Holiday Inn San Antonio N - Stone Oak Area by IHG — Hotel in San Antonio

Don't stay here.

Over the last 3 years this has been my go-to hotel when staying in town because of the proximity to my parents. It was convenient and aside from the dated rooms, it was overall fairly pleasant as long as you stayed on the side facing the parking lot. So the evening Sun wouldn't melt you in your room. However, I will no longer be staying at this hotel. I had made a reservation and ended up having made the dates reserved incorrectly. I called within the hour to fix my reservation and was greeted by a very friendly voice as I've never had any customer service issues here. Everything seems normal. I was assured that my points and my money would not be deducted and that my reservation was successfully moved to next week. Apparently the representative I talked to at the front desk was mistaken as I was told numerous times by both the general manager and other hotel employees. Which obviously means there is a serious issue when it comes to training that directly falls on the general manager. I was in fact charged points and money from either the hotel or IHG themselves. In either case, when I contacted the hotel about the error they told me to call IHG to get it all straightened out which is completely fine. However, IHG told me to contact the hotel and specifically the general manager or manager on duty. I did this, or at least attempted to. For three straight days I was told that the manager would be there the next day, I called at 9:00 in the morning each time. Finally, on the fourth day I was able to get a hold of this mysterious manager that was supposed to help me out. I explained the situation, they told me they would get back to me by the end of the day. They never did. I called the next day only to be told by the representative at the front desk that the manager would be back the next day. I then called the following day at the specific time they told me to call and I was then told that they would call me by end of day. This happened about three other times and I've officially given up. The management at this hotel should be ashamed of themselves and should absolutely not be in the positions they're in. If you say you're going to call someone, then call them. Even if you don't have any update for them yet, it's basic courtesy to let the person know who spends money and his time regularly at your establishment that you were doing what you can. Instead, it's been nothing but silent and excuses. The management at this hotel apparently does not comprehend how training is supposed to be for employees and is apparently nowhere to be found. I filed directly with IHG about my issue with the hotel, even them saying that I need to contact the hotel management. I no longer will give this hotel any of my money ever again and will be staying at Marriott properties in the area for now on because of the absolute abysmal management.

It's also worth mentioning, that the rooms are still fairly dated even though they are apparently are upgrading. They've had numerous car break-ins. The insurance is very sneaky but that's fine cuz it's not under their control. The breakfast and dinner options within the hotel are very subpar and overall the hotel is just not worth the money plus the management anymore.

You're better off finding lodging literally...

After doing a lot of research and reading the great reviews of this place, I was excited for our stay. I booked directly through their hotel website instead of one of those discount sites. I’d always been happy with my HI visits, until this one.

The lobby is pretty nice and everything looks pretty updated. Our room was also nice, just really small. The issue though is that our room looked out onto the sun deck. If I open my curtains, anyone out there could see us. Yes, people were out there and saw us. That was extremely uncomfortable and awkward. Why would you have a window right there??? I had to make sure not even a crack of curtain was open when we were changing. The hallways also have an odd smell.

We got there later than I wanted to so we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant for dinner. They were practically empty, but the service was extremely slow. By the time the food came out it was room temperature. I ordered a cheese pizza for my daughter, but they brought us a pepperoni pizza (which she can not eat). They went to make another one, but she was starving and had to wait even longer. They brought her bowl of fries while she waited. My burger wasn’t fully cooked inside also. While I understand that it’s not cooked on an open flame, it was extremely pink inside which grossed me out and I didn’t finish it either. The pizza was brought out and I’m pretty sure it was the same one with the pepperoni removed and more cheese added on top. In the end all we ended up eating for dinner were the cold fries. It’s nice that the kids eat free, but I would’ve gladly paid extra for better quality.

We then went to the indoor pool which my kids had been dreaming about all day. We knew it wouldn’t be a giant pool and were okay with that. Unfortunately there seemed to be a lot of unruly children diving and playing pretty rough in this tiny pool. There was little to no adult supervision either. The staff walked in on my request because there was not one free chair (although no one was sitting in them) and no towels like they said they’d have. The staff came in and seemed to also be frustrated by the child to adult ratio and behavior at the pool, but didn’t want to, or didn’t know how to address it. They had someone bring a few towels for us, but ran out right away again. Both of the bathrooms in the pool area had out of order signs as well. The whole pool area was unkempt and not comfortable for anyone to stay in. My kids asked me to leave after 30 min because the other kids were just too wild.

To add insult to injury, my daughter found a bug crawling on her bed. We were on alert to make sure it was just the one, but she didn’t want to sleep in the bed. We had a sleepless night on your rockhard beds. I was so upset that I chose to stay at this hotel, it was a pure waste of money. The only difference between this hotel and a cheap two star is that I paid way more to stay here for the same level of comfort. We couldn’t get out of the hotel fast enough the next morning. I hate leaving such a negative review, but this stay was honestly one of the worst ones I ever had. Please look into your services and fix the problems. We were looking for a nice quick getaway, but instead were miserable...

This was my worst experience at an IHG hotel.

I booked my reservation well in advance because I was attending the Army Ball. Although check-in was at 3 PM, I didn’t arrive until a little after 4 PM, giving extra time for my room to be ready. When I approached the front desk, I noticed a room key with my name already sitting on the counter. After completing the check-in process, the receptionist informed me that my room wasn’t ready.

I asked when it would be ready, and he said he didn’t know and would need to check with housekeeping. I stepped aside to wait. After 15–20 minutes, I asked again for an update. He said there was no update. I then asked if they could assign me any available room, explaining that I didn’t care about the style—I just needed to get dressed for the ball. He told me there were no other rooms available.

I was shocked. I had checked in after the designated time, specifically to avoid this type of issue. His response: “There’s nothing I can do.” I stepped aside again, trying to remain patient.

Moments later, I watched another guest approach the desk, check in, receive a room key, and go to his room without issue. Naturally, I was upset. I went back to the desk and asked why that guest was able to check in if there were supposedly no rooms available. The receptionist told me that guest had a different type of room. I reminded him that I had already said I was willing to take any room so I could get dressed. Again, he said nothing was available.

After waiting a bit longer, I approached the desk one final time to cancel my reservation. At that point—after repeatedly telling me no rooms were available—he suddenly offered me a handicap-accessible room. By then, I was beyond frustrated and told him to cancel the reservation.

This was an awful experience. I am a Platinum member and always choose IHG hotels when I travel. I don’t know if the receptionist’s behavior was due to bias—whether racial or gender-related—but the treatment I received was unacceptable. Because of this, I had no choice but to change for the Army Ball in a McDonald’s bathroom, as I didn’t have time to secure another reservation nearby.

I’m deeply disappointed. I have always trusted IHG to provide reliable service, especially as a loyal Platinum member. This experience fell far below the standard I expect, and it left me not only inconvenienced but embarrassed on an important occasion. I hope this feedback is taken seriously, and that steps are taken to ensure no other guest is treated this way...