Holiday Inn Express & Suites Santa Cruz, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Santa Cruz

My husband and I arrived late in the evening, tired and hungry after a long trip. We had booked the room through Booking.com — just like millions of people do — because the rate was cheaper than at the front desk.

Instead of a warm welcome, we were met with the coldness of indifference.

🕰️ We checked in for just one night. No special requests. Just a room. A bed. Rest. That’s it.

But in the morning — instead of a “Good morning,” we were hit with a shock:

💳 Our card had been charged twice — $325 as expected, and then another $125, with no explanation, no notification. It felt like a slap in the face.

We went to the front desk — not yelling, not demanding, just politely asking for clarification.

But instead of help, we got blame.

“You must have booked two rooms,” they said, as if we were trying to trick them.

We showed the reservation. They printed it themselves — one room, one night. And still, they kept insisting it was our fault.

And that’s when it became painfully clear: 👉 The staff didn’t care how we felt. 👉 It was easier to blame than to take responsibility. 👉 They had no intention of offering the kind of experience that builds trust or loyalty.

Eventually, they muttered that they’d cancel the $125 charge. But: • The money is still not back. • There was no apology. • No compensation. • Not even basic kindness.

😞 And here I am — a guest of an international hotel chain — sitting and wondering:

How can I trust the Holiday Inn brand again, when my card is $125 short and your staff smiles like nothing happened?

🧊 Hospitality is not about furniture, shampoo, or even the bed. It’s about how you make someone feel. And I felt devalued and humiliated.

Let’s talk about the room. No bottled water. Not even for the coffee machine. This is supposed to be a global business hotel, yet it felt like a budget motel. ❗ That says a lot.

🚘 Parking? $10. Not mentioned clearly upfront. Another surprise.

⸻

📌 Holiday Inn — if you’re reading this…

You failed. Not just as a hotel. You failed as a place that was supposed to offer a moment of peace for two exhausted travelers.

If there’s still empathy in your team, you must already feel it:

🟥 You didn’t apologize. 🟥 You didn’t make it right. 🟥 You didn’t even try to soften the experience.

These moments define your brand.

I’m not demanding anything. I’m just leaving this review here, hoping that whoever reads it has the heart to understand what this meant for us.

Because when guests walk out not only disappointed but hurt — the problem is not in the system. The problem is in your culture of service.

Make it right. Not because I asked. But because deep down — you...

Fair warning since the website is not updated- pool is under construction.

Typically, I do not leave reviews because previously working in hospitality industry I understand things happen and not everything is perfect each time you stay in hotel. This time though left me in disbelief.

We were there for short trip to beach. On our 2nd night about 8:45 PM our smoke detector began to chirp. Called the front desk, her response I'll call you back. Mind you I explained what was happening, clearly just a simple battery needed to be changed. She called me back, so is there smoke in the room?! I again explained no the battery is dying. She stated well there is nothing I can do I don't have access to a room with a ladder but to be honest not sure how to do it. Maybe at 11 when the next guy comes in he can help. I said so I need to sleep through the chirp going off every 30 seconds? (I had video and timed it by this time) She said yeah. I asked for the manager to call me. At around 10 PM same front desk gal calls back said here are your options 1) move to a King one bed room (my room 2 queen, I needed the two beds) 2) stay in the room and deal with it or 3) Be escorted off the property. I said I'll call you back and hung up! Keeping it in mind I had my 3 children it was 10 PM and not knowing where would we go, I decided to keep TV on and do our best to drown out the chirp!

Woke up the next day full assuming since I didn't change rooms and had voiced the problem we were having that the hotel would have maintenance take care of this for us that next day. That did not happen! In fear of being "escorted" off the property, I decided to not push then envelope with this problem, to keep quite and finish out stay without further interaction with the staff.

I am still in disbelief that a simple battery change in a smoke detector escalated to being escorted off the property or deal with it mentality. I think the GM Devin Smith needs to sit back and rethink how she approaches each situation at her hotel. This was an easy fix that clearly was just not worth their time or effort in their eyes.

Do better Holiday Inn Santa Cruz it was a simple 10 minute fix yet you rather let your guests have 2 days of non stop chirping everything 30 seconds because it's just to much to...

I've stayed here at this particular Holiday Inn Express before, but what made this time exceptional was my girlfriend had made a request for a room near to the morning breakfast buffet, cause she wanted to bring me breakfast in bed! Hey, sweet girl huh? But she didn't want to have to carry all the food and drink up 2 floors and all the way down a long hall before getting to the room. Turns out all the rooms were assigned already and we were suppose to get the second floor. Oh well, we'll deal with it. But later that morning before we left Reno, my GF gets a call from the hotel front desk, letting us know, he was able to rearrange some people and get us a real nice room almost right next to the buffet. That was so nice of him to do that for us! His name was Johnathan I think. Kudos to him for going the extra step to get us in a nice room near the buffet. He just as easily could have just left us where we were and not gone the extra effort. Great staff here! The parking here is nice because it all covered in an underground garage, so no dew all over the car windshield in the morning. Although underground parking garages remind me of shootouts with Jack Bauer on 24!

The room is quite nice, and the bathrooms are remodeled it looks with redone showers and vanity. I like the lighting in the bathroom, it a better color shade my girlfriend says for putting on makeup. The wifi works well, good connection. I used the ethernet cable provided for a full speed connection. Room is all clean and no weird creepy crawly things running about.

The breakfast buffet is better than most free breakfast buffets at most hotels I've stayed. There is even a pancake maker! Yes, my breakfast in bed was almost as hot and tasty as my after breakfast dessert was! :) .... The price here is a bargain and is decent for the Santa Cruz area and the freeway access in all direction is great with this location. I'll come here again!

Pro tip: get a room on the first floor. They have big high ceilings and thicker so you hear no noise from above. Being near the front desk buffet area is a big blessing, counting how many trips we made to the front area for food or whatever of just coming and going. Get a room...