Holiday Inn Express Columbia by IHG — Hotel in Columbia

I booked this hotel for a contractor of ours, that was going to be in the area doing some work, for us.

Once she got there the staff at check in was less than friendly and acted as if they didn't want to be there. I get everyone has bad days, but it was still frustrating for her.

Her key card did not work so she had to go back downstairs and have them make another one. At this point I was called because she decided that she would need an additional night. I said it shouldn't be any problem and I would call the hotel to extend the stay by a day since it was under my company credit card.

In the span of over 2hrs I attempted to call the hotel close to 15 times. The phone never rang, and it continued to just do a busy signal. Like it was off the hook. I had my contractor attempt to call down and they weren't picking up calls from the rooms either.

She wouldn't be at the hotel the next day from early in the morning until she returned at night around 10:30pm, so I knew this needed to be taken care of so it wouldn't be an issue for her. SO I decided in the end to go ahead and book another room with her name, but I still wanted to get ahold of them so they could hopefully keep her in the same room (I booked the exact same style). I called in the morning and the phone was still doing the same thing.

SO I ended up calling Holiday Inn reservation # to see if they could note something on their end that the hotel would see and they couldn't do anything. They said my contractor would need to speak to the front desk. I said she'll be out the rest of the day so I'm trying to handle it for her.

They attempted calling the hotel and they couldn't get through either. SO then I was giving the customer service phone number. I called them and they couldn't do anything to help me either. It was incredibly frustrating that NO ONE could get a hold of this hotel.

I ended up digging around and found an email address for the hotel and emailed them about the situation and finally got a reply back about 4hrs later stating that they have my contractor marked for an additional evening and added her name.

So, it worked out, but the hassle was ridiculous. Also, my contractor received a wakeup call the next morning that she never requested. Which ruined the rest of her sleep.

It was just a really poor experience and unfortunate because we have contractors going to that area 2-3 times a year.

I will not send anyone back here and will look for another hotel...

My review will be based on a weighted average of our time there along with a final week that left a small sour moment...

We travel aprox 200 nights per year and hotel stay's vary pending the city/facility. This hotel appears to be a recently renovated or relatively new H.Inn Express and thus had the normal expected amenities... The bathroom was well stocked, had an especially pleasant smelling soap along with the normal Shampoo/creme rinse, etc. Upon request, a small tube of toothpaste was produced and any other basic item left at home could be found at the desk.

Receiving two drink coupons per visit was a very nice touch...

Initial arrival we were met by efficient staff and each morning we found the person responsible for the breakfast area to be most attentive. The food was average; only lacking a couple days in our stay. Occasionally the English muffins would be stale or the banana's a couple days beyond their prime, but otherwise it was filling and well stocked. They also seemed to handle the rush well if an excess of people came at once; not a common experience in every hotel.

The beds were very comfortable, the rooms were quiet, the air worked flawlessly and most of the guests seemed well mannered. In 6 weeks we only had one opportunity to run into anyone lacking in social graces.... good averages in my personal experience.

The only negative was during our last week. Somehow I'd managed to cancel my reservation for that week - it had been booked in advance. We were coming off 5 previous weeks there [staying as part of work trip] and were charged 25.00 more for one night since we'd failed to register in advance. We were able to check out/re-check in staying the balance of the week at our previous rate.

I found that to be not only exorbitant [an additional 60.00 or so for two rooms] but given our previous consecutive stays inexcusable. No loyalty for someone who filled a space previous weeks in a row in multiple rooms? I'm majoring on the minor here, but that definitely dampened an otherwise positive series of visits.

Summation: We slept well, had a reasonable/regular breakfast and enjoyed no noisy neighbors to interrupt our sleep on any floor - no bugs. Everyone seemed to go to bed at a good hour and behave well in-between. Something not always consistent regardless of what you pay...

I stay at Holiday Inn Express Hotels in different cities each week for my job and this location is the worst in the country. It is under construction (not advertised when I booked) and the rooms are not furnished or livable. I booked a suite because I work long days and I usually do not eat out. When I got into my room there was minimal furniture: a bed and a run down couch (literally, I sat about a foot off the ground on this couch). I walked right out and went to front desk and stated my room was unacceptable and was told they were sold out and no other room was available in the hotel. I even called the Gold Rewards Club number and the next closest Holiday Inn was located in Springfield, which would have made my drive to my place of work over an hour. I had no choice but to stay here (my room was prepaid.)

The rooms are noisy and poorly insulated. I could hear freeway noise all night (I had to wear ear plugs all night) and the room next to me had the TV on until around 4:00 am. The bed was so high, I had to buy a step stool to get into the bed. The microwave was new and I had to unpack-age the unit and assemble it. The refrigerator was new and I had to unwrap it and turn it on. The room was so poorly lit I had to use my phone flashlight when I sat on the only place to sit, the couch. The TV did not work for 2 days.

I tried to talk personally to the manager, however, I needed to be at work at 7:30 am and I did not get back to the hotel until 5:30 pm. She was available only after 9:00 am and left before 4:00 pm. The manager did call me on my cell phone while I was working and on the second day, she did get me a table and chairs so I can eat in "my suite" and told me that the room was furnished as it should be furnished (which did not correlate to the picture of the suite on the web site).

Needless to say I did not get much sleep. My stay affected my performance on my job. I should have never been charged for this room the price I paid. I was totally dissatisfied with my stay at this location.

I would not recommend staying at this hotel. There are three other hotels nearby and next time I am in Columbia, I will stay elsewhere.

The only positive comment I can make is the breakfast was good and the lady that served the breakfast was so sweet and kind to all...