Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sandusky by IHG — Hotel in Sandusky

We had to transfer to three different rooms before we found one that wasn't flooded from the air conditioner. We were exhausted and just like to get some rest before we returned to CEDAR POINT. After settling into the third room, decided to take a shower only to find out that the shower was broken and had no water pressure.

On top of that, there was no conditioner in the bottle, which was frustrating since it wasn't discovered until after we tried to take a shower. There was also mold in the bathroom, dead gnats along the mirror and windows, etc. The lady at the front desk apologized again and said that she would take care of our room and also gave us each of a free snack from the little pantry. It took three different rooms for them to finally find a room that wasn't flooded due to the air conditioner. We were exhausted and finally settled into our room and decided to take a shower only to discover the shower had zero water pressure and was missing amenities. They were dead bugs along the mirror, Mold in the bathroom, jet bugs along the window, etc. At this point, we were far too exhausted to do anything else and there was a significant storm outside so we just sucked it up and dealt with it for the night. We were not even able to take a shower the next morning before heading back to the park, which was very frustrating.

The next morning, breakfast was a disaster. The pancake machines never were up and running. They cannot keep up with restocking the food, despite their being plenty of employees standing around. One of the employees there was walking around with cash on and a lottery ticket taped to her name badge as if she was soliciting tips. I know it made of the guests uncomfortable as we heard chatter about it. The employee that was doing the work on the pancake machine and trying to refill it very loudly proclaimed numerous times that the machine was going to be the death of her and how much she hated it. Advertising a free breakfast and having travel to numerous IHG properties over the years, this one needs a significant change in leadership and to be held to a higher standard because at the moment it doesnt appear they are even striving for mediocrity.

The employee on the first night apologized profusely for the countless issues that were encountered along with being unable to resolve some of them. She said she would take care of the room cost and gave us each some snacks from the pantry there.

The next morning, the manager, Karen, gave us a partial credit on the room. When I told her what the other employee had promised, she said that wasn't possible because the employee would have needed to call and get her permission to do that first. She then went in the back and called the employee who lied about promising that. I almost understand that because at the end of the day, that employee still needs to work under the manager who was less than pleasant and truly lived up to the reputation of her name, Karen. She proceeded to tell me that she has worked there 10 years and has never comped a room - which I don't believe for a second given the conditions in this hotel. Perhaps she has a training issue with the employees or she is on a power trip that they did not ask for her permission first, but they should honor what was promised, and her employee should not be afraid to speak the truth about what they promise in order to care for a guest.

I had already wasted so much time dealing with the issues in the rooms, the lack of adequate breakfast items and frustrations, I decided to just check out and deal with it later. So now we are home, and I am still trying to get resolution and the credit that we were promised.

On a sidenote, this ownership should consider promoting the person who checked us in to the position of manager, as she is clearly much more skilled in customer service and conflict resolution, than the current manager who is clearly long overdue for...

We chose to go with Holiday Inn Express on Cedar point drive as the hotel for our wedding guests. Overall, I was not as pleased with the experience and feel bad making our family and guests pay an extra $198 plus tax to stay here. My husband is from the Columbus area and we were expecting a large turnout for people staying. The hotel had a shuttle service so that guests wouldn't have to drive and that was a major plus for me.

As far as blocking the rooms and getting all the details set, Corey did an amazing job. He was great to work with, friendly and responsive. We decided to have the rehearsal dinner at the hotel in one of their conference rooms. This room was clean and a great space for pizza and sides for about 40 people.

Unfortunately, the rooms and staff did not stand up to Corey and the rehearsal dinner space. We blocked off 25 rooms total for Friday and Saturday night. I assumed the rooms would be in close proximity or at least within a couple floors of each other. The guests were scattered everywhere. My husbands immediate family, who booked a total of 4 rooms, were all on different floors. Not a huge deal, just not what we expected and not convenient.

My husband and I got one of the suites for both nights at the discounted rate of $198 +tax. We went in Friday to drop off stuff and the room smelled like throw up. I am really not one to complain but the smell was so strong we had to leave the balcony doors open to try and air it out. We asked hotel staff we saw in the hallway for air freshener and couldn't find anyone who spoke English. When I went to ask the front desk, literally no one was there. There was a couple waiting at the counter and we had to set up for the rehearsal so I moved on hoping the room would air out a little. This was not the first time I saw the front desk completely empty. The front desk staff were not super friendly. Again, not the end of the world but I wanted our out of town guests to feel like this was a good way to spend over $200 a night.

The day of our wedding my husband used our room to get ready. I believe everything went smoothly with that. I assumed the shuttle started and transported guests as promised before the wedding started. It wasn't until the very end of the night that I realized there was another wedding party staying at our hotel and also using the shuttle. I have no idea what the wait times were like for the guests, but at the very end of the night I was in a group of about 10 people waiting for the shuttle to pick us up from Ten Fifty Eight Event Center and take us back to the hotel. This was well within the time we paid for the service. We sat outside of our venue space for about 20 minutes waiting. After about 10 minutes we called to check to see where it was. Whoever answered said they would call and check. After another 10 minutes we called again, and were told that the shuttle was making a run for the other wedding. 5 minutes later the shuttle arrived with passengers from the other wedding filling 1/2 the van. Luckily there was 2 pregnant women with cars who could drive part of the crew I was with and the others went in the van. Otherwise we would have had to wait for the shuttle to drop those people off and come back for us. Again, I was never made aware we were splitting the shuttle service with another couple and I paid the full amount.

The provided breakfast looked to be successful. The space to eat was clean and I think guests got to take advantage of this perk.

Staff at the front desk was less than friendly, but that is what it is. The rooms were stinky, we didn't get a fresh set of towels or the bed made for when we got back from our wedding so that was disappointing. From what I experienced of the shuttle service, I was not impressed and feel like I shouldn't have had to pay the full fee when I had to split the service with another couple. Again, Corey with event services...

Let me start by saying I have been an avid Holiday Inn Express goer for years. I have stayed at this hotel in the past without any issues. However, I WILL NEVER stay here again, or at any Holiday Inn for that matter. My friend and I planned a trip to Cedar Point for our families. Two days in the park, one night at the hotel. I had read in the Priceline reviews that one person had bed bugs in her room a few months prior to our stay. When I checked in I brought this to the desk clerk’s attention. He stated that there was always concern for bed bugs in hotels but that he had not heard of any complaints regarding bed bugs at this particular facility. He also stated that his best friend and his father were the exterminators that do the treatments for the hotel so he would know. It was late as we closed the park down and were ready to just go to sleep. My friend checked into her room (305) and right away the room was dirty. Sticky red substances all over the furniture, the wall looked like it had water damage and the room itself just smelled dirty. They asked me to do a check for bed bugs as I had experience doing this. Not only did I find bed bugs, but it was INFESTED. She quickly moved her family out of the room and into mine while they called the front desk. The front desk stated that they could not move her rooms as they were booked for the night and that they could not refund her money as she booked through a third party. They also did not seemed a bit surprised that it was full of bed bugs. There was nothing they could do. When asked if they would at least look at the room to prove that it was full of bed bugs, they refused. She was devastated. She tried calling the third party and could not get through. She called the front desk again and they finally offered to move her to another hotel but stated that she would have to pay for this hotel after already paying almost $400 for the room at the Holiday Inn Express. Not only could she not afford this but her children had already fell asleep in my room; which we thought was free of bed bugs. She decided to cancel the room at the hotel so she could prove she didn’t sleep in the room to the third party. Her children slept in my room while she and her husband slept in their truck. The following morning while showering and preparing to check out we found bed bugs in my room (314) crawling on top of the covers; now there was a possibility that we all could carry them home with us. We went to the front desk and spoke to management again. They stated the same, there was nothing they could do other than heat treat our clothes (which would have made us late getting to the park and further upset our children) but promised to tell the third party that the room was canceled so that the money could be refunded. We ended up getting multiple garbage bags to take our belongings home in and treat everything ourselves. When my friend got in touch with the third party they stated that they called the hotel but that the management would not verify the room was not used nor would they refund the money. They never offered to even give me partial payment back for my room even though I booked directly through them. The hotel ended up with almost $800 for two bed bug infested rooms, refused to do anything and were not a bit surprised. Save your money, go...