Holiday Inn & Suites Oakland - Airport, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Oakland

I've never been fussed with the family friendly Holiday Inn chain, preferring the more upscale and trendy chains like Starwood or the reliable business class chains from Hilton (Garden Inn) and Hyatt (House/Place), but a recent stay at this Oakland Airport adjacent overnight blew out my expectations so much that I thought it worthy of writing a review. And here it is.

Let's start with the property itself. I don't know when this location was built, but it shines like a new penny with modern and admittedly predictable furniture and decor that feels like it just opened this year. Common areas and my room were pristine. There's a full service restaurant and bar on site, surprising at this level of hotel which typically serves breakfast and little else, and certainly nothing memorable. But the bar looked like a place that I might enjoy hanging in for a night-- fun, boisterous, and full of people. This is helpful because the neighborhood the hotel is in, adjacent to the airport, is not designed for evening strolls to see what's available on the local food scene. A room service request made at 10:50pm was not only accepted, it was delivered in under 30 minutes and was hot, and thoroughly enjoyable (two dishes of pasta and two desserts of the day, total including tax, delivery and tip was $75).

The room was appealingly furnished with what you would expect from a mid level chain. But the size of the room - at 750 sq feet, was as spacious as some apartments I've lived in for years. I opted for a suite upgrade, at a cost of $30 or $40 more than the standard room and was delighted to find a double size room upon check-in – that's 1500 ft.² of space for those who are not quick with math. Do yourself a favor and if you're staying at this property spend the extra for the upgrade. You won't regret it whether you are there for a day and especially if you're there for a week.

Lastly, the hotel amenities were another pleasant surprise. In addition to the full-service restaurant and bar, the property boasts a decent sized outdoor (enclosed) swimming pool and sunning area and a bigger than usual fitness center combining both aerobic equipment and weights for strength training, and in a room spacious and bright enough so as to not flip you into a depressive episode after 20 minutes.

To sum up, I was pleasantly surprised by this above average mid-level hotel it is clean, modern, spacious, and boasts amenities reserved typically for much pricier hotels. This is not trendy, luxury accommodation but it is not punishing either. I say space is the new luxury. Give me 750 ft.² of room over a 24 hour concierge any day. And it is a tremendous value for your dollar should you be transiting through Oakland anytime soon. Five stars for being more than...

Front desk staff was great -- other staff, not so much. As compared to the neighboring hotels, I would probably return because of room size and comfort, price, small size of hotel, and convenience. The larger hotels in the area each have strengths and problems. The convenience of the neighboring restaurants is a plus. Since I end up staying near the Oakland airport several times a year, I was curious to try this facility.

The size of the room was great, beds comfortable and the "activity table" was one of the best workspaces I have found in a hotel. We would have liked more TV stations. The arm chair is great but needs a footrest. There are enough electrical outlets. It would be nice to be able to keep the bathroom door open. Also, that door and closet door bump -- closet should be a slider. There should be a light directly above the full length mirror.

I might use the pool another time since it is heated.

We had dinner in the restaurant. It was very crowded and noisy. There is no where that folks who are not interested in sports broadcasts can eat and converse. It was almost impossible to get waited on -- we concluded that we were the wrong age and gender. The menu we had looked at online was obsolete -- we had chosen the restaurant for the lamb chops that were no longer available. The quesadillas were almost inedible. The steak sandwiches were tasty but the Texas Toast was undertoasted and soggy.

Lobby snack station needs fruit and milk and more variety.

We hung out the room service breakfast order on the door knob. It was never collected. When we called, reported that lapse and ordered breakfast, no apologies. When we described the experience to the staff member who brought up breakfast, there was no apology or effort to remediate the problem by offering some complementary item. The housekeeping staff knocked on the door on the day of check out -- evidently had not been instructed to leave those checking out undisturbed until they departed as is customary in most hotels. She was confused when I said to wait until we...

SERVICE & TRANSITIONS -- Impressive lobby layout. Very clean; perfect balance of function & glitz. Staff were personable & enthusiastic, facilitating average-speed checkins. Manual paperwork & lack of Tap Pay made the process slower than it needs to be. Gated parking on site is a nice perk but also easily confuses ride share drivers. The police/security presence can be comforting too if you aren't from this area. Access to a full gym + laundry services are included & the facilities are in great condition.

ROOMS (423, 143) -- The Accessible rooms are incredible; more spacious than the status quo 👍. Lighting is weak in these units consequently. It's still an enjoyable setup, with supportive seating & a generous amount of tabletop space. Standard guest room layouts have much better lighting & views. Good AC systems in both configurations, as well as some improvised storage. Better than nothing. https://youtu.be/AdFTLCjwoNE https://youtu.be/v2u3a6XwgYw

BED -- 👍 no complaints: Lofty pillows Form mattress Cleans linens Great sleep

BATH -- One of the worst shower experiences I've had recently: poor shower head patterns, rust, the smallest towels possible, mediocre water pressure... Everything about this bath space was worse than the usual underwhelming status quo. Dove bath products were a slight reprieve

WI-FI & CELL RECEPTION -- It's free... --Performance-- Video streaming - average Online gaming - average Video chatting - average --Nerd Stats-- 3-7 Mbps download 9-37 Mbps upload 0% packet loss 32 ms latency 11 ms jitter

FOOD & DRINK -- DoorDash friendly. A myriad of food-services on-site too: Snack market in the lobby, a full bar, & vending + ice machines on upper floors. In-room: ✅small mini fridge ✅Mini microwave ✅ coffee

LOCATION -- The usual profile for an airport hotel. This hotel also felt safer due to the security presence, gates, and surveillance.

VERDICT Minus the pitiful showers, it was a great stay. Strong on convenience & amenities. Rideshare pickup/drop off can be awkward, so prepare for some...