Holiday Inn Express & Suites Arcata/Eureka-Airport Area by IHG — Hotel in McKinleyville

First the good. My family that lives locally and the many reviews we read all said that this was the safest hotel to stay at both for people and your vehicles. This place definitely was and after driving into the local areas I'm glad we stayed here!

I placed a call to the hotel when we landed and was pleased to find that they have a shuttle service that could pick up my family and I from the airport. Sweet!

Check-in was great with friendly staff (Cassidy, I think, picked us up and took care of us) and the room was clean and quiet.

I was disappointed that they don't clean the room every day. The trash cans at least should be cleaned every day. I even asked the cleaning staff if she would be getting the trash cans, she said yes, and then I came back to full trash cans.

I get not doing the towels because of water conservation, etc..

Sleeping/rest: My wife and daughter weren't as rested as they hoped to be as they liked the beds but didn't like the pillows. I slept fine and felt pretty rested so I'll chalk this one up to personal preferences and not necessarily a ding on the hotel.

The cereal choices for breakfast could have been better as I had to keep settling for whatever was left. The boxed cereal seemed to be running low for choices.

We stayed Friday through Monday. On Saturday night someone's Google ChromeCast seemed to take over multiple rooms in our area of the hotel and the staff couldn't seem to figure it out and gave up even communicating to us about it. We weren't able to stream movies or anything from our devices and were held to only whatever TV channels were provided by the hotel. VERY disappointing! Especially the lack of communication and giving up on us!

Check-out was fast and smooth and I think it was Savannah (sp?) that was great taking care of us and brought us back to the airport in the shuttle.

Would I bring my family back to this hotel? I'll definitely give them one more shot to redeem this trip as I know we have to go back up there again and this is clearly the best and safest hotel in the area to stay at. But they'll definitely have to have the items I pointed out resolved the next time we stay there or the review will point out that this seems to be a...

We have stayed at this hotel probably 6 or 7 times over the last few years, and its been fine. Our recent stay will be our last. The prices have gone up to $300/night, and it is absolutely terrible value. The staff clearly do not care to address any problems. Despite requesting our room to be cleaned upon check-in, the room was not cleaned the first day. When I called that afternoon to complain, I was told no housekeeping was available but it would be cleaned tomorrow. Of course, the 2nd day, the room was once again, not cleaned. When I again called to complain, the front desk said they saw the request in our file but "wasn't sure what happened." The front desk staff then offered to have my kids (and us adults) come and pick something from their pantry as a good will gesture. We went to do so a few minutes later, and the woman at the desk told us (quite rudely) that we were authorized for 1 snack total, not 1 each. Interesting good will gesture. I reiterated my complaint and was told no manager was available (this was a Friday evening). Keep in mind the room cleanliness left a lot to be desired in the first place, as the bathroom was just not that clean on check in, nor were there sufficient towels etc. The cherry on top was the following morning (Saturday) I called to check out, just before 11, and was told that no manager was available until Monday, as I reiterated my unhappiness about our stay. Just after that, my child had to use the restroom, wo while we had taken our things out, we were in the room at 11:02. At that time, the staff had no problem knocking loudly to remind us that it was "past checkout time".
The cleaning wasn't the only issue. Our keys reset 3 times during our stay, and we had to return to the lobby (and a long line) each time to get access to our room. Staff didn't seem to care about that either. Anyways, I write this on Tuesday, no manager ever called us. Clearly, they do not...

Having flown in, no car, no Uber (very rural location), I had to be dropped off at the hotel at 10:30 AM. I told the desk clerk I realized I was there VERY early so I didn't expect her to give me my room immediately, I was willing to wait, and I knew check-in wasn't until 3:00 PM. I asked if there was somewhere I could just sit and watch TV until my room was ready. She was very nice and even locked my luggage up in a storage room and said she would call me when my room was ready. I sat for SO long until finally at 1:00 PM I went back up to the desk and asked if she had an approximate time I could check in. Nope. So I went back and waited. About an hour later I noticed a huge influx of people coming in, waiting in line, and getting checked in. Being disabled, I cannot stand very long, so I sat where I was and waited for the line to go down. It was finally my turn, so I went to the desk and there was an entirely new crew that came on duty. I asked where the other lady was because she was going to call me when my room was ready. The new person said, "Oh, she went home; she didn't tell us you were waiting." They didn't even know my luggage was in the storage room. I finally got into my room at 4:00 PM. I understand that regular check-in is 3:00 PM, but come on; can't you flex a little when unusual situations arise, especially when you're getting paid $200 a night? The room was fine, but I've had nicer for that price. The only good thing about being there is that the airport is right across the street and the shuttle takes you over, which is the ONLY reason to stay there. I had to be at the airport at 5:00 AM, and the shuttle was right on time. There is nothing near this hotel within walking distance. Because of the rural area, you can't rely on an Uber driver to accept your request. As I said, I am disabled and couldn't go anywhere. One would think the staff would be a little more...