Candlewood Suites Omaha Airport by IHG — Hotel in Omaha

I will start first by saying that there is nothing wrong with the facility. It was clean and quiet. They had a shuttle bus to take us to the CWS at TD Ameritrade.

Then I was informed of a family emergency shortly after check-in and the need to leave arose. I went to tell the front desk that I needed to check out about 5 hours after I had checked in and was informed that there would be an early departure fee in the amount of one night’s stay applied to my charges. I don’t recall ever being made aware of this policy and don’t recall of ever hearing about an early departure fee.

I stay at IHG branded hotels whenever they are available. I am very loyal to them in part due to my Gold Elite Priority Club status. I travel with varying frequency for both business and pleasure and always choose IHG branded hotels when available. I have traveled on business and both extended stays and terminated stays early and never once have I been charged for an early departure fee. Below is an excerpt from the hotel’s policy that I received via email when booking the room. The cancellation policy is described but no mention of an early departure fee is mentioned.

Cancellation Policy: Canceling your reservation before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Friday, 12 June, 2015 will result in no charge. Canceling your reservation after 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on 12 June, 2015, or failing to show, will result in a charge equal to the first night's stay per room to your credit card. Taxes may apply. Failing to call or show before check-out time after the first night of a reservation will result in cancellation of the remainder of your reservation.

Rate Description: Take advantage of our best and least restrictive publicly available rate. Changes to your reservation are usually acceptable, but always check the hotel's cancellation policy before booking for cancellation fees that may apply depending upon arrival date and hotel selected.

Hotel Information:

Pet Policy: Pets allowed with nonrefundable fee. Up to 75 for 1 to 6 nights and up to 150 for 7 plus nights. Each pet must weigh less than 80lbs. Pet agreement must be signed at checkin. Call hotel for details. Record of complete and up to date vaccinations required. Additional taxes and charges may apply. Other hotel-specific service charges may also apply.

I suppose by this point that whomever is reading this has probably determined that I am not pleased with the early departure fee applied to my stay. You would be correct – I am highly displeased. In addition to reward points opportunities I look for an accommodating group to work with when I travel. I feel that there are a lot of things that a hotel can do to help a traveler and there are things that can be done to make travel a hassle. I choose to work with and travel with those that make my travel easier. This opportunity to excel did not make my travel easier. I understand that this is probably Candlewood Suites’ policy for early departure. And I understand that it is probably written somewhere in the check-in documentation that I signed at check-in. Or maybe not – I don’t recall and it certainly wasn't pointed out. All I know is that I was told that I would get charged the early departure fee and basically “there was nothing I could do about it”. To that I say thank you. I hope that the exorbitant nightly rate that I paid for the night that I did not stay was well received. I will note that it will be that last night I pay to stay at an IHG branded hotel. I will stay with IHG to use my Priority Club free nights on personal travel but once they are gone I will be too. There are other hotels to stay at and I am sure that they would like to earn mine and others in my company's business. My corporate travel group has been pushing another chain for some time now and I have resisted to this point but I think...

I would not recommend staying at this hotel and didn’t know it was possible to create such a bad experience, in just 12 hours. When we checked in, the staff seemed more interested in what was on TV, rather than helping us. Once we got to our room, we noticed that there was no smoke detector, and the pillow cases and sheets were dirty with hair, makeup stains, and lint.

Shortly after, we went to the front desk to request a new room which they immediately accommodated, and the new room was satisfactory. Additionally, we inquired about the airport shuttle and was told that it continually runs every half hour, on the hour.

The next morning, we checked out and planned to take the 5:30am airport shuttle. However, at 5:25, the shuttle departed before we could exit the lobby. We asked the front desk staff member why the shuttle departed 5 minutes ahead of schedule and was told that it needed to make stops at other hotels.

When we asked him to call the shuttle driver to turn back, he said that we were not signed up in advance, so that may not be possible. After we told him the evening staff said nothing about booking a van time, he made a phone call and said there was no guarantee of the shuttle turning back, and that we would have to wait until 6am, for the next shuttle. We ended up taking an Uber to the airport due to this situation.

Overall, this hotel, its staff, and shuttle are garbage. I wouldn’t pay my worst enemy to stay here, for any amount of time. There are several other superior properties by the Omaha airport to...

We stayed 5 nights at this hotel. One adult and 3 small children. Check in was quick and staff was friendly. I went to exchange towels and the gentleman advised me he would bring them to the room later. That never happened. During our 5 nights I asked multiple times if someone would vacuum our floor (just once would have been fine) it did finally happen on day four. I also asked if someone would empty our trash ( I understand they only clean weekly here but emptying the trash once in 5 days I do not think is a big deal). I ended up just doing it daily myself. During our stay I noticed on one side of the cabinets in the kitchen there were 3 screws sticking out about an inch. I pushed the chair up against the area to cover it and advised the front desk but again nothing happened. I did have a gentleman come in on day 5 checking the sprinklers and I advised him of the screws.

I also used the laundry facilities and had an employee put one of my loads of laundry into the dryer (the load was not standing there long at all about 5 minutes). Not something I was fond of considering it was things that were not to be dried thankfully I grabbed them out quickly. I appreciated the gesture but would be best to just put the laundry on top of the washer if it was that big of deal no one was waiting they were all empty and it was late in the evening. These were a few of the things that happened during our stay. We love IHG properties unfortunately this one was just not up to par like some of the others. Nice people but zero...