Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbia-I-26 @ Harbison Blvd by IHG — Hotel in Columbia

When we arrived at the hotel, our first impression was great! It appeared modern and clean, and the desk staff was friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, there were several problematic details that detracted from a great stay. When we opened the door to our room, we were greeted with a puddle of liquid (water?) on the floor just inside the door, in front of the bathroom door. We immediately called the front desk, and were moved to another room with an apology for the inconvenience.

Going in to our new room, our first impression was great! The room was spacious and modern, and appeared clean. The furnishings were quite nice and the room was well-decorated. We later discovered the bed was comfortable, and the room itself appeared clean and comfortable.

The bathroom, however, had a few minor problems that detracted from our first impression. There was a chip of what appeared to be tile or brick laying on the floor. We could not located where it might have come from, but clearly housekeeping missed an obvious problem here. Had we stepped on it, it was sharp enough that we might have ended up with a foot injury. The safety hand rail was loose at the bottom. Had we grabbed at it for support, I am afraid it might not have held. There was a ledge where the baseboard in the bathroom meets the wall, and that ledge was very dirty, appearing not to have been cleaned for some time.

The door from the hallway into our room did not fit properly. When I tried to use the dead bolt to lock the door for the night, it would not engage. I had to lift on the door handle with considerable pressure to allow the dead bolt to engage into the latch.

Breakfast was a bit disappointing. There were no fruit juices available, which seemed strange to me. There was a fruit vending machine, but it was not operational. I am not sure if this is something to do with COVID or not, but it was disappointing, especially since hot beverages could be readily obtained from machines in a fashion similar to what one would use with the fruit juice machine.

The second day we were there, the person doing the breakfast was clearly not well-organized. She ran out of eggs, biscuits, milk and yogurt, about an hour before breakfast was over, and we had to wait about 10-15 minutes for her to re-supply these so we could eat. We had our daughter waiting on us at her apartment so the delay caused her to have to wait as well.

Having said all this, our over-all impression was still a positive one. The issues we experienced were not major problems, and I would not hesitate to stay there again.

In terms of value for the price paid, I suspect we could have had better accommodations for a similar price by staying at a hotel offering suites, but the value was not that bad, and we really wished to stay in that particular area since it is close to where our daughter...

I reserved 2 rooms on Monday and I requested for the rooms to be joining rooms. I was told since I'm a IHG member that I would get priority. I called the Site on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and asked to make sure I got joining rooms and I was once again told my membership makes me priority. I asked if I needed to come early or do you rather me wait till 3. I was told that didn't matter again I'm a member. When I got there the front desk Anthony and Antonio who I later found was the assistant general manager, said to me that it is a first come first serve basis. So I asked him do I not get anything for being a member and he told me that they used to give some snacks out for due to Covid they do not do that anymore. I am looking at the 20 ounce of soda behind him and chips? That was advertised as Rewards for IHG member. I felt this man was sexist and treating me different because I was a woman. He was not apologetic and he ignored me. I asked him again about my joining rooms and he continued to process me in the system. I asked to speak to his manager and he said they were not there. So I took the General Manager's card. When I got in my room I called the general manager which led me right to the front desk and I asked the girl who picked up to please transfer me to K. Perry. Anthony answers and says he is the assistant general manager. Still did not apologize to me, I told him that I don't want to talk to you I want to talk to the general manager. So he said okay, after a long pause he hung up on me. I called him and he said he hung up because he thought I was done. This spiteful behavior is not customer service. He didn't even apologize for hanging up the phone. I emailed the General Manager right after that call on Saturday and here it is Wednesday and she has not responded. I called Aloft the sister hotel next door and asked them to give me the regional managers email. I would not recommend this hotel at this time until management gets coached on this behavior and I still don't know if that will have me coming back. Not to mention the Breakfast was frozen fully cooked sausages that tasted like they were microwaved and the French toast as well. The breakfast quality was horrible. The kitchen ladies were very nice and Kim the housekeeper was very nice. She was the only one who was apologetic. The Asst. Gen. Mgr. and Gen. Manager can take some lessons from Kim. So basically at this site IHG members does not mean anything at all, it's just a way the hotel track your information about you.

FYI - they stated they have been in contact regarding my stay. That’s not true. Manager should be fired for falsifying. I have witnessed. 3 years later. Nothing. I called the regional manager and left voicemails. Please stop lying to...

Positives:|* Fairly fast check in.|* Easy parking|* Bright lights everywhere in the room, which is great.|* Great amenities|* At check - out, recapped all issues experienced with the front desk staff, Abby, and she listened well, apologized and thanked my feedback. |* Quiet|* Good breakfast|* Reasonable pricing||Negatives:|* There was a rough conversation with the front desk staff, Alexa, during check in about IHG membership, reward points, and booking through the third party. Alexa misunderstood my point, got impatient, and false accused me for being uncooperative. She also provided complete opposite information on how reward points are awarded than other IHG properties. I had to repeat to make my point clear. With this conversation going nowhere, I decided to drop it and take it directly to IHG corporate. Alexa's unable to pick up key points, answer questions, and kept on circling on wrong issue provided no help. |* Room key did not work so had to returned to the lobby to get it re-keyed. She said the key was activated, which I did not think so since I tried multiple times to open it and couldn't. She said if the door room was locked again, please call and she would come up to help. I told her it would be embarrassing to their hotel if I have to come downstairs the third time to get the key to work. Thankfully, it did not happen. She activated the key and it worked. |* There was plastic trash cluttered on the hallway near my assigned room. |* There was a hair on the fitted sheet and on the sink. The landline did not work, the window can't be locked. |* The room can be locked but hard to lock from inside.|* The bathroom vent was not working||Other comments:|* The hot shower temperature was excellent but out of control where it went from hot to extremely hot (burning) sporadically as if the shower temperature control has stopped working. |* The shower pressure was very strong with huge shower head that could not be turned smaller.|You can have a great hot shower, but out of control, and waste lots of water because excessive water coming from its extra-large shower head. |OK for one night, but if long term stay, both shower control and shower head may need to be changed in order for both to work more smoothly. ||Had the hotel made bedding sheets and bathroom clean, and Alexa's answering the membership point question more effectively, this hotel would have earned a 5 out of 5. ||The hotel needs to work on better understanding of its membership reward points and how...