avid hotel Madison - Huntsville West by IHG — Hotel in Madison

A few days before my trip I paid for a reservation through Priceline with my AMEX. My reservation was for 1 night (check in Tuesday, check out Wednesday). My flight was delayed, so I called the hotel at 6pm on Tuesday night and told them we were still coming but would arrive after midnight (early Wednesday morning).

We arrived Wednesday at 2:30am to check in. The front desk clerk saw my reservation, and needed a card on file for incidentals. He scanned my Visa once, it didnt go through, scanned again it went through. We checked out before 10am (so like 6 hours later) and were on our way.

I checked my credit card statement at the end of the month and I had TWO charges on two different days for $173 each from Avid Hotels Madison, but only ONE refund. I called the hotel to get this fixed, since I had already prepaid with Priceline for the room.

Call #1: The 256 number connected me to corporate. Talked to someone for 5 minutes, said they could help, but the phone call dropped.

Call #2: Called the 256 number right back, spoke with a lady at coporate, she said they would call the hotel and get this resolved within 24-48 hours and I should get a call back from someone at the hotel. She gave me a reference number for follow up. I waited over 48 hours, no call back.

Call #3: the 256 number connected me to the hotel this time. Man answered said he was new, couldn't help, but would pass along my info so a supervisor could call me back that day. No call.

Call #4: the 256 number went to the hotel and the gentleman who answered was VERY kind, but also couldnt help since he was not a supervisor or GM. He said they have my reservation, but it was listed for 5 nights (Wednesday to Monday) and I let him know that was not me, and I only stayed one night. He said that was odd and that he would leave all this info for the supervisor and it would be best to call back the next day at lunch to speak with the GM/supervisor.

Call #5: the 256 number went to the hotel and I was FINALLY able to talk to the supervisor who ended up being unhelpful. He said they only had ONE charge and ONE refund of $173 on their end. He also said I should've been chaged the second $173 because I probably didnt check out properly. He said if I didn't check out at the front desk that they would assume I want to stay for extra days no matter what the reservation says. They also would not be sending maid service or anyone to check on my room until I checked out. (This sounds like an awful policy on their part if this is true!) I told him I checked out at the front desk and gave them both of my key cards before 10am.

He then said the problem must be a double charge from Priceline, not from his hotel. I said no I paid Priceline with my AMEX and you guys scanned my Visa for incidentals. The two charges are on my Visa card.

He then said the problem must be with my Visa card for not listing the charges as an "incidental" and that the hotel has a policy to do a $50 charge for incidentals. I said thats fine, but I was charged $173 twice, not $50. He said he cannot help me any further and I have to talk to my credit card company.

I have disputed the extra $173 charge with my credit card company, but this has been a week and half process to get this far. The front desk clerk when we checked in was fine (but clearly made some mistakes), and the gentleman on phone call #4 who did his best to help was polite and professional. The room was fine as well, so I didn't want to give 1 star, but I am hesitant to book with IHG hotels...

Book with caution.

I was driving from Ohio to Louisiana and needed a place to stay midway through on June 25-26, so I booked a room here several days in advance.

I arrived around 7 p.m. (check in starts at 3 p.m.), exhausted after 10 hours of driving by myself, and the guy at the desk nonchalantly shrugs and says, “Yeah, so I actually just gave my last clean king bed room away, our housekeepers are behind. Maybe come back in a half an hour?” I offer to leave and get food and come back.

One thing that also struck me as odd was that the parking lot had maybe 10-15 cars max in it, so clearly it wasn’t a fully booked hotel that night.

About 40 minutes later, after going to eat down the road, I returned, and the front desk was empty. I ring the bell, no response. A woman comes in behind me, peaks her head into the back office and yells “hello?”, and no response. After a couple minutes the same guy arrives.

He looks at the computer again to see if a room’s ready, then he tells me, “So I’m going to check you into a room, but I’ve gotta go see if it’s clean after I check you in.”

At this point, I’m not about to stay in a room that we’re not even sure is clean, and I’m DEFINITELY not about to wait longer considering it’s almost 8 p.m., so I ask if I can have another room different from the one I booked. Luckily, the guest behind me stepped in and reminded the guy at the desk that she had just requested to be moved from her room to a different room due to the location of the room earlier that evening and that he could just assign me the room she had moved out of.

Good enough for me.

He gave me a key, and the room was (luckily) in tact, bed made, shower clean, all that jazz.

Before I fell asleep and after I woke up, I also heard some sort of noise at my door, which was also a little alarming, especially because I was by myself, but that also just could have been my own paranoia or the fact that my room was right across from the elevator. I made it out alive and well so I guess all is well there.

If I could go back in time I’d probably just spend a few extra bucks to book a room somewhere else nearby and save...

Great stay! We only stayed for the weekend of the 4th of July; we had a wonderful time. I would say this is perfect for short stays (1-3 days) for single person or childless couples. Though there is a pool, I would not suggest planning your family's (or your) vacation around the stay at this hotel. This is geared more toward the traveler market who need a clean place to stay with the basic amenities at a reasonable price. Be aware that this hotel aims to save water and energy, so unless you SPECIFICALLY REQUEST your room to be cleaned via the door hanger, it will not be. This was great for us as we didn't need our room cleaned, but we did notice another guest complain about this while checking-in. There is free coffee, hot water (for tea, etc.), and a free carbonated water machine. Breakfast is free as well and includes a good spread. You will not be getting hot eggs and sausage, etc., BUT you will have a nice selection of cereal, microwaveable sandwiches, bagels, and granola bars.

Our specific stay was great. All the staff were friendly and the hotel as a whole was clean. I do have two negative points which I will state at the end. I will say that our stay was made 200% more enjoyable by Kevin (manager?). He is crazy knowledgeable about the area and gave some great advice on things to see and do and eat in our short time there. Be advised that Huntsville is fairly spread-out. The major tourist stuff (Rocket Center, Toyota Field, and Madison proper, ) is an easy drive, but the east-side of Huntsville (Monte Sano, Mount Green, Burritt Overlook) is a small drive.

Two Knocks: Our toilet seat was askew. Not loose, but it was like-put on askew so that one had to sit crooked. The hotel has two sides, the side facing the gas-station can be a bit noisy depending on the sensitivity of your ears. My girlfriend had no issues, but I had some moments where the sound...