Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport by IHG — Hotel in Erlanger

I'm a flight attendant and this is a hotel I've stayed at several times before and always get mixed up with other hotels because of the layout. There's several hotels like this our company sends us too. It's a standard layout, but a bit more upscale with a fountain in the lobby and a pool and gym on the long walk to the rooms.

So... Anyway... I'm pretty lax when it comes to rating hotels... All I usually want is a nice room with stuff in walking distance. I didn't go outside this trip, so I can't comment on what's nearby. I did ubereats instead and walked to the lobby to get to my food, which is a long walk. They closed the hot tub, which I think sucks... It was one of the things I originally liked about this hotel. I got a good room on the end, but when I did my stretches in the morning, I realized there was a lot of little bits in the carpet (tiny tiny bits you had to be close up to to see), which kinda grossed me out. I don't know if it's just cause it was a crew room or if all the rooms are like that. Many of the hotels we go to, they often do a fast basic cleaning for us and leave us the bare minimum of supplies. This one did as well.

So why four stars? It's a nice hotel, but the carpet and the hot tub were my big bummers ... Which I can deal with. The reason they lost the star is their customer service. We left early in the morning and the one waitress they had was slammed and rude because of it. I tried to just ask her a question and she wouldn't stop to let me do so. She would just stare at me expectantly as she walked by and I had to spit it out quick. Then she'd answer me when she came back. I gave up on breakfast and went to the front desk. They give vouchers for breakfast for some of the guests... Including crews. I asked if instead of breakfast, did they have any grab N go items I could just take with me instead. The front desk staff were kind of rude with their answer to me and immediately made me just think "forget it then... I just won't eat... And I will probably take this off my favorite list of hotels..."

I get it. I get why the hotels can be frustrated with the flight crews that come to their hotels... We can be a pain in the a##... But it's super annoying when staff treats us like we are all jerks before we open our mouths. I truly hope this is a one time thing with this hotel. We used to be at a different hotel in CVG, so I've been to this one before but never rated it. It's a nice hotel, but you may not love the service.

If the hotel is reading this, my recommendation is either put out a buffet everyday, or at least have some grab N go items we can trade our vouchers for. I would have been thrilled with just a bottle of mocha Frappuccino... Maybe a banana. It would save you guys time and money and at least make the crews happier...and out of your hair. And relieve your poor...

I am a Platinum Elite IHG member 284654432.

Our stay at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport was horrible. If the stay had occurred at my first stay an IHG facility I would not be a Platinum Elite member.

Shortly, after check in on Friday, July 14, 2023 my wife stopped at the front desk and asked for towels and hair conditioner. She was told that housekeeping would deliver them to our room.

About 5 or 6 hours afterwards, no towels or hair conditioner had been delivered. I went down to the front desk and requested the towels and hair conditioner, was told housekeeping would deliverer them. I refused to leave the front desk until I was given the towels and hair conditioner. I was given the towels and conditioner in less than a minute. The towels and conditioner were housed in the room immediately next to the check in customer service. It raised the question, why was my wife not given the towels and hair conditioner?

The next morning, my wife and I went for breakfast and were told that it was not provided in a room stay. We left the restaurant and went to front desk and asked the woman if my status as Platinum Elite IHG member covered out breakfast, she looked our information up and said and I paraphrase. "You are not staying at a Holiday Inn Express and you don't qualify for free breakfasts. We offer a full breakfast that you must pay for since you used "points" to book your room. It was not what she said, but how she said it. We went back to the restaurant and attempted to order something other than the buffet they were severing, after all we were told it was a full-service restaurant. We were told that the buffet was the thing we could order. This time the message was delivered politely. We left the restaurant and ate elsewhere.

Later that evening we returned to the hotel between 10:00 and 11:00 PM. The previous day we had seen the note on the side entrance doors that read, "Access After 8:00 PM is through main lobby." We knew other doors farther way was key operated; however, we didn't check if the door with the sign had key access. I had stayed in Atlanta (not an IGH) hotel for a conference, two people were killed outside the hotel. Needless to say, my wife and I talked about the safety conferred by the hotel's 8:00 PM locked door policy. Much to my surprise when we went to the signed door, thinking we would have to use our key, we found that the door wasn't locked. Anyone could walk into the hotel, false safety.

I previously live in a Cincinnati satellite community and have lots of friends who still live there, when I or we return to Cincinnati will not stay at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati...

Pro: They were able to fit me in on a Saturday evening after my flight as canceled. Con: EVERYTHING ELSE!

Shuttle experience: I waited outside with a mother and her child for 45 minutes until the shuttle came back. The shuttle guy purposely LEFT this woman and her child to come back and get them and didn't come back until I called. That should have been the first sign of my terrible evening, but I was tired and needed a few hours of sleep. The shuttle guy complained about how many bags this woman had as I stood there, very unprofessional.

Skipping to the hotel Check-In: I checked in with a very not so welcoming staff member who could care less about anything. He said 3 not even complete sentences to me which was " name" and " insert credit card" " room 512". I said " thank you" and went on my way to find the elevators.

Hotel: I had a difficult time trying to find the elevators, I don't know if I missed the signs but the elevators were nowhere to be seen. As I walked through the hotel, it was very dirty. Floors, dirty empty cups laying around, food packages just sitting on the floor.

Room: I go in, drop bags off, head to the shower. The shower could have been much cleaner, but I'm not being too picky right now. I go to lay in bed, pull the blanket, CRUMBS, all over. So, I realized they didn't at all clean the room I was in. I couldn't sleep in a dirty bed, so I called down to the staff where he said " okay". I said " okay, what".. " come get a key"...

Front desk again: Again, " room 535", hands me the key. No apology, nothing. Just, absolutely NOTHING!

Room 535: Bed was clean. Slept. Went to shower and there was an ungodly smell coming from the shower curtain OR the drain. So I skipped the shower as to not get sick.

Checkout: The lady that morning was very nice and said she wasn't surprised the room wasn't clean because all of their staff had quit. There was a fight that broke out that evening and the cops were called. It was just a bad night. But checkout was fine.

Coffee Bar: Didn't have any, they didn't have any creamer.

Shuttle guy 2: Much better than Shuttle guy 1.

Conclusion: go somewhere else if you want a more pleasant experience. Go here if you want a dirty bed and...