Holiday Inn Express Mountain View - S Palo Alto, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Mountain View

Place looks good.... until you stay there. Looking for a good night's sleep? Hospitality? This is not the place for that... and more.

I recently stayed here for a week, hoping this place would give me good access to the surrounding area while providing a nice place to sleep. Yes, the place is located centrally to the places that I need to be at, and its (very somewhat) clean. But there are many things that you start noticing when you stay here:

They charged me a $300 deposit, and then when I extended my stay by a day, they charged me an additional $100 deposit without telling me. That's $400! What type of shady business practice is this? Staff is very mixed, and they do not communicate. I came in during the weekend, greeted by a tired indian man who was dressed very unprofessionally. No smiles, no friendliness, just uncaring and tired. A little into my stay, I needed to extend my stay by a day and I let the man know, and he said he would take care of it (I had the extra day reserved too). He seemed not to care or do anything, which ended up being true. When I was originally supposed to check out, a lady calls me accusing me of not checking out in time, and I had to explain, once again, that I extended my stay. However, during the weekday there was an asian man who was super awesome, exactly what you would expect for spending $300/night for a basic room.

Rooms are terrible: Room is right on a major road, can every single car pass by. You can even hear it with the TV on. I stayed at the nearby Marriott courtyard on the same busy street and never had this issue. Horribly bright blue light shines through the window all night long. Curtains do not cover it all the way either. This is very bad for getting sleep as blue light signals to your brain that it is day time. (See attached pictures) There's a dirty, industrial roof view outside my window. I can also see into my room neighbors windows from my window (and they into mine). Wi-fi drops out several times throughout the day. Cleaners leave the window open, it was really chilly when I was staying, and the room was freezing! Rooms might appear to be newer and clean, but they are not. They have cheap and quick craftsmanship that you can see in my pictures, with peeling wallpaper, ugly retrofits, and unclean surfaces. Mold is developing on bathroom ceiling! MOLD! Can hear every single footstep above and in the hallways! Plus the doors close very loudly, and you can here doors closing across the hallway from inside your room.

Do yourself a favor and slay at the Marriott courtyard just down the street. The rooms there cost about the same, are much more modern, bigger, and upscale, and they actually have nice staff and amenities,...

I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Mountainview for a week while working at the NASA Ames complex. I chose this hotel for IHG loyalty (Ambassador Platinum) and location. I debated the Crowne Plaza, but it seemed older, was further away, had worse reviews, and is more expensive. I think I will try them next time.

First the positives. The building is newer than almost anything in Mountainview. The complimentary breakfast has a wide variety of options and is better than most. The location is central and good with complementary parking. The hotel employees are all very nice and attentive. Cost is high for a Holiday Inn, but on par for the area ($300/night).

Now time for the bad...

In the entire week I stayed, the bed was so uncomfortable, I hardly got any good sleep. The bed was too hard and the pillow combos too large & small. I never got acclimated to either.

The room (304) is very dim from the shotgun design with small bay windows and trees outside. The lighting design is poor to accommodate this and some bulbs were out. The windows partially open, which I had to do daily due to the poor ventilation and musty smell in the room. At night, the blue spotlights from the building fascia light the room up.

The bathroom design is odd with a very low (~12") tub wall. It almost acts like a shower stall, and could never be used a s a true bathtub. I do not believe this room is a handicapped room, which would help explain the choice.

There is a very creepy tablet computer placed in the room. It is perfectly placed so the camera faces the bed and can watch you sleep. Look at my photo. I would expect in Silicon Valley that someone would understand just how insecure these cheap tablets are and the privacy issues this causes. I re-aimed it daily, but housekeeping really wanted it to point at the bed.

I saved the best for last... I checked in with paperwork to room 220, but was given the key to 304. I didn't notice and moved into 304. Someone else got the other side of the story and did the same. On day 3 of my stay, my Amazon package arrived and I noticed the room number was not where I was staying. I was told by the front desk that while I was at work, another guest arrived who desired 304, and thus moved me to 220. I was told they gathered my items without my knowledge, and placed them in 220. I internally exploded at this point and stood in disbelief that they would move my items without my consent or presence. After a few phone-calls by the front desk to management, it was explained that my items were not moved, I was still in 304, and the check-in process was to blame.

Lots of bad with a little bit of good. I think 2 stars...

I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Mountainview for a week while working at the NASA Ames complex. I chose this hotel for IHG loyalty and location. I debated the Crowne Plaza, but it seemed older, was further away, had worse reviews, and is more expensive. I think I will try them next time.

First the positives. The building is newer than almost anything in Mountainview. The complimentary breakfast has a wide variety of options and is better than most. The location is central and good with complementary parking. The hotel employees are all very nice and attentive. Cost is high for a Holiday Inn, but on par for the area.

Now time for the bad...

In the entire week I stayed, the bed was so uncomfortable, I hardly got any good sleep. The bed was too hard and the pillow combos too large & small. I never got acclimated to either.

The room (304) is very dim from the shotgun design with small bay windows and trees outside. The lighting design is poor to accommodate this and some bulbs were out. The windows partially open, which I had to do daily due to the poor ventilation and musty smell in the room. At night, the blue spotlights from the building fascia light the room up.

The bathroom design is odd with a very low (~12") tub wall. It almost acts like a shower stall, and could never be used a s a true bathtub. I do not believe this room is a handicapped room, which would help explain the choice.

There is a very creepy tablet computer placed in the room. It is perfectly placed so the camera faces the bed and can watch you sleep. Look at my photo. I would expect in Silicon Valley that someone would understand just how insecure these cheap tablets are and the privacy issues this causes. I re-aimed it daily, but housekeeping really wanted it to point at the bed.

I saved the best for last... I checked in with paperwork to room 220, but was given the key to 304. I didn't notice and moved into 304. Someone else got the other side of the story and did the same. On day 3 of my stay, my Amazon package arrived and I noticed the room number was not where I was staying. I was told by the front desk that while I was at work, another guest arrived who desired 304, and thus moved me to 220. I was told they gathered my items without my knowledge, and placed them in 220. I internally exploded at this point and stood in disbelief that they would move my items without my consent or presence. After a few phone-calls by the front desk to management, it was explained that my items were not moved, I was still in 304, and the check-in process was to blame.

Lots of bad with a little bit of good. I think 2 stars...