Holiday Inn Express & Suites Phoenix - Airport North — Hotel in Phoenix

I very seldomly leave bad reviews, if ever. However, in my 20+ years of travelling this has to be one of the worst experiences with a hotel I have ever had. It was actually surprising to me just how sketchy this location acted, despite numerous follow-ups on my end.

After arriving to a room with broken A/C, the room was essentially a sauna. Normally I wouldn’t care too much, but staying in the room was genuinely a health risk to my wife and I. No windows, no ventilation, Arizona heat with broken A/C to boot. Not happening.

We spoke with management who told us there were no more available rooms, and that they’d try to relocate us to another hotel. Fair enough.

Management couldn’t find any hotels for us to transfer to — so effectively told us they’d refund our money: apologies for the inconvenience, and good luck.

Alright, sure. I’m a reasonable person; these things happen. Refund our money and we’re good.

Queue a 6-month long drag of this location refusing to refund our money and refusing the multiple requests for recompense via our booking agent.

I don’t even care about the money, but the principle of this location (1) giving us a room that was a risk to our health (2) failing to do anything to rehouse us for our stay (3) lying to us and outright blocking any attempts for us to recover the money we paid for the room over the course of the past 6 months… is embarrassing.

I’ll actively avoid any future stays with this hotel chain in the future, and if the lying and gaslighting I’ve gone through to simply recover the small sum of money I paid for a hotel room they failed to deliver is reflective of their business practices, I’d suggest you avoid this location and brand too.

Again, I’m not concerned about the money — I just never thought I’d be scammed in broad daylight by a global brand like this. Guess I was wrong. How embarrassing.

Quick tip for the hotel: before selling people $200 stays, someone should probably check to make sure that the rooms aren’t going to bake people alive like Christmas turkeys. Oh, and when they are, don’t scam people out of the refund you agreed to in-person before they have to relocate to another hotel at...

I chose the Holiday Inn Express and Suites based on the location, shuttle availability from the airport, and prior reviews. Overall a pleasant stay with a few small things that would improve the overall experience.

Upon landing I called the hotel to get directions to the shuttle as indicated in the IHG app. After a short hold, the attendant gave directions to the shuttle pickup location and said the driver would be there in 10-15 mins. Unfortunately it was a bit longer wait than anticipated for our baggage but thankfully the driver waited for us and was at the pickup location ready to go. It was a bit confusing as the shuttle has both Home 2 Suites and the Holiday Inn and Suites on the windows and I wasn’t used to having 2 different hotel chains share the shuttle but apparently the properties share the same owner.

At check in the attendant said my welcome amenity of 500 points would be sent (IHG platinum elite) immediately and I inquired about the availability of any upgrades. They offered a 2 queen suite available from the standard 2 queen room. The only hiccup with the check in was when requesting a pack n play the attendant first said it would be 2 hours before one could be delivered as they were the only person working (7:50 pm). This would have been unacceptable coming from the east coast after a long travel day with small children. Thankfully they called the home 2 suites across the parking lot to request a pack n play and were able to get one by the time we dropped off our bags at the room and returned to the front desk. The other inconvenience was only having 2 sets of towels in the room. I went back down to the front desk who thankfully had plenty available.

The room was clean but some of the common areas outside the elevators needed to be vacuumed.

The breakfast area was clean and there was an adequate amount of options.

We scheduled the shuttle for our return trip to the airport the night before and the driver was ready and waiting when we arrived 5 minutes before our...

After staying in SO many different places in Phoenix, I have to say, this place is my new go-to. I live out of state, but come often to visit family, and I have had some amazingly horrible luck with some places (see my other reviews). That was not the case here.

Check in was fast and easy, the rooms are very clean, and the staff was helpful. Breakfast is just "meh"; typical American hotel franchise fare. But at least they have it.

It costs a little more than some places , but it is worth the extra money. You won't be dealing with vagrants or addicts, like you will at so many other places in Phoenix. Nothing at all against people who are down on their luck, but the stark reality is that property crimes and violent crimes are higher in areas that have a high concentration of vagrancy.

As I travel with my wife and two young children, I am not up for adventures that may involve me getting in a physical altercation. This spot is perfect for avoiding such issues, since you must enter the building to access rooms. The room doors do not open to the outside, and that is a huuuuge plus for several reasons (which I'm sure that you can easily assess for yourself).

The hotel is in a great location for my needs. Everywhere I need to go is quickly accessible from this spot.

I honestly have no "cons" to report. I'm sure I could if I wanted to nit pic, but there's no need for that. They are checking all the boxes.

That said, I recommend this highly. If you are in the area, and they are sold out, I'd recommend either getting a Sonder (if available), or staying at the nearby Howard Johnson's (if you need a less expensive option). Just book ahead, though, and...