Holiday Inn Norwich by IHG — Hotel in Norwich

I am not going to beat around the bush this Holdiay Inn was disgusting. When booking I did not realize it was a flop house for those who frequent the casino which is maybe 5 minutes away. I realized immediately the groups of people standing smoking or lined up to wait for what I imagine is a shuttle to a gambling mecca that I was not at the typical bright Holiday Inn which I ususally stay in (platinum member ). ||||After navigating the butt strewn parking lot we approached the portico which made me want to turn around and leave but, I was determined to give it a chance. The walkway was filthy. One does not want to guess what all the dried liquid and dirt patches were staining it. I can only surmise there must be an ordinance in Norwich which prohibits pressure washing. As we approached the glass entrance doors, which were covered in handprints possibly dating back to the original Native Americans who inhabitied the land, we entered a huge lobby with shabby worn furniture, dark brown rugs and florescent overhead lighting ( I am now contemplating faking an appendicitis attack in the hopes we can leave). Other guests were sitting around clutching grocery store bags both paper and plastic, which I assume was their luggage because the plastic ones were semi transparent. ||Our room is on the 6th floor and immediattely I know just upon entering the tiny elevator things are not getting better, I could see the writing on the wall. No, I mean the graffiti carved into the wall of the elevator, on the bright side, it kept me from noticing the huge build up of dirt in the corners and then again the origianl handprints which seemed to date back hundreds of years. ||||Once we get to our room things do not get any better. The walls are kind of stucco one painted dried blood red the other three brownish tan, brown carpet with some sort of patten on it and a fabric chair in the same red color as the walls with a huge stain on the seat. Often when one enters a new space the thought is, "Gee if these walls could talk." My thought was ,thank god they can't. ||||I pull back the sheets just to check they are clean (as I do in all hotels) and see there is no matteress pad or protector on it!!!! The matterss is uncoverd and suffers from a severe case of "mattress acne" meaning the mattress is so pilled you can feel the bumps through the sheets!!!! There was a huge loud air conditioning unit on the floor which had an electirical box and wire tubing for the wires exposed and looked like the electrician forgot to box it in.||||The bathroom is closet tiny and has another florescent light over head. It reminds me of a public restroom. The hinges on the door are rusty. It appeared to be clean but honestly I did not do a bacteria test and only wished I had not forgotten my anti bacteria spray. ||||We had a balcony and I optimisticlly think, this could be nice. I forgot about the fact that maybe Norwich has that no pressure wash ordinance. Bird droppings and more filth and there was some sort of hole in the bottom side wall for what I have no idea unless before Norwich possibly enacted the no pressure wash zone, it was for some sort of a vaccuum or washing device. Clearly it was filled with dirt so it also had not been in use maybe ever? ||||Ironically, since we were IHG platinum members, our room was upgraded! ||This was our free night but I now know why all the rest of the IHG properties were blacked out for this date. Praise be, we were not in the standard room? I am not a snob, clearly but this place was just too gross. I know they have a huge turn over as I heard the clerk tell one of the guests her room was not ready because they had a 150 room turn over that day ( this was 6pm ish). Did I mention that this hotel is next to some sort of public transportation depot, which is another unsettling thought. Maybe that is why the signs posted in the lot mention that hotel is not responsible for theft related to the cars. ||||As we were leaving I noticed even the sign was dirty! Maybe there really is a no power wash ordinance...

We spent three nights here. Never again. We get it. Staffing everywhere is a problem. The first room we were sent to hadn’t been cleaned or the bed made up.

There was Not a sign to hang on the door to say “Please make up this Room”… only one that said “We want to be green” so don’t change our linens and towels (Or words to that effect.)

When we returned after our first full day in the area, nothing had been done to our room. The tip we left was still there. We left our towels on the floor to be exchanged were still in a pile. The ones we hung up were still damp. The one I put next to the AC unit was still wet.

The whole room was damp from the moment we checked in. AC made the room cool but did not remove the moisture in the air. Everything was damp…sheets, towels, and the clothes we hung up. It was uncomfortable.

I spoke to the nice young woman at the desk about not having a sign to let housekeeping know we would like fresh towels. She apologized and said, “If you don’t put out the “I want to be green sign”, housekeeping will just come in.” I informed her that they hadn’t. She apologized and made a note for housekeeping to make sure they did our room.

There was no pad of paper or pencil in our room to leave a note to say” just change the towels and tidy up the bed, no need to change the sheets.” It didn’t matter since housekeeping didn’t show up that day either.

There was no clock/radio…I know most people use their phones for an alarm…but when I wake up in the night and want to see what time it is, I don’t want to fiddle around to find my phone. (I have movement issues. (This was an accessible room and the bathroom was great. Enough hand rails to get in and out of the tub easily.) There IS a clock on the microwave, but the numbers are too small for me to see across the room.

There was no hair dryer; no menus for the restaurants downstairs. No pad or pencil.

The room was very dark…and dated. All walls of the room were painted brown…like the color of coffee with a bit of cream. Dark and uninviting.

Apparently, they are having issues with the channel provider. They are trying to negotiate a deal (that I assume would give them ABC, NBC, and CBS and others) at a reasonable price…or so said the message said on the TV on most of the channels I tried. If I wanted sports talk…that was available. There was no channel guide. Channels they did provide could fit on a post-it note.

Unfortunately, I left my travel bed rail there. They called to let us know they had it, but we live 4 hours away. Coming back to get it was not an option, but we would pay to have it shipped. We never heard back. I am usually not a complainer, but this was a most unsatisfactory stay. I assume they are...

I was super disappointed with my stay at this IHG location. The only reason for two stars instead of one is that Sharon, Darryl, and Michelle are hardworking, friendly professionals. These folks are assets to the company and should be treated as such. I am an employee at another IHG location so I may have an overly critical eye but even so, I was really disheartened by the cleanliness (or lack thereof) of the rooms. We checked in semi-late. We were put in a room that was damp, musty, and dark. The front desk agent was kind enough to move us down the hall but still, the room was fairly musty. Was there a flood issue in the hotel? It felt as if it had never fully dried out. The pillows had no pillow protectors, our duvets were mismatched, and one of the blankets had not even been bothered to be put in the duvet cover, Sheets had holes. The floors felt oily and were not well vacuumed. There were fingerprints on the headboards, the microwave had food residue on the buttons, the closet ceiling was coming down and appeared to have mold build up. The bathroom had hair on the floors, toilet, and sink. The shower didn't look as though it had even been wiped down. The pool was cloudy, no towels, and a bandaid on the deck :( I let the front desk agent know early in the morning about my concerns. She was less than apologetic and said she would let housekeeping know. Later, the room had been serviced but despite my stripping the beds of mattress pads (and the two pillow protectors that were present) the room was remade without ANY pillow protectors or mattress pads. I had even bagged the trash for the housekeeping staff and it was left neglected, exactly where I set it. The OP Manager Michelle was very apologetic and quickly sent up staff Darryl to help me remake the beds with mattress pads and pillow protectors. The breakfast server, Sharon, was exceptional as well. She was friendly and professional. She was bustling around, taking orders, and was kind and helpful. We were happy to see her our second morning there, as well. Again, as an employee staying on an employee rate, I can understand the propensity to put a staff member in a less than perfect room. But, our room was an F, all around. I was not offered any compensation. My recommendation? View a room before you spend your hard earned money. We were down for a mini vacation with my two year old, and didn't feel comfortable letting her run around the room without shoes on. Not what we know or expect from a brand name hotel. Maybe other rooms were better, but my guess they are short staffed and not getting the support or supplies needed...