Holiday Inn Express Lancaster by IHG — Hotel in Lancaster

This is hard to write, as for the past 20 years this has been my home away from home. I’m not sure I’ll stay here again; saying this makes me sad.

The good stuff. If you want an immaculate and clean hotel, inside and out, this is the place to stay. If you want friendly staff, this is the place to stay. And, they have the best 24/7 coffee of any hotel I have ever stayed at.

Breakfast. The hours are 5a-9a daily, even on the weekends. Since many of us didn’t have to be at work until noon, we’d arrive at about 8:45a. However, everything was cleaned out (eggs, potatoes, bread/toast, cinnamon buns), even the half-and-half. When we asked about cooking more food, the morning chef told us that cooking stopped at 8:30a daily, and we were not accommodated. We were pretty incredulous. If that’s the case, then the hours are really 5a-8:30a. The next couple of days, this changed and hot food was available. However, the last two days there was absolutely no food. They even ran out of oatmeal and milk! Then, we were here in April and the pancake machine didn’t work. It is now September, and the pancake machine is still out of order. Also, for oatmeal topping, there is granola. What happened to walnuts? This was the only protein option for oatmeal before; now there is no vegan protein option available at this breakfast. And, the trash is allowed to overflow every single morning.

When asked about the cold water that used to be available in the carafe 24/7, we were told it had been broken. I’m surprised, at $30, it hasn’t been replaced. It’s been 95+ and having fresh cold water would be really nice..

Our suite. We had two, and within $80 were charged the same rate (over one week). The one suite had no table, no chair, and a broken a/c in the living area. Again, we strongly let management know of our displeasure. The solution; a little table (18 x 18); room enough for a computer, but not a working desk. The a/c couldn’t be fixed. We had someone sleeping on the sofa sleeper in addition to the bedroom. Even with a fan, it was pretty hot in the living room.

The water was off for an hour in the afternoon. No notice was dropped off at the rooms. No one knew. Wow!

It used to be that this hotel went out of their way to make sure guests were always taken care of, anticipating their needs. The staff would go above and beyond. Now, it only happens if we complain and bring it to their attention. That leaves a bad taste in our mouth. We didn’t do anything wrong. We shouldn’t have to request what is guaranteed and what we are paying for; that makes us feel guilty, and we shouldn’t. Ugh!

Finally, one of the staff parks their car right along the curb by the main entrance. Really? They could park it 50’ away in a slot. It just degrades the hotel and, to me, is a sign of laziness. This was every single morning, a red car driven by a male. He should park his car in a parking space and not pull it up along the curb right outside the front door and leave it there for hours every...

I'd like to start by saying that since this Holiday Inn Express opened, various members of our family have stayed at this particular hotel on numerous occasions in order to be here to visit my mom who lives in an assisted living facility nearby. We have ALWAYS been thoroughly pleased with the cleanliness of the rooms, the service of the people from the front desk to the cleaning crew, and the amenities such as the complimentary breakfast. We kept coming back because of these reasons.

We returned this time to make arrangements for our mom who passed last week. We stayed 3 nights from June 26, 2020 to June 29, 2020. I have to say that this stay was the worst experience we've had at this hotel, and only added to the stress and strain of our mother passing. I've created a list of issues and maintenance problems we encountered while here at the hotel this time.

Maintenance issues:

a washcloth so thin it had a hole in it

toilet paper roll hanging on by 1/2 a screw on one side

drawers that would not stay closed (had to get tape from front desk to tape them shut)

freezer that was almost frozen over

side lamp that was fragile and falling over

shower head that has two settings - spray everywhere or 1 single water stream

having to return to the front desk two different times to get keys that worked

table with two legs propped up by duct tape, wood and a paper towel of some sort

a tv that wouldn't work - Originally we were in Room 320. When we came back to the hotel late after cleaning out mom's apartment, we just wanted to watch tv and relax, only to find it didn't work (black screen). We called the front desk. Said they could move us to another room or wait until morning. Then she called a Jerome and he came up and couldn't fix it, but went down to the front desk to get us the keys to a new room. We had to MOVE ROOMS at 10:30 at night!!! I sent an email to the hotel manager during our stay and sent them pictures of all the maintenance issues. I got no response as of yesterday. I sent a second email to ask how we would be compensated, and still have not received a response.

In addition, there was an issue with pot smoking in this non smoking hotel. I also called the front desk to notify them of this. The pot smoking continued the next night, and I had to call the front desk again. Then between 1:00am-3:00am there was a loud group going on throughout the room next door, into the hallway, and yelling from the 2nd floor room down to the front of the hotel from the window to talk to other friends who were out smoking. It was reported, but the guests were allowed to stay. The following night, the same guests were playing loud music at 1am and having a shouting match at 4am. Again, the front desk was called and the guests were still...

I didn't actually stay at the Lancaster Holiday Inn. We were in town for a girls softball tournament in Palmdale. Seeing that we passed the Palmdale Holiday Inn on the freeway and it was less than a mile from the tournament, I asked to cancel our reservation so we can stay at the Palmdale location. Shawn at the front desk was absolutely helpful. She advised me to call the Palmdale location and ensure they had availability before she cancelled our room, which was smart and helpful! I let her know that we did get in at Palmdale. She explained to me that she personally couldn't refund us but she would pass along a note to a manager who could do so the following Monday. She even advised me to call on Monday to ensure the refund was completed. Again, smart and helpful! I called back the following Monday and the manager, Wendy, was 100% aware of our situation and told me that it has already been entered. At this point, I was absolutely thankful for both ladies. They were extremely helpful and very pleasant. Later that day I saw the refund hit my bank account. However, three days later a charge for the entire weekend was on my bank statement. Apparently, the cancellation fee is the entire charge, not reduced at all. In my case, $300. I called back and Shawn answered the phone. She asked me for my phone and email address. She explained that the cancellation fee will be refunded and even emailed me a receipt showing it. This was however after speaking to someone who wasn't very pleasant, stated that we should have read the fine print, and I could not get a refund for the cancellation fee. Ultimately, every encounter I had with Shawn was amazing. In person and late at night, she was upbeat, a pleasure to talk to, and extremely helpful. Over the phone, she was the same! Holiday Inn in Lancaster is lucky to have her at front desk and as the first impression guests encounter as...