Holiday Inn Express & Suites Racine by IHG — Hotel in Mount Pleasant

If I could leave 0 stars, I would. I booked and paid for a room back in July for this past Friday, September 3rd and selected early check in so my bridal party could get ready before my wedding. We showed up at 11:10am and were told that the hotel booked up the night before and there were no available rooms. When I explained I already paid for early check in and my reservation clearly states check in at 11am, all she said was, "Oh I understand that and I might have to refund you your money." The parking lot barely had any cars in it, so it didn't appear very full. The manager was pretty rude and instead being understanding and sympathetic to my situation of needing to get ready for my WEDDING and getting us a room cleaned ASAP, all she kept saying is that we could cancel the reservation and refund us and that she's only been working there a week. I told her that there was no disclaimer when I booked this room or warning that the early check in was not guaranteed, nor was there a phone call to me ever informing me that my early check-in could not be accommodated. She then asked if we wanted to wait until her staff could get a room cleaned and I told her I had no other option. She told me it would take no more than a half an hour. My sister then arrived to also get ready for my wedding and started questioning the professionalism of the hotel and asking why a room was not held for this reservation. The manager responded that they couldn't deny a guest Thursday night for an early reservation, and our response was that they should not offer early check in if they can not fulfill it. I also said I intitally was going to book the room for Thursday night as well but since they offered the early check in, I did not. The manager slowly started stepping out from behind the counter towards my sister while telling her to stop yelling at her, when my sister was not yelling, as if she was about to do something physical. We then went outside to wait for our room, during which we saw the girl that was supposed to be cleaning a room for us instead come outside for a cigarette and at 11:40 we were told the room was still not clean. The manager still just kept saying she could cancel our reservation. My sister started calling other hotels trying to find us another room. As soon as she did, at noon and an hour after we should have been in the room that we already reserved and paid for, I went to inform the manager that she could cancel our reservation, then she responds , "but your room is ready now." I will never give this company my money. We had to move all of our bags that had been sitting in the lobby back to our car and drive to the new hotel and I was an hour behind schedule for my wedding. I got to my wedding just in time for the ceremony and was not able to to do any of the bridal party photos at my venue prior to the ceremony that I had...

We are IHG Rewards Club members and stay at Holiday Inn Express properties whenever we can. Our experiences are generally positive except for this property, which is a huge disappointment. We have stayed here twice and experienced the same poor performance both times. Once could be an anomaly. Twice is a business practice.

The problem is the housekeeping staff and management. When we checked in, we were not told that “due to COVID” the housekeeping staff DOES NOT clean rooms unless they are requested. We only learned about this questionable policy after the second day of our stay when I questioned the front desk about why the room had not been straightened up. I made the request in person at the front desk for the next day, and confirmed the request with a phone call later in the evening.

The next day: no housekeeping. The room was just like we left it. So I went to the front desk again, in person, and complained. I observed the desk staff member write our room number in the three-ring binder and add a dark asterisk.

The next day (this is day 4 of the stay): no housekeeping. Wet towels from days 2 and 3 still on the bathroom floor. Beverage spills from a previous guest on a bedside table.

I will note that the inattention of the housekeeping staff and the hotel management does not reduce what you are charged for the privilege of cleaning your own hotel room and getting your own clean towels from the front desk.

The sole bright spot is the wonderful woman (whose name I won’t mention) who takes care of the breakfast area. If it were not for her great service and cheerful demeanor every morning this visit would be rated a zero.

We will not return to...

Hotel was very clean and all staff we encountered was nice, friendly and professional EXCEPT the woman “working” the front desk on 4/19 at 10:30am. First, she was no where to be found. A gentlemen mopping the lobby went to find her for us and she wasn’t in the offices. She came from beyond the elevators. My sister asked if she worked there because she either didn’t have a name tag on or it was hidden behind some papers she was carrying. She responded with no tact saying “yeah, what do you need?” My sister asked if there was a bathroom near the lobby and she pointed. She never stopped to assist, she kept walking the whole time so that by the time she started pointing she was already past my sister. Then she looked at me and asked if we were checking out. I said we were and she pointed to the box on the counter and said “you can put the cards there” and kept walking past the desk to the offices. We needed a copy of the receipt but I let my sister deal with it because admittedly, I have a short temper for crap customer service. If you hate your job, get a different one. My sister came out of the bathroom and went to the desk, asked for the receipt and she responded saying they put one under every door. My sister said “I’ll pay for a new one but I never got one and I like to keep them since I’m a Diamond Elite. Also can you tell me how many points I earned for this stay?” And this lady handed her a new receipt and said “we don’t do that here, you’ll have to call corporate” Not friendly whatsoever. No tact, needs to find a new job asap. Just proof that one bad fruit can ruin...