Holiday Inn Express & Suites Valencia - Santa Clarita by IHG — Hotel in Santa Clarita

THIS IS FOR THE LAUNDRY ROOM ONLY This "Wash App" laundry option now at the hotels is a TOTAL SCAM. They ask you for your credit card information, email, and upfront funds and 12 different steps just to do ONE load of laundry. It is INFURIATING. I purchased some laundry detergent from the front thinking all I would have to do is add in some coins or tap to pay to do a load of laundry. I was informed that you have to download an app first and then proceed through the steps to do laundry.

The entire process for guests to do laundry is ruining my opinion of the IHG / Holiday Inn Express experience. I've always held Holiday Inn at a very heavy guard due to their customer service and rooms, being consistently comfortable, and their pillows and sheets being great. But this is really soured my taste of the brand.

They should not be asking any customers to upload their credit card information to some sketchy app which then you have to load any word from $10-$25 of funds even though the wash itself only cost $2.75. And even though there's a top to pay icon at the front of it. It doesn't show that option in the app, which is infuriating even after I uploaded my credit card information. I just hate this so much because I just wanna do a simple little laundry and get back to my life, but they've made us an entire 20 to 25 minute process and I haven't even started my laundry yet.

IHG/Holiday Inn express – you are making this difficult on customers. Please get rid of this stupid "Wash system and app". Its like they tried to make it like the automated ones in Europe, EXCEPT the ones in Europe put the customers first in user experience, and simpler and easier to use (and you don't need to upload credit card information just to run one single load). They have the customer first and not profits. This is definitely a cash scam to try and get extra leftover funds or "reload" options by the customer.

Everyone hates it. If you really care about your customers changing back to a more simplified method. Even in basic laundromat has an option to "tap to pay" and doesn't ask for your credit card information upfront. This is a total scam and you're ruining your brand because of it.

(See screenshots and photos showing all the steps it makes you go through).

These are the steps just FOR ONE LOAD OF LAUNDRY: (Purchase detergent separately) Download app Register email, name, phone number "Upload funds" Only option to upload personal credit card information Purchase $10 or more (even though I only had one load for $2.75). Option to re-load or "refund" funds Then start laundry.

Thankfully, I'm text savvy, but what if somebody isn't??? Can you imagine how frustrating this would be for any other person? Think of the customer first and how many hoops you have to make them go through just to do a single load of laundry as simple service when somebody's on the road and they're tired from driving all day. You obviously don't have a customer's best interest at heart which disappoints me in the IHG brand.

As a note - outside of this experience, everything else has been great at the hotel. The front desk staff, the room, the housekeeping, the cleanliness, location, etc. but this experience has been infuriating to cause me to leave a one star review simply for the wash app. I will leave another better review for the rest of the hotel separately, but for now this is only for the...

UPDATE: MY BELOW REVIEW WAS FROM OVER A YEAR AGO WHEN I STAYED AT THE HOTEL. MY UPDATE IS REGARDING A RECENT INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED THAT INVOLVED ME. ** RECENTLY WHEN A FRIEND OF MINE WAS STAYING IN THIS HOTEL FOR OVER A WEEK DUE TO A DEATH IN HIS FAMILY, I CAME BY THE HOTEL TO CHECK ON HIM. THE ASIAN HOTEL MANAGER PULLED MY FRIEND ASIDE THE MORNING I WAS THERE TO SEE HIM AND TOLD HIM THAT SHE HAS BEEN "GUNNING" FOR ME FOR A LONG TIME AND THAT I NEED TO LEAVE THE HOTEL AS I'M NOT WELCOME, AND IF I DIDN'T LEAVE THEY WERE GOING TO KICK HIM OUT. MIND YOU UPON HIS CHECK-IN THE OTHER HOTEL STAFF WERE VERY ACCOMMODATING AND UNDERSTANDING AS TO WHY MY FRIEND WAS STAYING AT THE HOTEL AND WHY HE WAS IN TOWN. THE MANAGER THEN BEGAN TO SLANDER ME AND TELL MY FRIEND THAT I WEAR WIGS AND HOODIES WHEN I COME INTO THE HOTEL SO SHE DOESN'T RECOGNIZE ME AND THAT'S HOW I SNEAK PAST THE FRONT DESK! CLEARLY THE HOTEL MANAGER IS CONFUSING ME WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I DO NOT FREQUENT THIS HOTEL NOR HAVE I BEEN AT THIS HOTEL ANYTIME EXCEPT THE TIME I STAYED OVER A YEAR AGO AND WHAT MY BELOW REVIEW WAS ABOUT. MY FRIEND WAS EXTREMELY BOTHERED BY WHAT WAS SAID AND IMMEDIATELY CHECKED OUT AND TOOK HIS BUSINESS ELSEWHERE. NOT ONLY IS IT VERY UNPROFESSIONAL, BUT VERY WORRISOME THAT A HOTEL MANAGER IS HOLDING SOME TYPE OF GRUDGE WITH SOMEONE THAT SHE IS CONFUSING ME WITH AND THAT'S VERY SCARY. *** Love the fact that you can help yourself to a cup of coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate at any time of the day down in the lobby. The breakfast in the morning has different choices of things to eat. I didn't appreciate being hounded in the morning by the kitchen staff demanding I tell them what my room number was, treating me as if I didn't belong or wasn't welcome, to the point the employee trapped me in the breakfast area by closing the doors until I told her what room I was staying in, and then she opened the doors back up allowing me to exit to the seating area in the lobby. I have never felt so offended, not to mention extremely bothered by how I was treated. I will never stay at this...

Writing to say how impressed I am with the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Valencia - Santa Clarita. I flew over to be with my auntie who is at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia. For anyone with a loved one in the hospital, it is a mere 6-min Uber away from this property. Let me start by saying that I truly think I am the first one to ever stay in this room! The property is new and rooms are SMART rooms (at least, the lighting is). Everything is immaculately clean. I had an issue with the card reader with regard to lighting, and a service technician showed up almost immediately to resolve the problem. Front Desk has been overall stellar (though this morning’s guy seems very rushed and impatient). Every employee here, though, has a smile and is happy to be here. Bfast is the standard IHG fare, so if you know you know. I loaded up on protein yesterday with eggs and “omelets” and a big cup of yummy coffee. This property has made everything away from the hospital easy. It is super quiet and my sleep has been divine in the comfy bed/bedding. Thank you, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Valencia - Santa Clarita, for blessing me during this challenging family time. [My only “complaint,” if you can even call it that, is the bathroom doors. If you do not shut behind you, the door crashes into the front door. It was obviously a design flaw and I am confident they will resolve it in their next build. In the meantime, while some sort of door stop would be great — my neighbors have made the same door noises as me! — I have trained myself to close the door upon entry.] *PS: [two nights points; two nights money]. Major props to Raina and Sienna at the Front Desk as they were so kind to me and went well beyond hope or expectation, accommodating me with dedicated assistance. Give them both a raise,...