Holiday Inn Express Oakdale by IHG — Hotel in Oakdale

I didn't have high expections on Oakdale, a meaningless place to me. Only booked the hotel because it was available for a small number of IHG rewards points per night. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Modern stylish hotel, with large rooms and huge bathrooms, really huge. Hallways smelled fresh and new, carpets looked like they had just been replaced (which wasn't the case, they told me). Neat fitness room, use of laundry room was not very expensive. Ample parking. The rural area around the City of Oakdale turned out to be very attractive: rolling hills with just a few heads of cattle or horses grazing on them. Very scenic. The City calls itself, based on its history, Cowboy Capital of the World. Even better: you'll find the Cowboy Museum only three blocks from the hotel. ||||From the internet, on my cell phone, I picked up an auto-tour provided by the Chamber of Commerce, extremely interesting. I'd suggest to spend at least half a day on this tour and bring a picknick or swimsuits. The ride leads along fishing spot, gold panning sites, canoe tracks, rapids and even a huge covered bridge, the longest that may be found west of the Mississippi. Also you'll visit the historic village of Knights Ferry and a cheese farm. ||||On a second day, I went for a day trip to Yosemite Valley. The drive there is scenic, but takes more than two hours each way.||||Some negatives about the hotel. Firstly, there are no automatic doors at the entrance. City people like me are too lazy to open their own doors. Then, I really don't like it when I check in, "ID, Credit Card!" is being shouted at me. This would be perfectly normal in a low standard hotel like the one across the street, but in a Holiday Inn Express you prefer to be addressed in a polite tone of voice. (Or is this based on a theory: if the first impression is really bad, the rest can only get better?) The breakfast area also is a bit low on seating capacity. This can be simply addressed by taking the breakfast to your room, but not every guest may be that inventive or young enough to do so. The swimming pool is small, but deep enough, but there's no whirlpool. The seat in the bedroom was patched with faux leather pieces, only: it didn't look like that was done in a very 'symmetrical' way. I hope these issues can be addressed in the big renovation they are planning to do within two years. The rest of the room was in a spotless condition, with a flatscreen TV and at least a hundred digital channels. Lastly, I'd like to mention that the hotel has been built in a way that assures that rooms are shielded from the traffic noise from the highway (to Yosemite) in front. Very...

When we arrived, we were greeted by the most friendly and helpful young lady I have ever met. We were a large group, she accommodated all of us, asked us if we wanted rooms close together, showed us the pool area, the downstairs restroom, and how to get to the ice machine. We asked if we could gather for bit in the lobby and she was more than accommodating for our needs. A few hours later a new staff member showed up, I'm telling you, if she had been the one there when we originally got there, I would have cancelled my reservation even if it meant I would be penalized. She was so rude! Kicked us out of the lobby, infact closed the lobby and told us if we wanted to watch TV we could do so by watching from outside the lobby seating area. We had a few things, snacks and such on the table and instead of just asking us she started moving all our things. We came in from the pool once we noticed what was happening and apologized that we were getting the floor wet (there was no mat at the door coming into the lobby from the pool) and she made rude remarks under her breath. Later that evening she seemed a little less angry as we walked passed and went to our room. As we turned the corner to head to the elevator, 2 doors down from the front desk reaked of Marijuana. When we got to our room and turned on the bathroom fan the odor invaded our space. My husband went downstairs and asked if it was a non smoking area, she said he would have to go outside, when he told her he was only Inquiring because of the odor in the hall and now our room she over apologized and said she would have a maintenance worker check it out immediately. As my husband walked away she headed to the room herself instead of sending maintenance. Hmmmm. Besides that one horrible staff member, and the beds being miserably uncomfortable, the place was clean and...

We regularly travel for sports tournaments and Holiday Inn Express is my "go to." It budget friendly and always includes breakfast which is great as we run out the door for games all day. This hotel did not have breakfast service available - understandably due to COVID 19. However, this was not indicated when I made the reservation. Upon arrival and finding this out, I was told there is not discount and no alternative or sack breakfast that could be provided (as many other hotels are doing). We made our way to the 2nd floor room using the stairs to lug our bags up because the elevator was not working (door wouldn't shut). The hallways were very hot and uncomfortable, as was our room upon entering. The AC unit was located in the very back of the room, behind the bathroom door, and had to be blasted at 60 degrees to even cool the front/bed area in the room. The bathroom had used towels laying on the sink and the floor but by that point, after our 1:30 am arrival, we just wanted to go to sleep. The second day we let the front desk know that our bathroom floor was wet from what appeared to be a leaky toilet. No maintenance person on site, so we were told we could change rooms if we wanted to pack up and come to the front desk. We opted to stay in the room since the elevator wasn't working and we didn't want to lug everything down and possibly back up again. A few extra towels on the bathroom floor would do the trick - if we wanted to come down to the front desk and get them. As I stated at the beginning, we stay at Holiday Inn Express often. It's not a luxury hotel, but is always more than comfortable for my family. This time was unfortunately not. I think I may have to re-think our "go to"...