned on, it was still too dim to comfortably get ready. The ceiling had clear signs of water damage with bubbling and mold — completely unacceptable for any hotel. The caulking around the tub was ripped up and had black spots all in it.

The air conditioning was broken, leaving the room unbearably hot and humid. We were dripping in sweat trying to get ready for an important event. We turned the AC down to 60 but only warm air was blowing out. We thought maybe it just needed time to cool down and hoped that when we came back from our event that the room would be cold. That was not the case. We came back to an hot room. It was already past midnight, my voice was gone and we were tired from standing and walking all evening so we thought we’d try to make it through the night. Everything felt damp, including the sheets, which stuck to me all night. The bed itself was broken on the frame, making loud noises with the slightest movement, and was incredibly uncomfortable. Between the heat, humidity, damp bedding, and noisy broken bed, I barely any sleep.

When checking out, I asked the lady at the desk if the rooms are supposed to be warm or if there was something wrong with the AC. She said no and that’s she’d have someone take a look at the room.

To make matters worse, valet service was a nightmare. It took over an hour and a half just to get our car back, which was the final straw on an already miserable stay. I offered to go get my own car but it was in a secured parking area so we were forced to wait. They kept moving people up in line which extended the wait for everyone else. We were sitting in the lobby as there was no where else we could go. The hostess kept ease-dropping on our conversation and it just was awkward. They offered us mimosas while we waited but obviously we refused because we’re waiting for our car. How nice to offer alcohol to people before they’re about to drive. There was no compensation for the wait. They knew there was going to be a big event, they could have properly staffed the hotel including valet. I missed my husband’s championship game because of the wait.

Overall, this was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had. I would not recommend this property to anyone. I requested a refund through Hotels.com for the unsatisfactory stay especially with NO AC in the middle of August when it’s 90 degrees outside. and the pictures not being an accurate representation of how the room actually looks.They denied the refund “since your booking was non-refundable and doesn't allow any exceptions, they're sticking with their policy and won't issue a refund.” I am disputing the charges with my bank and reporting them to the BBB as well as the health...