Holiday Inn Express Horse Cave by IHG — Hotel in Glasgow

My experience here was below what I expected having stayed at numerous Holiday Inn Express hotels. For the positives, I would say that their breakfast was very good. I'm also a fan of the new coffee machines that they have at these hotel chains. Customer service was kind. For the negatives, my first impressions was that the hotel room bathroom was very dirty-looking. I don't think that the floor was actually dirty, but it appeared so as there were dark skids and splotches on the tile. That's not a huge deal. I noticed that there were only body towels and a floor towel. The bar above the toilet which should have wash cloths and hand towels were bare. During my shower I noticed that my "conditioner" began to lather. I compared what was in the conditioner bottle to the shampoo bottle and noticed that they were the same. That night I walked down to the lobby and asked the receptionist if they could provide conditioner. I was informed that the receptionist did not have keys to the storage room which contains conditioner, so she would not be able to help me until the next morning where she assured me that housekeeping would drop off conditioner. I also requested hand towels and wash cloths. By 4pm the next day, I noticed that housekeeping had not stopped by, and in fact passed by my room. I went to the front desk and they informed me that they were still waiting to service the room. Later that day, several hours later, I saw that they had dropped off a bottle of shampoo and did not give me towels. I went back down to the front desk where I was given towels to take up to my room. When I explained that I needed conditioner and not shampoo, I was taken to the storage room where the receptionist filled up a bottle for me. The next day I went to take a shower and... the "conditioner" lathered again. I didn't take a close look as to what the receptionist was pumping into the bottle, but I assumed that she checked to make sure it was conditioner. If that's the case, then they have shampoo in their jug of conditioner. Conditioner should not lather as the lathering agent is a detergent, which defeats the purpose of conditioner. This whole ordeal was a bit of a headache, and it should not have dragged on this long to simply get some conditioner. I will say that the staff were nice and friendly about it, but still. The only other note I have here for the "negatives" is that I stayed here for 4 nights and housekeeping did not once come in to service the room. I understand that many hotels aren't washing sheets/making beds every day, but I think 3 nights is the minimum time where housekeeping comes in to tidy the room.

All in all, the price, location, and friendliness of the employees leads me to say that I would recommend this hotel, but maybe bring your own toiletries...

This is the first IHG hotel I have been told that there is a charge for early check in. I understand these are franchises, but still, this is a new turn. That said, there wasn't even a room available upon my arrival for an early check in with a fee added. That was fine, though the front desk person made it seem very clear to me she was very much so bothered by my presence in disturbance from whatever she was doing prior, which was not at the front desk. While breakfast service had ended, the tables, the floors, everything was a mess and sticky, so trying to find a clear space to address a need was not possible.--- When I returned to the hotel to check in, this person was kind, smiled, polite, and directed me to the guest room along with answering the questions I had. Thank you very much V.! --- While the room might have had some mold in the bathroom vent, one of the electrical outlets was a true hazard (the face plate wasn't secure and wires were exposed), and the floor was VERY dirty (brand new white socks out of the package were an odd olive/brown color after walking around, and not just by a little), the bed allowed for a steady sleep.--- Which leads to check out. No one was at the front desk with a sign stating the person wasn't there either. I called the hotel number directly, there wasn't a ring to the front (couldn't tell if the back office) and on the second call the 'voice mail' voice repeated my phone number twice then disconnected. After waiting around, saying 'is anyone there' and 'hello' a few times, I called the 800 IHG number. A few minutes into this call, a front desk person arose after hearing the sound of an alarm going off in the back office. She asked if I had been waiting for long, to which I replied yes, and, from my perspective, her not caring at all response of 'I'm sorry' then moving on to the next thing was a total disregard and lack of care. I needed a paper receipt, I want the hotel to know I checked out and not leave it to assumption. A dull, near monotone response without any empathy after multiple minutes of waiting. That was it.---- All and all, don't stay at this hotel. Not only is there a flip of a coin if you get hotel staffing that does or doesn't care, but this hotel seems to have its own policies and procedures. I regret staying in this hotel, and I have canceled upcoming IHG reservations because of it. This was a poor experience, please don't make the mistake that I did by staying here. There are other hotel options in the area, don't ruin a short or long trip by staying in a place that has made it clear they don't...

Was so excited to stay in my favorite hotel. Everything went smooth until the day of checking out. The night we checked in, the lady at the front desk asked us about being a rewards member. I didn't have it because I was never asked or told about in past visits at ANY Holiday Inn. So I was inclined to join. The sweet lady was so nice to explain what it offers as a rewards member and that by joining, one benefit was LATE CHECK OUT, 2 pm mind you. She tells me about the app, and to look it over and later you'll see other benefits. The morning of us leaving, it's past 11 am, and a random lady barged in on us RIGHT before I was about to disrobe!!! No knock! Nothing! Just a 'ching-ching' of the hotel key!!! Then, 15 mins later we get a call about check-out being at 11. I explained that we were told being a benefit member, you can check out at 2, and it states on the app and what we were told by the lady from check in.... the lady on the phone says "OH, that's in our on season. Not our office season. We dont do that right now"..... EXCUSE ME???? made NO sense. I called corporate, and tho he was nice, he said next time he personally recommends checking about the the check out times EVEN IF YOUR A MEMBER. I'm sorry, but that's not what hotel hospitality should be especially if your going to offer certain rewards for members. He said things on the app and website can be wrong... but why do I have to make sure about check out, IF that's what is offered and I shouldn't HAVE to ask, I should be given that info, like I already had, for a MEMBER. The pool was cloudy, not sure how sanitary that is... The room was clean and smelled amazing. The cheerful lady who checked us in was so friendly. One thing I am grateful for, was the fact they let me grab breakfast for me and my family real quick, 5 min past time. Just quick things i was able to take to my room...I was thankful for that. I will give a huge thank you to the staff for allowing this. It's debatable if we will return considering we frequent the area quarterly. Just upset with how this situation went, considering Holiday Inn being a pretty good hotel brand. We shall see...