Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbia-Fort Jackson by IHG — Hotel in Columbia

I made reservations through the IHG app on my phone. I was able to book the room for points + cash. I was able to check in early on my phone the day of arrival. I checked in with the staff at the counter. Was told there was a 3 dollar parking fee (there was no mention of a parking fee on the website) and a 50 dollar deposit for incidentals ( there was no mention of an "incidentals fee" on the website) and that the 50 dollars would be refunded at the end of the stay. I was given my key and a small bag with two cookies and a bottle of water.

They have small baggage carts avaliable. They are the kind you find at an airport or train station. It was capable of carrying a large suitcase and a rolling laptop bag.

Immediately upon walking into the room I noticed how spacious it was. There was also a handrail next to the bed to prevent falling into the additional living space which I personally think is a great idea. This room is not ideal for people with a wheelchair or mobility issues. There is an 8 inch step from the bed area to the living space. The living space although spacious and furnished felt very "empty".

I stayed in a King Size Bed w/ Added Living Space. It consisted of a King Sized bed, a microwave, coffee machine, mini refrigerator and flat screen TV mounted to the wall across from the bed. The additional living space included a small desk with computer chair, a couch that can be folded out and used as an extra bed, a coffee table, and a small chair with a lapdesk/side table.

The bed was absolutely hard to sleep on. It was not supportive and you could hear the busted springs as you climbed into bed. It was like sleeping in a hammock. The bed also got extremely hot and I woke up sweating several times throughout the night. I had to sleep on the couch bed.

The floors are all hard flooring except for the space immediately around the bed, which is carpeted. The area behind and under the bed was extremely dirty and disgusting. I personally love when hotel rooms are hard flooring as apposed to carpeted. It feels more clean.

The bathroom was clean and stocked and the water was hot that evening (in a good way) but there was no hot water at 0830 AM. Hotels no longer handout small bottles of soap or lotion. They are now locked and mounted to the wall. The location of the hand soap and lotion for the bathroom sink was mounted between the GFI power outlet and light switch. It was in a very precocious location. I would suggest moving it from there. The body wash, conditioner, and shampoo were not locked or mounted to the wall in the shower. I am completely fine with using mounted and locked bottles. It saves money and plastic and is ultimately good for the environment. I am not okay with them stacked up in the back of the tub, unsecured.

I personally like my room very cold even in the winter. Even with me turning the Thermostat down to 67 the overall room temperature never went passed 71. This may not be a big deal but the issue was the AC was running all night and the temperature never changed.

I left to see Theo Von "Return of the Rat Tour". The hotel was close enough to the venue to get there on time but far away enough to avoid traffic coming back. It took 15 minutes to get to the Colonial Life Center.

Upon my return, I noticed that the parking lot was well lit. It has one of the brighter parking lots of all the hotels in the area.

I had dinner at 1130 PM at the Waffle House that is connected to the hotel parking lot. You can walk there from right outside the front lobby.

The hotel was relatively quiet throughout the night.

In the morning I found a stinkbug on the ceiling.

If you want breakfast make sure you get to the lobby early because they do not restock items after a certain time. Breakfast is from 0630AM to 0930AM

Overall it was a little...

A value hotel, but not a particularly good one.

We typically choose 2 star hotels (usually a Hilton brand) so we have tempered expectations when it comes to hotel amenities.

The good: It is located right off of 95, so super convenient when traveling north/south. Beds were very comfy. The a/c vent is a bit loud, but works well if you like some white noise when you sleep. Sheets appeared and felt clean. Front desk service was courteous and quick. The 2-bed and 2-bunk bed suite was spacious and had a useful layout with a toilet water closet separate from the sink AND from the shower. The mini fridge was cold, but did not have a freezer compartment.

The not so good: The pool was out of order due to needing maintenance. Judging from recent reviews, this is likely related to a prior guest issue. The 3rd floor hallway smelled like cigar smoke (building is supposed to be smoke free) and the a/c didn't seem to be working in the hallways as they were hot and stuffy. The floors were dirty and clearly needed to be vacuumed. Our room carpeting was stained and the hard floor was super dirty which was discovered when we spilled some water on the room floor from our cooler and used a towel to clean it up (see pic*). The couch cushions were also stained and had stuff on them. Despite having a reservation for 5 people, our room did not have bed linens or towels for all 5 people and we had to go back down to the front desk to ask for them (the phone had all the usual shortcut buttons removed and there was no obvious way to call the front desk). The front desk was very quick at providing these items and apologizing for their absence. But after getting in late and needing to get up early the next day, the last thing I wanted to do was to make up 2 beds for my kids. The water pressure was very good, but this meant that the water in the toilet splashed back on you when flushing. The toilet paper holder appeared to be glued to the wall - not a problem, but unsightly. The shower was a walk in style, but the shower curtain hung about 2-3 inches above the basin lip which meant that water got all over the floor when it was used creating a significant potential slippage problem. The shower head itself was also difficult to position in a way to be helpful as the holder was loose meaning that it could be positioned completely upright or parallel to the floor. There was also no ledge, inset, or shelf for shower items or to assist with shaving. There are also no fans in the water closet or in the shower room resulting in the paint peeling in both areas and mildew in the shower.

The breakfast was just passable. The juices were watered down and the hot foods under seasoned. The pancake machine was not set up for use. In the 45+ minutes that we were eating breakfast (omelets, powdered eggs, roasted potatoes, cinnamon rolls, cereal) no one checked on food levels or replaced food. The food was in warmers, but it is unknown how long it was sitting out. We did not have an issue with expired milk or other items, like others had.

Overall: The hotel was dinged up, run down, and overall disappointing. I would rather spend a little bit more for a better place to stay. We won't be back and I will think twice before staying at a...

• Nice lady checked us in early 2pm-ish on Christmas Day 2023. Everything was closed and very little traffic, so we arrived earlier than expected. • No extras for being a rewards member. There was a sticker on the room pass saying Thank you. • We stayed in 2 queen and bunk bedroom with pull out couch. Room 412. • Bunk beds where is a small alcove area which almost looked like a large walk-in closet. It had a light and small table but that was it. The under bunk had very low clearance and if you weren’t careful, you could bang your head when sitting up. • There is a separate room for toilet and shower and sink is hallway in between. • Shower and sink had amazing water pressure, a nice change from the last 3 Holiday Inn Express & suites we stayed at on this road trip. If anything it might have been just a little too much pressure. The shower was also a walk in and not a tub. It was nice but we had a couple water leaks when kids didn’t put shower curtain in right place. Also notice there was a lack of counter space inside the shower which didn’t help based on the limited number of towel racks and hooks for a room designed for up to 8 people. • Giant window lets in lots of light, but it was rainy and the view out the window is other hotels, parking lots and waffle house. Highway is off in the distance. Still enjoyed it though. • There are 2 large TVs but basically sitting in same room so the audio is constantly fighting with one another. • Having the larger area was nice for kids to “run around” a bit or at least spread out. • Kids did mention that there were A LOT of light switches. It seemed we were constantly trying to figure out which switch turned on which light. • HVAC vents near window were shooting out weird black sooty/carbon looking stuff. I’m thinking a charcoal filter that has been past it’s lifetime. I noticed it first when we arrived and I thought it was just lint or something with 2 black spots on the pillow. I went to sleep that night and woke up in the morning and noticed 3 new black pieces on my pillow which I tried to brush away and it smeared on the pillow. I couldn’t go back to sleep at that point but it was like 5AM anyways. I then noticed on the floor next to the bed was littered with a dozen of these little black pieces too. Pics included in review. We did let the front desk know in the morning as we checked out. The lady was apologetic and said they would’ve switched our room had we let them know. I didn’t know until 5AM the next morning and I was not going to wake everyone up and move rooms then. They did take a note and said they would send maintenance there right away to check it out. • The fitness room was much larger than usual, but we didn’t really use it. The kids did spend a significant amount of time in the pool and enjoyed it. Pictures of both are attached to my review. • Overall, a great stay even with the weird HVAC issues and we’d stayed again if we were passing through. We might opt for a smaller room to save on cost in the future but it just seemed interesting to stay in the giant room. Only thing missing from it would be like a kitchen with...