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

I sent this e-mail directly to the hotel with no response - as such I'm going to share it here in hopes that at least someone will see it, and perhaps future visitors will at least have an awareness that while there are many 5/5 ratings when it doesn't go right you can expect little support along the way...

-We arrived on Friday after a drive from Sioux Falls to the hotel, I believe we got in around 4:30PM in the afternoon. The front desk staff was busy but the impression I got was generally they were preoccupied with whatever else they were working on (three of them were present) rather than helping customers check-in.

-After getting to our room (#200) and settling, I noticed mold growing on the bathroom ceiling (picture attached for reference.)

-I brought the attached picture down to the front desk and was told by the first employee after sharing the picture and suggesting there was mold on the ceiling that “..There is no way that is mold I’m sure it’s just the paint is wore off but let me show my manager…”

-The manager who was working looked at the picture and I, assuming thinking outloud mentioned it was likely mold and probably “got missed” by housekeeping. I was told that there were no other rooms available similar to ours, and that house keeping was gone so there was really nothing to be done for Friday night and they would put a note on my room for tomorrow, end of conversation.

-I was frustrated at this point and just to make sure I went back to my room before leaving for dinner and confirmed that the ceiling was indeed not a “paint” problem by wiping off some of the mold, on our way to dinner I once again stopped by the front desk and confirmed it was not mold, one staff member acknowledged the issue with me and then at this point another front desk staff member interrupted rather abruptly to ask “If that dog is yours?” My trained and certified service dog (wearing her vest/collar/leash) was standing at my feet as she was going to be going to dinner with my family. I said she was at which time I got a “Well you didn’t tell us that.” I apologized and stated that she was my service dog at which point staff responded by saying ‘That’s fine but you still have to tell us I will make a note on your room.” This ended my entire interaction at the front desk at this point with a long awkward moment.

-I might make a suggestion that somewhere at your front desk you make it a little more obvious for those of us traveling with Service Dogs that you require us to notify you at check-in. I have NO problem sharing that I have her with me but by and large most of the places that she travels with me we never have any discussion about her presence.

Sometime on Saturday morning (I assume) staff had entered our room and wiped off the ceiling in the bathroom, while it was much better there remained mold in some of the corners of the shower where the ceiling and wall met however I wasn’t interested in bothering with this again at this point. IN addition while I appreciated that our room had been made up (beds made, etc.) our kids blankets and pillows that were on the beds when we left had been put onto the floor during room service and left there. I never heard anything back from staff about the room/cleaning/mold issue. No follow-up about the fact they took care of it, and no discussion that I paid $360 for a room Friday night that had mold...

Aside from the kindness of the front of the house kitchen crew (which is why a "2" instead of a "1", this place is pretty horrible. Upon check-in we were greeting by a young man in hoodie and a baseball hat (okay...very relaxed place and off-season, we get it, but a little professionalism would probably be good for a name brand establishment). We were given a room on the first floor (when an upper floor had been requested) even though we arrived right at check-in and there were a LOT of other rooms that had not checked in yet and we could have easily been reassigned a different room. Then, we find that the room had been poorly cleaned (chips in the drawers, the pull-out sofa completely disgusting with more chips, Cheez-its, trash in it). Go to run a bath for our daughter and the water is lukewarm at best. Tried showering again in the morning and didn't even get the lukewarmth. Brought this to the attention of the front desk to be told that "if everyone is showering at the same time, there won't be much hot water as we only have 3 broilers". Are you serious??? So, everyone was all showering at the same time in the evening and then again in the morning. Ok...let's try 2pm...nope! Same issue. This was a completely inappropriate response to a complaint about not being able to take a hot (or even WARM) shower! He then proceeds to tell me, "I just got here, so I don't know". We had the two-room suite and one of the rooms had great heating/cooling (although had an awful noise when running), but the other "main" room only blew cold air - there was no heat. We had to rely on the other room and leaving that door open to get just a bit of that heat flowing into the room. We also had the awesome delight of listening to what sounded like cattle being herded to the field above us from about 6pm - 10pm and then waking up to it again starting around 6am. We knew there was no point in contacting the front desk about any other issues after bringing up the hot water and getting the response we did to that matter. Breakfast the first day was awful...found out later that there was no kitchen crew that day, so they were "winging it" according to an employee. There was minimal food to say the least. This hotel was apparently at capacity, and they had no proper kitchen staff cooking food. The next day was much better as they were properly staffed. Icing on the cake for this awful stay was when we were packing up to head out and we found a bed bug. Quickly put the blood sucker into a baggie and brought it to the front desk upon check-out only to have the agent look at it, set it down and proceed checking us out of the room. Didn't seem to faze him in the least bit. Well, it phased us. We felt disgusting the whole drive home and disrobed in our garage and promptly washed EVERYTHING in hot water and put our luggage in tight garbage bags 'til our next trip! Would NEVER stay here again nor recommend it to anyone who values bathing, cleanliness or decent...

This was our 4th stop on a family road trip. This was our main stop and stayed here for 3 nights total.

Cons- *The first front desk lady wasn't exactly polite, but more snippy -which I found odd.

This a a BIG complaint- we paid extra for a balcony with a view- that we couldn't use at all due to all the fumes! There are night lamps and a fire table that( I assume) are all fueled by propane- I can't say for certain what caused the fumes on our balcony that later also ended up in our room. We got headaches and asthma issues and my daughter had a mini panic attack when she walked into our room the fumes overwhelmed her and she wanted to call the fire department for the leak. We had spoken with the front desk once over this and they said they would have maintenance check it out we never heard back. He did say that there was something on the side of the building that could cause it - but we think it was table/lights. Maybe somebody didn't close a valve right or something??? I have no idea what caused it but it was a real issue.

View on the balcony overlooked the dumpster- not a big deal when it's emptied - but the first day it was full. Also didn't affect us due to the fumes that kept us from using it- but you may want to request a room that doesn't have a view of the dumpster.

Breakfast- oh my- there was always a bin not being used( never seen that at any other ihg) the food was always running out. On one day I think the breakfast bar attendant was working all alone on a very busy morning. Out of my 7 hotel stops this breakfast was by far the worst- not blaming the staff- she was working very hard the entire time!!!

Pros- *The room was extremely clean - great job done by housekeeping!!!!! We checked thoroughly and this was a very clean room.

There was always a luggage cart available and fresh coffee available. Both are much appreciated while taking a long road trip.

The location is perfect - we saw Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park and had an amazing dinner at Big Thunder Bar & Grill after taking a Gold Mine tour. So much to do within a 20-mile radius. You can beat the location.

Adding a side note here for anyone who is taking the time to read these reviews. I wish I had thoroughly read all the negative reviews on this hotel before I booked because after the fact looking through. I can see where general management never responds or makes any attempt to say they will try to fix or work on that. My breathing/asthma has affected the rest of my trip since we left this hotel. It would be nice to know that somebody is working on fumes that get into the...