Holiday Inn Express & Suites Florida City-Gateway To Keys by IHG — Hotel in Florida City

First, this property is not as bad as some of the previous reviews would have you believe. While the property is very dated, it was fairly clean throughout. The best thing this location has going for it is the location. It is right on US 1 heading down to the Keys, and is only about 20-30 minutes from Key Largo. It's also a great launch point for several tours of the Everglades, and there are plenty of restaurants and retail establishments nearby. First impression of the property was not great, as the road sign was not illuminated and had graffiti present (signs attached to building were illuminated). However, the parking lot and lobby area were clean and spacious. Other exterior doors had a sign saying "Door Closed" on them, leaving guests the option of only entering through the front lobby or the pool area with a keycard. While the room was extremely dated, it was large and clean. Breakfast was extremely limited (blamed on COVID, but I checked, and other hotels in the area have resumed breakfast service or have expanded options). However, the provided microwaveable breakfast sandwich was quite good, with quality branded accompanying yogurt and muffin. This is a sticking point with me, because continued suspension of breakfast service seems to be more related to staffing challenges and cost-cutting than COVID. However, I could be wrong, and perhaps the hotel is being overly cautious for the sake of their employees. Probably the biggest annoyance I faced was not having nearly enough towels and washcloths. Only three towels and two washcloths were provided during a two night stay for two people (none were replaced by housekeeping). The front desk staff did provide more when asked, but that seemed to be quite an oversight of guest comfort and convenience. The room keys were also somehow deprogrammed a couple of times after previously working, leaving us to go to the front desk after a long day to get them fixed. Shout out to the staff for verifying who I was before reprogramming them for safety reasons though, which was much appreciated. The air conditioning unit was quite loud, and its constant on/off operation did make it a little hard to sleep. The staff that I encountered were all pleasant and did what they could to honor my requests. I am very loyal to the IHG brands, and usually stay at Holiday Inn Express locations. Overall, as stated, the physical location as the "Gateway to the Florida Keys" was awesome. The dated condition of the hotel and the customer service oversights mentioned previously just led to an experience that was simply not what I am used to from staying at other Holiday Inn Express properties. This could be such a nice property with a little effort, but I cannot recommend it to fellow travelers in its...

All in all, our stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Florida City was quite underwhelming.

Having picked this property over another because the other one's pool was closed due to renovation, it was quite annoying to see that the pool hours were restricted due to COVID. This restriction was neither mentioned on the website, nor upon check-in. Even when going to the pool, you first only see the regular sign with the regular hours. Only at the immediate door to the pool, after a corner, there is a paper sign with the updated hours - resulting in us having to change back after having gotten ready for an evening swim to not break the rules. Apparently those rules were not strictly enforced however, as we encountered some teenagers coming back from the pool area in wet clothes sometimes later that night.

Speaking of signs with excuses: in the breakfast area, there is a sign apologizing for not offering hot food items due to a broken oven. Single-use plastic cutlery, cups and paper plates are a disgrace, especially while offering 500 IHG points in exchanged for skipping housekeeping advertised as "for the environment".

The worst thing was: holding the IHG One Rewards highest status, Diamond, we would have expected to get the advertised 2pm late check-out. Having reconfirmed that with front desk on day before departure (and getting our keycards recoded), we were quite shocked to be called on the day of check-out shortly after 11am asking us why we had not checked out yet, and that there was no late checkout noted in the system, and that they would generally never guarantee late check-outs earlier than on the day of departure, depending on the mood, eh capacity, of housekeeping. Note: on our check-out day, the parking lot was almost empty and there was hardly anybody at breakfast. Nevertheless, we quickly had to pack our stuff and leave, almost feeling like being thrown out. We were credited 500 IHG points (worth about $2.50) as an apology after my thorough complaint about this, seeming like a slap in the face in relation to a $245 stay.

The kingsize bed was very comfortable, the amenities like sofa, mini-fridge and microwave oven were quite handy, however without sunlight the room was a dark hole and we noticed a forgotten softdrink lid and hairclip by the nightstands on each side of the bed, not giving the best impression on cleanliness. Apart from that, the room and bathroom seemed clean. The sink's drain pipe was kind of clogged, resulting in slow flow. Dove products were offered in large dispensers (shower gel, shampoo and conditioner).

The staff was not very enthusiastic and most of the time not even visibly present.

Next time, we would rather stay at one of the many competing...

I’m so sadden to let you guys know that my stay at the holiday Inn has been a nightmare. My family and I are in extricating pain after the treatment we received at the hotel. My family was being targeted and was a victim of discrimination and abuse. Due to the severity of the situation I am not going to discuss the in-depth details but just know a MULTI MILLION LAWSUIT will follow. This is the only way my children voice will be heard. As you going to see my the video evidence I am crush and traumatized from the incident. The manger Maria and the General Manger is who targeted me and was wrong. I explained to him that not all BLACK PEOPLE are the same. I asked him do you think I’m a slave and he answered. Well if you think your a slave then so be it. This is the level of customer service I had to deal with, the inhumane treatment of my family. The General Manager inability to treat all guests at the hotel with the same level of respect, not just the white ones. Never in my life I have seen a man celebrating throwing out a family on the street and feels that a great representation of the company.My children are disabled I really don’t know how to explain or break down what happened to them in a positive way. My children has autism’s and is our therapy dog is what they use for comfort.There’s no signs posted anywhere in the hotel that they refused dogs. BLACK GUESTS please be very aware that your going to be targeted while staying here. The Manager is Racist and my children and I cannot wait for our day in court. We too should have a day where our voices are going to be heard. I want to know if all the protocols for what happened to my family are the same for a white family. BLACK GUESTS BE VERY AWARE.Mine you I must have asked MARIA for him so many times to resolve the issue and she refused. Now as a franchise I hope that all guest of every skin color when asked for the general manager get told NO also. Get belittled and embarrassed in-front of other guests while he refused to come out. I asked Maria over and over again for a General Manager and I was told “ I am the general Manager” only question is do white guest get the same treatment. I can’t get over this, due to my congestive heart failure it has taken a toll on me. I’m inside my car on the streets right now with my children because he rob our entire stay and throw us on the street maliciously. I’m going to seek a therapist after this so she can explain after so much trauma to hey caused. Please God let me have my...