Holiday Inn Express & Suites Salt Lake City South - Murray by IHG — Hotel in Murray

Upon arriving Thursday afternoon, we were informed that the equipment used to create key cards for guests was currently not working and they did not know when it would be working again. We were under the impression that it was currently being worked on and that we would have our key cards later that evening. We were then escorted to our room so we could drop off our things and be on our way. We came back to our room later that evening to be told that it was still not working and we would have to be escorted to our room for the rest of the night. We made it to our room, changed into our swimsuits and headed downstairs excited to use the hot tub that was advertised- but discovered that it was out of order. This is just a tiny sample of the never ending issues and disappointments we experienced at our stay. I will just leave a list for you for the rest.||-Key card machine being down and no reassurance or communication about any progress of it ever even being attempted to be fixed. In fact one employee told us that they were told to try to go into the equipment/electrical room and try to fix it themselves when they didn't even know how.||-We were also told by another employee that not only did it seem like there was no rush to try to fix the machine, but that the credit card machine to run everyone's payments through had also been down but that was of course top priority and the only thing fixed, with no issues. Impressive!||-Because we never got a key card, we were also never given a pamphlet with information about the hotel such as breakfast times, wifi password, etc. When we inquired about the wifi, that is advertised, we were then also informed that the Wi-Fi was ALSO down and out of order, with no reassurance with it being resolved soon.||-As I stated above, the hot tub that is advertised what out of order.||-During our stay in our room, we discovered that the body wash pump that is supposed to be refilled between each cleaning/guest stay was completely empty, along with the lotion pump at the hand wash station just completely filled with water.||-During our stay Thursday evening through Monday morning, we never once had our room cleaned, sheets and pillows changed, trash emptied, or reloaded towels/cups until we called and complained Sunday morning about it. Our trash bins were full until the evening before we left and we only had fresh towels and sheets one day out of our stay.||-We we're not able to watch tv 2 out of the 4 nights of our stay. The channels would just not come through and would the second night we called the attendant at the desk to help assist. She tried a few things, reset something, then said once it reloads it should work and left before making sure it would work. It didn't.||-I was told I wouldn't be charged for our stay until check out, when my bank statements say otherwise||This is a billion dollar company and from our experience and stay here, you would've never known. We might have as well been staying at a motel. Your staff was actually wonderful and understanding and impressively resilient with the extra lengths they had to go through with escorting each and every guest all day and all night, and dealing with the irritated travelers staying at your hotel. But the lack of sense of urgency and customer service on a HIGHER level was very disappointing. You would think that a business who claims to pride themselves in excellent hospitality service would try to go above and beyond to ensure that their guests enjoy their stay there and do whatever they can to make amends in circumstances out of their control such as this. But that was not the case. Instead it seemed to be swept under the rug and ignored. When I called to complain about it Sunday morning, before I could even finish my conversation and explain the issues we had been experiencing, the maintenance guy had been called and knocked on our door while I was still on the phone trying to discuss these issues- only for us to let him in and him being under the impression that our toilet was clogged, which I had never once said. This proved to me that this place of business does not listen to it's customers and their concerns.||Overall this didn't feel like the relaxing and accommodating stay that it should've been. Instead we felt like prisoners in our own room- if we both had to leave, we couldn't re-enter without an escort; which we had to wait 5-15 minutes for each and every time because your employees had to escort literally every single guest a long with the list of every other responsibility of their jobs. We were unable to come and go as we pleased to the room that we paid for, which I believe is unacceptable to charge us full price for because of this alone, not including the several other issues and inconveniences we experienced along the way. I even emailed the general manager who never responded and talked with an upper level case manager from IHG who did nothing to help except offer points for another visit. ...

I know it’s stupid to read reviews for a hotel after you’ve already checked in and tucked yourself under the covers, but our TV is taking a few minutes to boot up, so here I am. I’ve left maybe two reviews in my entire life. There’s one review in particular that I feel I should address specifically. The poster left a 1 star review because there was a bright light outside his window and the curtains in his room were “fake” - I’m not knocking the complaint - it’s a legitimate concern. It’s the same concern my partner had when we first arrived in our room. It’s her go-to move whenever we settle into a new hotel room - close the curtains - tight - we’re road worn and want to sleep in. There’s a sheer set of curtains in front of the window - there are two larger thicker curtains on the sides. She tried and tried but couldn’t get the larger curtains to close - they weren’t on runners - they didn’t have handles - so she pulled them as close to the center of the window as she could, and placed the chair from the desk in front of the air conditioner unit to hold them in place. It was clear at this moment that we would most likely be waking up with the sun tomorrow. She went to bed - defeated. Obviously, it looked ridiculous, and also didn’t actually accomplish anything darkness-wise, so I walked over to move the chair back to desk - when lo and behold - there is a set of blackout curtains tucked behind the sheer set. It’d be really funny if it weren’t so sad that this guy had the time to leave a terrible review for the hotel but didn’t have the time to literally check behind the front set of curtains. It’s indicative of the times we live in I guess - some people will never be happy - with anything - anywhere. We started our road trip at home New York - we’ve stopped in Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada - from here in Salt Lake City, we’ll stop in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania before heading back home. We’ve stayed in all kinds of hotels, camps, and airbnbs - and once in what I can only describe as a meth-fueled kibbutz. Some were fantastic - some were frightening. We’ve made several references to Bates Motel / The Overlook on this trip. It’s an extremely peculiar industry. We booked our room literally on the road from Las Vegas - about 5 hours before arrival. The hotel seemed like a reasonable balance of price and quality - not to mention a free breakfast, which we’ve found out, the hard way, isn’t always available and in worst case scenarios, isn’t always free (a third party site we had used for one of our bookings had listed “breakfast” under amenities - we didn’t know that it meant “breakfast is available in the lobby - it’s exactly what a free breakfast looks like in any hotel lobby, but we will add $12.99 to your bill after we’ve seen you eat an apple”) The room is clean and the bed is comfortable - my partner is literally snoring beside me as I type this - in the beautiful blackout curtain dark. There’s a keurig machine with decent pods and a mini fridge - creature comforts that are not always available even in more expensive hotels. The bathroom is exceptionally clean, and I always appreciate the little touches like a fresh roll of toilet paper where the end is folded into a little triangle and pressed with some tool to let you know “hey, this is your roll - nobody else has used this roll” - they’ve also left a little folded tissue flower on top of the box which gave my girl a little chuckle before she sent pictures of it to friends and family. Now I’m not sure if the people who have posted the worst of the reviews I’ve read here so far just don’t travel very often or if they’re just the types of people who simply can’t find it within their black hearts to make the best of a situation, but as people who travel often and have stayed in all kinds of hotels, this place doesn’t come anywhere close to the bottom of the list. It’s a solid stop for anyone passing through.

Unless the breakfast sucks - in which case I will be resubmitting my...

Look, some people’s reviews are just expecting the world for a hundred something a night, but some complains are warranted, so lets try and be balanced. As am IGH rewards member i try to book with holiday inn express, and typically have good experiences… First off, the reviewer who explained about the blackout curtains being behind the sheer curtains, you sir are the MVP. If you are in the lower even numbered rooms the surgical center next door has an insanely bright digital sign that will be right inside your window… not the hotels fault, but the blackout curtains will be your friend. The room was nice, well kept and overall clean, one of two small spots on a duvet, is not the sky falling. Room had a fridge and a microwave, points for that; but the big issue was our tv never worked. The remote didn’t control the tv and the satellite was not getting signal. The thing is I informed the front desk THREE TIMES!!! Talking to two different employees… the first night we were told by a gentleman that maintenance was gone for the day, but would fix it in the morning. In the morning i informed a lady at the desk and simply got an unbothered “we’ll see what we can do.” Came back still the same issue and was once again told maintenance had gone home; not a huge deal, but ya know it’s an amenity i paid for that was not provided and staff didn’t seem to know how or care to fix an issue addressed multiple times. 😡 Breakfast was just a small step above continental, with some sausage and egg rounds along with oatmeal bagels toast and cereal, nothing to write home about. Pool wasn’t great, hot tube wasn’t really hot, but did have some jets, despite others reviews… pool was cold, oh well… The BIG and i mean BIG issue was there was a metal what appeared to be tent peg in the pool, no idea why or how it got there, but definitely a safety hazard. We informed a gentleman who came in and accessed the supply room and after acting like it wasn’t really a concern, did fish it out, but seemed bothered to do so and acted inconvenienced that we pointed out a safety hazard that could have gotten the hotel in some hot water, no pun intended. Seems like they would care a little more when younger kids just about stepped on it… Over all the hotel was alright, kinda down the middle, but the staff kinda really get low marks for being unhelpful, not super friendly and seem bothered to be asked to do anything, and using the front loading area as their employee parking lot… if i based it on the hotel itself, I’d probably stay again, but factoring in the issues and the staff’s response to, or lack there of, i will...