Holiday Inn Express & Suites Clewiston by IHG — Hotel in Clewiston

I made a reservation for a whirlpool suite for my wedding night. We probably passed 50 or so HIE hotels along our trip from Tampa to this hotel, any of which may have had a whirlpool suite like the one we wanted. I should add that it took a lot of convincing to get my bride to agree to stay at a mid-price business hotel on our wedding night, but the whirlpool suite sealed the deal. I called the hotel directly early in the evening prior to arrival to confirm the room and advise that we would be arriving after midnight. The female desk clerk told me that the room would be waiting for me upon arrival. I offered to pay at that time and she told me it was not necessary. When we arrived, the night clerk (John) advised that the female from the previous shift had changed our reservation out of a whirlpool suite and there were none available. Obviously, at this hour, there was nothing John could do, so he suggested talking to the GM in the morning. When I talked to the GM she said she was already aware of the mix-up and had already credited my card $30. When I pointed out that $30 did not even cover the extra that I had paid to have a whirlpool suite, she advised she would credit another $30. She also advised she would add some bonus points to my IHG Rewards account (that still has not happened, so assume that it never will).

Now onto the issue about the room and what concerns me the most is the lying by the GM. The GM advised that IHG has new software and they never received the reservation as a whirlpool suite. I showed her my e-mail confirmation from IHG and she had no response. When I asked how John would know that the previous shift had changed the reservation, she said he must be confused. I cannot for the life of me understand how he would be so confused or what motivation he would have for lying to me about this. We were already settled into our room, he had advised there were no whirlpool rooms available and we were willing to keep the room we had. So what would motivate him to make up the fact that the reservation had been modified by the previous shift, especially considering that the GM said the reservation never showed a whirlpool suite reserved??? This is what concerns and disappoints me as a loyal IHG guest. Not the screwing up my reservation on my wedding night, a night that I will never experience again, it’s the lying about it, especially in the face of lots of information already in my possession to the contrary that the GM was fully aware of. And then, to offer such a small conciliation, not even enough to bring me back to the regular room rate, is not only insulting but downright greedy.

In the GM’s defense, she did offer to provide a whirlpool suite at a future date… at the regular room rate… more insulting and greedy thinking on her part. Especially since I had told her that I had never even heard of her city prior to my reservation and would likely never be back in...

We were not familiar with the area and had a fishing charter scheduled for my son and husband at Lake Okeechobee so we decided to stay in Clewiston. My daughter attends school in West Palm Beach so we had driven over from there for the weekend. Not much in the area and somewhat disappointed with the lake and access to it. There is a path around the lake that is accessible at the marina and a state park about 12 minutes away, but you can not see the lake driving by it nor sit at a table and enjoy the view ... you had to go up on the path or be out on the lake itself to enjoy it. For that reason, I do not think I would ever return to this area. It seems like it is an area where people pass through from east to west more than stay there for any extended amount of time.

As far as the hotel, there is a Walmart across the street which was convenient (could walk down to the intersection and cross or drive over - it is on a very busy road) and a couple places to eat (Beef O'Bradys was a good spot and the Tiki Bar at the Roland Marina) but not much else to see or do around town.

My husband had to wait about 5 minutes when he went to check in before anyone came out to help him. When someone finally came out he said they were not very nice. The room was clean and a nice size for 4 adults. The pool and pool area were clean but the hot tub was more of a small warm pool than hot. We did appreciate that it was open after dark. The hotel appeared to be relatively new so everything was in good shape. The elevator did require you to have a key card to go up in it which is a nice security measure but also a bit of a pain to have to do that. Also made me feel like maybe we were not in the best area? I did feel bad for the breakfast lady as it was very busy over the weekend and she seemed a bit overwhelmed keeping up with the food items and restocking everything by herself. The food items were good though and there was a nice variety.

I did find it challenging that several people working at the hotel spoke very little English. When we asked about extra towels for the room the lady in housekeeping clearly had no idea what I was asking for and had to ask someone for help. The lady serving breakfast also seemed to have limited skills in English and did not always understand when I asked about peanut butter or cinnamon rolls. I appreciated their work ethic for sure ... it just made communicating with them challenging. If you are in the area and need a hotel it is a nice place to stay but I personally would not go there again simply because the area was not one I would want to...

Stayed there with a friend on 3/10/24 to 3/11/24. I got to say the room was excellent. Clean and smells good. Service was good. Didn't use the amenities so I can't comment on that . Had a nice conversation with the manager at breakfast. (Martha Mathis) She was very nice and helpful. I shared a couple of improvements they could have done, as far as breakfast. Like the pancake machine. The pancake get rubbery if not eaten within 5 minutes of coming out. They don't have waffles. I love to eat waffles for breakfast. So filling. They had a regular toaster that only 2 slices at a time so if there are 2 or 3 people at the same time trying to toast there bread or bagel, it will be a wile till you get it toasted. Other than that, I recommend it. Very, very clean. Thank you Martha for the wonderful stay. I will be back soon. So nice to know there are still places to stay that pride themselves on being clean. Thank you again. See you soon.😁🙏 Second visit 8/2/25-8/4/25 Everything was good. Nice and clean like I wrote before. Again my only issue is (breakfast) the pancake machine. I hate it. It makes rubbery pancake 🥞. Maybe kids like them because they could play with them but for adults, sucks. I know holiday inn express has this as a signature item but it really sucks. I bet if you include waffles 🧇 (freshly made waffle machine) the guest would love it. The manager explained to me that the guest enjoy the pancake machine. I think it's just good to have verity type of response. Have both and have a survey at the hotel to see which one they prefer?. Then choose the one your guest really want not what holiday inn express wants to be known for. In my opinion. Like I told the manager, I almost went for staying at a air b and b ,because of the pancake machine. One other thing, I loved the grits. I never eat them because they always taste funny or different. Who ever did them on the night of the 2nd of August, knows what they doing. My compliments. Thank you. Loves the pork sausages. Good as well and the biscuits. Slamming. Thank you again holiday inn express. Hope you take my suggestion seriously. It won't hurt to...