Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hollywood Walk of Fame by IHG — Hotel in Los Angeles

I have been a Holiday Inn group member for over 20 years and have stayed with Holiday Inn group of hotels in US, Europe, Asia and Australia. I chose to stay at Holiday Inn Express Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA because of its location. This hotel didn't disappoint me, was similar to my other stays. Infact, I felt this hotel had slightly more space in the rooms. The room was adequately provisioned, comfortable King bed, enough pillows (both soft and firm ones), perfectly working aircon, comfortable sofa-cum-bed, a locker in the room (which got changed immediately as it was not working), a good bathroom with small bathtub and enough toiletries, towels & hairdryer, mini fridge, coffee maker, tea/coffee sachets (replenished everyday) and microwave (very thoughtful). I requested for limited room service (change of towels, coffee/tea) which were carried out everyday with precision. The location was the perfect - 2 blocks from Hollywood Walk of Fame (and all other tourist attractions on Hollywood Blvd like TCL theatre, Dolby Theatre etc) and 2 blocks from Hollywood Bowl and Metro and Bus services under 10 mins of walking distance. The Front Desk execs were great, helpful and knowledgeable.

The hotel provides complimentary breakfast to its guests, which was one more selection factor for the hotel. The breakfast was good and adequate, but it became a bit boring with the spread which didn't change much over the 6 days we stayed there. The breakfast staff were lovely, can't speak more highly about there caring and smiling disposition which gave us a great start everyday.

Few observations - the hotel provides paper/plastic cups for water and tea in the room, which was okay during covid but now, post covid, I would have hoped the return to normal cups, plates and cutlery. There were no plates at all, so not sure how we use the microwave to reheat food (for anyone with food restrictions/allergies and would like to have to-go food in the room). A nice touch would be to provide few complimentary bottles of water everyday, a bottle opener every room and complimentary (free) laundry service in the shared Laundry room (on level 4, currently charged).

Overall a great stay in this hotel and would continue to be guest of IHG group in future and recommend this hotel to all who want to stay centrally...

The pros:

If you're looking for somewhere near the hollywood bowl or blvd, this is a good choice. An easy walk up or down the hill and near amenities like 7-11, a small market, restaurants, and the ovation mall. And you can see the hollywood sign from nearby!

Breakfast was fine with a pancake maker, bread station, eggs, meats, fruit, biscuits & gravy, yogurt, cereal station, and of course juices, coffee and teas.

Pool outside was good with towels, loungers, wheelchair seat. It closed at 8pm though which was too early. The indoor fitness area is small but decent.

Room layout (room 502) was standard for holiday inn express with good storage and decent space. Room itself was a bit worn out, peeling paint and finishes. Nothing too heinous. Beds and pillows were super comfy for my bad back.

The cons:

TV had one button (on/off) and an off -brand remote so there was no way to access the inputs (even tried installing LG remote apps but no luck) so we could use our chromecast or gaming devices. No hotel info channel, no tv guide channel. At least there was a decent variety of channels.

A majority of the usb and power outlets didnt work at all or were so loose cords would fall out which was frustrating! Everything slow charging.

Hands down the worst part was the godawful mold smell in our room we couldn't air out or cover with air freshener (we bought wall plug in and aerosal fresheners as well as borrowed front desk's air freshener bottle with no luck masking it). We were offered a chance to move rooms but it was late when we checked in and we just wanted sleep.

Was disappointed no microwave despite there being an obvious space where it should have been and wasn't offered a room upgrade with my status.

Housekeeping is every FIVE days or by request. First time anywhere in the world or IHG property where it was 5 days.

Staff all friendly but didn't have much contact with them outside of the moldy smell issue.

Overall, the cost was worth it for the location (10 mins walk downhill from hollywood bowl at end of concert) but the smell in our room was so bad I would probably see what other hotels nearby are offering despite my...

We stayed there for 2 nights and can not recommend this property. Upon arrival we were give a room which was in another building, first we had to take the elevator to 5th floor, then exit and walk all around the first building to get to another building and take the elevator to 8th floor. Then walk around the floor to get to our room. With two young kids and luggage that was quite the ordeal to get to/from the room. We asked the front desk to give us a room that was more convenient but we were told the hotel was completely booked and there was nothing they could do for us. When we finally got to our room we realized there was no running water in the bathroom, sink, shower or toilet. When we called the front desk they told us to just wait for them to get back to us. Tonia at the front desk told us that the city decided to turn off the water in that side of the building without notice and that we would just have to wait for them to turn it back on! We were shocked at that response! When we shared our frustration with them, surprise surprise, they magically found another room, that too in the same building that they initially said they didn't have any rooms in. We were also told that the housekeeping was based on "request only" by Tonia at the time of check in but when we called the second day to get fresh towels and beds made, we were told by Jose that they could not do it because they were short staffed and he asked us to refer to IHG's policy on housekeeping! I mean how ridiculous is that! Once again after going back and forth and wasting time on the phone not only the fresh towels were provided but they also did a full service in the room! I just don't understand why they want guests to jump through circles for basic things that they have already paid for. We stayed at 5 different hotels during our west coast trip and 2 were Holiday Inn Express, and we had horrible experiences at both hotels. We will not recommend this...