Holiday Inn Ontario Airport — Hotel in Ontario

This happened several years ago, but I realized the review, which I wrote at the time of the incident, had never been posted to Google Reviews.

Complaint filed with Attorney General:

On March 22, 2023, I booked a one night stay on the IHG(Intercontinental) website for the Holiday Inn at the Ontario,California airport. Confirmation #24754767. This reservation was not "Pre-pay" or "Pre-deposit." The reservation, as indicated, was booked through the IHG website, not through a franchisee. Nor at any time during the reservation process was it indicated that the hotel I booked at was a franchise. However, on the morning of March 23, 2023, I discovered the hotel had already placed a charge/hold against my card, with the card only being used by me as part of the reservation to guarantee payment if I did not show. Not, as indicated, for either any prepayment or deposit. I called the hotel and spoke with "Chris." I stated that it was not legal what had occurred. Chris hung up, later to claim, through Cynthia R. Villalobos General Manager, that we had been disconnected and that he had tried to call me back. He also stated the hotel was sold out and as part of the hotel's policies to maximize revenue when it was sold out it charged against cards early. I called back and asked for the General Manager and Chris misrepresented himself to me as the General Manager. When challenged he then gave me the name of the purported General Manager--a Charles. I called back later to speak to the General Manager, who turned out to be a Cynthia Villalobos, only to discover my reservation had been cancelled. Ms. Villalobos was later to claim that Chris only had done it because he was doing "God's Work" so to speak and wanted to reverse the charges/hold I was upset about and that, really, my reservation had not even been cancelled. IHG's own website at that point showed the reservation did not exist any longer, and the front-desk person at the hotel could find nothing either. The point, clearly, was for me to show up that evening and find I had no place to stay. Ms. Villabos also stated to me that the hotel is an "independent hotel that has its own policies," doubling down on the hotel's purported sanction to charge cards early when wishing to maximize revenue. Ms. Villalobos also said that she has spoke with "Charles" by phone who said "That is the hotel's policies and if [I] did not like it [my] reservation should be cancelled." Ms. Villabos also stated that the hotel had tried to reach me after she and I first spoke after she tried to get to the bottom of my reservation being cancelled, as there "were no notes regarding the cancellation," but she had purportedly encountered a wrong number. Apparently, my IHG phone number on file is one digit off. However, Ms. Villabos took this opportunity to inform me that when she had called the number that someone had sworn at her and been upset about me using their number. Clearly, she was trying, with yet further misrepresentation from the hotel, to additionally cloud the matter and tar me more somehow, as they already had categorized myself verbally to me as unjustifiably upset with my card being charged without my authorization. In fact, Verizon informed me that the number she purportedly called and was sworn at, etc. has never been in existence. When I called her again to discuss this and another issue around my deposit, she cancelled the reservation again, this time under the pretense that there was not one room in the hotel that met my earlier request--made at the time of the reservation--for a "top floor, no connecting door, quiet." The illegalities and misrepresentations at this hotel--some misrepresentations laughable on their face--are legion. Clearly, this hotel feels it has license from IHG to do absolutely anything it wishes. The hotel's IHG franchisee license should be pulled and IHG should not be allowed to franchise hotels without engaging in substantially more oversight. Furthermore, IHG customers should be told during the reservation process that they are being passed on to...

My experience with this Holiday Inn location was extremely disappointing, both as a job applicant and as a short-term employee.

I applied for a front desk position on March 15, 2025. I was contacted almost immediately by someone identifying herself as the General Manager. She sounded young, likely in her late 20s, but was friendly and professional on the phone. She asked me to come in for an interview, which I did either the next day or that following Monday. After the interview, she told me I might get a follow-up call from the owner, Charles, for a second interview.

Soon after, she contacted me again and scheduled the second interview with Charles. That meeting seemed to go well he even handed my paperwork back to the GM and told her to go ahead and hire me. I received the standard onboarding documents and links to set up my employee account. My official start date was March 21, 2025.

When I arrived on my first day, I noticed right away that everyone on the team was close to my age, including the GM, who couldn't have been older than 27. During the interview, I had explained that I was familiar with the hotel system they used, but only the newer version not the older one they had in place. The GM said that would be fine and that I’d be trained accordingly.

However, the training was poorly done. My coworker jumped into the system with no explanation, clicking through things and asking if I knew what she was doing. I told her I needed step-by-step guidance, but that never happened. I was left to watch and figure things out on my own. There were no written instructions, no structured training process, and no real support from anyone.

Eventually, I began teaching myself how to use the system by experimenting with it directly. I wish they had a demo or training version of the system to prevent potential mistakes, but I don’t believe I caused any errors during my time there.

Unfortunately, I was only employed for five days. On my fourth day, I was messaged by the GM to come in at a later time this felt off. When I arrived, I went to get a timesheet since I still wasn’t set up in the timekeeping system. That’s when the GM called me into her office and told me I was being let go. She didn’t give any clear reason just that I wasn’t a “good fit.” When I asked for specifics, she said she didn’t have to give a reason. I then asked if the owner knew, since I’d been required to interview with him before being hired, and she said no. I asked to speak with him and was told he was busy.

I left the building but later saw Charles in the hallway and approached him to talk privately. He had no idea I’d been let go and asked why. I explained what happened, and he simply said he wasn’t involved in day-to-day operations even though he had personally interviewed me and approved my hiring. That didn’t make sense to me.

Being let go so suddenly after just a few days put me back in a tough spot. I filed an EDD claim for unemployment. I’ve since been informed by the department that the employer is fighting my claim and has even added so called employee “witnesses.” I find that absurd considering my extremely short time there and the lack of any real incidents.

I believe I was treated unfairly and possibly discriminated against. This location was full of gossip, lacked leadership, and clearly didn’t have proper training or management systems in place. I’ve been forced to escalate this issue and involve legal counsel. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to take action in a situation like this and I take these matters seriously.

To the management at this Holiday Inn: your behavior was unprofessional and unacceptable. You need to do better, and you will be held...

Don’t think this review is towards the establishment but how IHG hotel made a big mistake in my reservation. I was originally at a rate of $105 for the night and I would be charged at roughly $117 in total. My husband called back to see if it was possible to receive a military discount. Whoever he spoke to seemed to have cancelled my original rate and gave my husband the rate of $117, in which my total would be roughly $135 for the night. To many, this amount might not seem like much but because of this horrible economy we need to save where we can. Why would this man not advise my husband that the original rate we had would have been CHEAPER than the one WITH military discount? That made ZERO SENSE! Not good customer service AT ALL! I did not notice the difference until my husband hung up with the customer service rep and I received an email shortly after of the change. I right away notice the price difference and called right back where I spoke to a gentleman named MIKE who didn’t seem to be much help. I told him the situation we were having and I requested that we would like to have the first rate of $105 because it was cheaper. He told me they couldn’t change it and stood on that. I requested to speak with a supervisor and he just kept repeating himself and did not put a supervisor on for me to speak with. Now I’m upset, as is we are in town for a family funeral and this is the last thing we should be dealing with! I hung up and decided to deal with it when we arrive to the hotel. Upon arrival we check in with a GREAT front desk woman by the name of VICTORIA, told her of our situation and she was very professional in letting us know we would have to call IHG to discuss what had happened and take it up with since that’s who I originally reserved with online. She gave us free breakfast passes and was amazing the whole time. I still ended up paying $135 and decided I would call back later. Our room was decent, however the bathroom was horribly hot, no ventilation. So next day we checked out before 9am and my husband called IHG and they said they opened up a “rate discreption case” we were advised they would get ahold of the GM of The Holiday Inn Ontario Airport who goes by the name “Adrianna” and she would be contacting me soon. Now because of my work schedule I missed her call but made sure to call her back. I have now called back TWICE with no luck. I have been told that she is not in the office. The last time I called the girl I spoke to I did let her know this was time sensitive and needed to hear back from ADRIANNA, ASAP. It has been two days since I last called with no luck from this General Manager. This whole thing should not be taking this long! It’s ridiculous. Nothing has been fixed and at this point I would like a FULL REFUND. I really hope...