Holiday Inn & Suites Duluth-Downtown by IHG — Hotel in Duluth

We stayed at this Holiday Inn Express on 11/30-12/1/24. I must say this has to be one of the most poorly managed Holiday Inns I have ever stayed at, and I spend over 100 days a year on average at Holiday Inns.

I had 3 rooms for that evening. I called a few days prior to see about an early check in being an IHG member, and I was told it was possible and to call the morning of our check in. I did call that morning since we had a 4 hour drive, and were travelling with babies to make sure we could get an early check in. I was told we should be able to check in around 2 PM. Being a frequent hotel hopper we left an additional hour later to arrive at 3 PM to give that buffer from what I was told since again we were traveling with babies. When I arrived to the hotel there were about 20 individuals in the lobby. I went up to the counter and asked to check in, and was told our rooms were not ready, and they would be ready closer to 4 PM. As I mentioned I travel a lot for work so I told my family to wait right by the front desk so we could be the first to get checked in. Waiting at the front desk I listened as more and more people came to check in. Those who weren’t IHG members were told they are only checking in IHG members at this time. Those that were IHG members were told their rooms weren’t ready yet. In between guests as the lobby started to fill up to over 100 people. I could hear the front desk workers talking amongst themselves about how they weren’t going to check in anyone prior to 4 PM. When 4 PM arrived, the lobby was completely full well over 100 people. I was the first to check in. With the large amount of people waiting the front desk staff were completely overwhelmed I was never given a parking pass, and I asked if the shuttle was going down to Bentleyville which they said yes just call down, and we will get you a shuttle. When we got to our rooms I tried calling multiple times however each time someone answered I was told, “please hold” and didn’t even get a chance to talk before I was put on hold because the front desk was so overloaded with check ins. This led to us finally just driving down there. Getting charged for parking since we didn’t get our parking pass. Additionally, we had to pay for parking at Bentleyville. When we returned to the hotel. The lobby was still full of people being checked in, so had we not arrived early we wouldn’t have even made it to Bentleyville. We decided to go swimming, and I had to call down since there were no towels available, and the pool area was packed with people. They brought a hand full of towels, and they were gone in an instance so we just walked back to the rooms soaking the carpet as we went since it took 45 minutes for the first set of towels to arrive. The next morning before checking out we returned to the kiddy pool area at 9 AM (opens at 8 AM). Again, I had to call for towels since there were none in the pool area. The front desk said they just finished drying them. You would think if the pool area opens at 8 AM you would have towels ready that’s something you can plan out every day. That morning I also had to wait for a long time at the front desk to get the parking pass, and parking charges credited back since only one person knows how to do that apparently. I spent a large portion of our time at this hotel undoing the logistical dumpster fire that was caused by filling up a whole lobby full of guests, instead of checking them in allowing departments to keep up with the flow of the demand.

I told the front desk what makes me the most frustrated is I called ahead, I did my part. Knowing that we had a 4-hour drive with babies, and I was given assurances. If you had no intention of upholding early check in privileges of IHG members at your hotel tell me that up front. I can plan around that, but don’t lie to my face telling me I can check in early. Lie to the 100 people waiting in the lobby. Then waste my time, and leave me standing in a lobby with crying babies. That is completely unprofessional, in poor form, and...

I'm going to share my experience at the Holiday Inn & Suites downtown Duluth here on Google maps because I'm sure they're not going to share it on their site, I was so disappointed at this location. All aspects, safety, communication, the cleanliness of the room and the location. Before I booked my room with points I called the front desk. I think I talked to somebody named Ginny. I could be wrong but I think so. I told her that I wanted a top floor quiet room. Before we ended our conversation she said she had assigned me quiet room on the 16th floor which was the top floor. When I went to check in I was told my room wasn't ready so I asked for a key to the laundry room. I might as well do something productive while I was waiting. The laundry room was a blistering temperature of 83. I tried to set the thermostat but it was already set at 66, so I went to the front desk to ask for maintenance to come to the laundry room to check on the AC. I asked three times to no avail. While at the front desk on the first or second occasion there was commotion in the hallway next to the lobby. There was a half naked possibly Street person that had been maced by the police and was screaming and swearing. I thought to myself. What kind of hotel did I book? After 4:00 I went back to the front desk. The shift had changed and I was told that there were no rooms on the 16th floor that were made up and that the maid staff had gone for the day. They had a room on the 10th floor so I checked into this room. The AC was not working. The door would not lock properly and it was not a quiet room. The pool was below with screaming kids and overpowering smell of chlorine. The front desk sent maintenance to the room to check on the AC and he went down and told him that they needed to put me in a different room, because he couldn't fix the AC. They gave me a room on the 15th floor with ice cold air but not the cleanest room, there were crumbs on the desk when I pulled it out, there was Gunk on the shower spigot which I cleaned off and gunk in the corner, it was like they had never cleaned the bathroom properly, but I took some wet wipes and cleaned up everything. The window sills, the desk, the sink the tub. I do not recommend staying at this hotel because of the attitude of the employees, the cleanliness, the location and obviously they have some maintenance problems and while I was changing rooms I did run into a maid with her cart cleaning a room....

I know reviews are typically dominated by the delighted and the enraged, so I'd like to express that this was not the single worst experience of my life. It was, however, entirely disappointing. Earlier this year, I stayed at this same hotel and had a pleasant experience. Staff was friendly and helpful. My room was recently renovated and we had a great view of the lake. Perhaps this lead me to believe my most recent stay would follow suit. I was sorely mistaken.

When we arrived Friday night, the woman working the front desk seemed distant and rushed. Our room was on the 8th floor, which we quickly found out was the floor with the pool on it. We discovered this from the strong chlorine smell that became apparent the second the elevator doors opened. We also had the less-than-ideal reminder that the pool was nearby from the constant noise of children and other guests that we heard as early as 7:00 am and as late as midnight. I understand the hotel cannot control the actions of other guests - but they can avoid placing guests in such high-traffic areas. The walls, being paper thin, didn't help the situation at all either. A room on the same floor as the pool also meant extended wait times for elevators on our floor given the amount of traffic.

The room was severely dated. A large banner in the lobby advertises the "tastefully improved" guest rooms, but apparently that project overlooked room 820. The bed was nothing special, though the pillows were comfortable. Housekeeping did very nicely as well, replenishing toiletries and towels daily.

All in all, I expected more out of my stay. This shifted Holiday Inn locations from being a safe, no-brainer option, to something I will strongly reconsider...