Holiday Inn Columbia-East by IHG — Hotel in Columbia Township

I travel for work and have recently (end of February) started staying with IHG hotels. I have had nothing but positive experiences with every single one that I've had the pleasure of staying at, with one exception. I will say first and foremost that I understand that a hotel, regardless of efforts, can control what their patrons do, how they act, and control noise/voice levels. Again, I travel for a living and have never held one to blame for noisy neighbors, etc. It's the nature of the beast.

On my particular stay, I completed the job earlier than anticipated and contacted the hotel around 10:30 am to attempt a late check out for that day, which was one day earlier than I had booked. I was told by the front desk clerk, after speaking with her manager that I would still be charged for the extra day that I had booked, but could leave at any time. I asked for clarification and was again told the same thing. When I asked to speak to the manager, I was put on hold, and when the clerk returned was told that she was busy. When I arrived at the hotel shortly after, I asked to speak with the manager but was told that she was offsite for the weekend. Upset, I opted to make the best of the situation and relax for the afternoon. As the evening progressed, it became more evident that there was a youth tournament of some sort going on in town that weekend. With kids racing up and down the halls (no, not exaggerating) and jumping from room-to-room and on beds (still not exaggerating). I mentioned to a couple of parents that I'd seen that I completely understand kids having a great time and playing... I didn't even have to finish my statement before they apologized and said that they'd try to find the other parents and let them know what was going on. I again reiterated my appreciation and admittance to having my own kids on tournament weekends and can empathize with their "challenges", Lol. I never took my noise complaints to the front desk, as I figured that the parents would take care of it, and they did for the most part. Around 8-8:30 I decided to, again, make the most of the situation and relax in the on-suite jacuzzi tub. The tub takes (literally) about 45 minutes to an hour to fill so I started the water and sat on the bed to watch TV. After about 20 minutes or so, I noticed water dripping from the ceiling from the room upstairs. I grabbed a trashcan to try to catch the water, shut off the water to my tub and went downstairs to notify the clerk at the front desk. After waiting in line for several minutes (several people were checking in, or asking for different things and there was only one poor clerk to address all of these things), I informed her that there was water dripping into my room from the ceiling (and showed her a video). She was beside herself with being overwhelmed with check-ins and now a room that was no longer able to be used. She immediately contacted maintenance and called the manager on their personal phone to decide how to go forward. I decided that I had indeed had enough. Between the other patrons not watching their children, racing up and down the halls, what seemed like a bowling ball being dropped in the room directly above me every few minutes, the numerous other noises, and finally, the water coming through the ceiling... I went back to my room to discuss with the maintenance gentleman what had happened. He was overly apologetic. I reiterated to him that it wasn't his fault, but appreciated the empathy and quick response from both him and the front desk clerk. He asked if I could forward the video I took of the water dripping from the ceiling to his personal phone so that he could show his boss, which I was more than happy to oblige. I proceeded to pack my bags and went back downstairs to the front desk. She was able to reach the manager who told the clerk that I was to be put into another room, but there wasn't another with on-suite jacuzzi tub. I told the clerk that while I appreciated the offer, between the water and other concerns, I was just going to check out.

In short, The majority of my "complaints" are mostly due to patrons that are beyond the control of this hotel. That said, the room was not as clean as I'd come to expect from any other IHG hotels that I'd stayed at previously nor since. The alarm clock was inoperable and was in pieces when I walked in the room. The remote control for the tv in the jacuzzi area didn't control the tv. There was food remnants all around the microwave and behind it, and the main entry door looked as though someone had attempted to break into it with a crow-bar. (All of these things are documented with pictures/video.) I have never been reached out to for any sort of apology or explanation, or appreciation for stopping the leak from continuing to cause any further damage. I will obviously not be staying at this IHG hotel again, and have told several others of...

I was so excited to stay there. I was even planning to write about my experience on my travel blog and all that but the experience was not that good. I am writing specifically for professionals who travel alone for business and trying to give as many details as possible. The entrance is nice. It’s what you expect from a Holiday Inn. The front desk guy was not at the front desk, he came after a few minutes. Was a little unprofessional and seemed lazy but maybe he was new and a little slow. I won’t criticize him on that. He was nice enough to check me in although I was there earlier than check in time. He said it would take some time for them to make the room available. So, I said I would wait in the lobby. All hotels are ok with that especially that I had paid for my stay but he seemed uneasy when I asked to wait in the lobby!! So what did he want me to do??? There are no restaurants around or any place to hang out and I was traveling from the East Coast, I didn’t have a car. Even if I did, you shouldn’t expect your guests to wait outside!! By the way, they don’t understand the concept of not having a car which is very common for people from the east coast. Anyway, I waited in the lobby and when the room was ready I went upstairs. The elevator was nice and fast. The room was ok. The light was ok. The room was clean although the toilet was not and I had to flush it to get clean. For the price we pay, someone could have bothered to flush the toilet before a new guest entered. On the first day there was soap and shampoo and coffee. But from the third day there was whether no shampoo or no coffee! Again, remember the hotel costs over $100 per night! The view was nice but there was no chair to bring to the window and enjoy the view! There was a desk but no desk chair. The only armchair in the room was very uncomfortable and could use some cleaning. The bed mattress was also soft and uncomfortable. I woke up everyday with a back pain. The tv had good channels. The Wi-Fi worked well on my phone but not at all on the computer. I don’t know why. The breakfast is not free and technically is non existent. I went to have breakfast. The guy took forever to come. The breakfast was ok. There were three options. I chose the cheapest one: egg, fruit cup and coffee for $10. I didn’t go to breakfast on any other day because again, I was there for work and didn’t have all day to wait and then pay to have breakfast while I was paying over $100 for my stay. There is no business center. So if you need to print anything, I have no idea how that can be done. The meeting room chairs and lobby chairs are also old and uncomfortable. So, I decided to try the restaurant for dinner. Man, did I regret that! There was a lady there sitting at one of the tables working on her computer and she apparently was the “hostess”/waitress? And the lady who worked at the front desk was also the bar tender. The computer lady and the bar tender lady completely ignored my existence for the entire 30 - 45 minutes or maybe even an hour that I sat there. I don’t remember how long I waited because I really thought at some point they would acknowledge me. But noooooo. They totally ignored me until it was past dinner time!! Mind you, they both happily served the men who were dining there and women who were with men. I guess professional women traveling alone are not acceptable there. It really seemed like gross and open sexism! The computer lady checked on the men dining there like 5 times to see if they needed “anything else” while she passed my table every single time and was completely ignoring me. It was like they couldn’t see me! I am really wondering if this Holiday Inn has an actual manager. Only at my early morning check out (4 am), the front desk guy was super professional and amazing. So the hotel is by the highway. If you don’t have a car it’s hard to get around. There is a Jimmy John’s on the right corner of the Holiday Inn across a calm and nice street and their sandwiches are good. Gym is small equipment very uncomfortable but the...

Stayed in the suite, 2 queen beds & fold out couch for a family of 6. Kids are 8-16. Happy with the availability of a suite for everyone to be together. No exhaust fan for the bathroom, with 3 guys, that was definitely needed. Pull out bed had small bits of debris on the sheets, but found extra bag of bed lines in the closet & put new sheets on it. Only good for little kids (they didnt seem to mind), pull out mattress was not comfortable for anyone teenage sized & up. Could feel every bar getting in & out of it. Once you're in, not too bad if you don't move. Bathroom was okay, tub drain & grout stains looked kinda gross and the sink never stopped running. Showerhead had okay pressure depending on was setting was used, the majority of us had long hair and getting it wet thoroughly for washing was an issue.

Room was sized just fine for us. Quiet, we were next to the service elevator and never heard noise that was bothersome. No intruding noises from neighboring rooms either. Coffee provided for the keurig was nasty, green mountain is not a good brand, no amount of sugar or milk could save it. Go down to the dollar/grocery and bring your own (Same goes for the coffee downstairs- don't waste your milk or sugar on it). Sink in the kitchenette had a lot of buildup on the faucet, which even though clean, looked otherwise. Microwave and refrigerator were spotless, nice job there. Room was otherwise very clean. Knew going in breakfast wasn't complimentary. If we weren't specifically looking for a suite for 6 people with a few days notice, we would have probably selected a different hotel. We paid for the breakfast rather than deal with going someplace before our events. Won't be doing that again. For $11 per person, I expected something at least up to fast food standards: coffee was bitter and just gross. It was a waste of paper cups, sugar and creamers. Hot cocoa or half milk mixed in didn't even make it palatable. Gravy had no flavor, this is the Midwest, we have high standards for our gravy. The sausage patties were a good flavor, but man the amount of grease that had to be wicked off with a napkin was truly remarkable. You could see it sitting in little puddles on the patties. The eggs looked like they came from the shell and not egg power or liquid egg, but even in the warmer they were cold and rubbery. Could have been a little more palatable witj some cheese and/or salsa but there was none. The potatoes were better on Sunday, than Saturday. Kids used the pool, but it was bathwater warm. Which didn't bother me, but it wasn't very refreshing. The shower in the pool room was missing the handle, so there was no turning it on to rinse with before getting in or to rinse pool water off. We had membership so the late checkout was a nice perk. Though they did assign it to a different room. The cleaning crew was was polite and accommodating to correct it when they...