Holiday Inn Express Boston - Saugus by IHG — Hotel in Saugus

So I travel a lot for business. 100+ nights a year. I use a Corporate Lodging Card. Not a lot of hotels take it. I stayed at this property a week before this stay and although it wan't a smooth experience it was ok so I returned a week later. When I tried to check in there was an issue with the card. It took 50 minutes for them to get me into a room. I was frustrated but I understand, it's a new check in process. While I waited however TWO "guests" approached the desk at different times and told the other desk employee that didn't wait on me they had forgotten their key in the room. This desk employee gave both individuals keys and DID NOT VERIFY ANY INFORMATION FROM THEM. I was flabbergasted. Talk about a security breech. They finally checked me in and I went to my room and double locked the door.

When I left the next morning I went to the desk and asked for the Hotel Manager to pass along my experience. When I told her about being a CLC customer she politely asked me to hold one moment and went and got another woman who I believe was in charge of integrating CLC into the accepted forms of payment. I told them about my extraordinarily long check in process and the second woman immediately stated to me "Well CLC was having issues on their website" in a tone of voice that was condescending, rude, and dismissive. No apology, no nothing, just the whole it isn't our fault line. I waited one minute to see if the Hotel Manager was satisfied with Her employees response and since she didn't say a word I told them both that CLC did not have an issue, that hotel did. The reason CLC would not approve the stay was because I was never checked out of their hotel on the previous weeks stay. Again, no apology. Nothing. Two stunned hotel employees who suddenly have gone mute because I am unwilling to allow them to falsely blame others for their shortcomings. I then told them of the keys issued to people with no verification of identity and the response? "Oh they know better. We have trained them."

I have done customer service my entire adult life and would NEVER stand for any of my employees treating guests this way. Physically it's a nice hotel. With the current reno it will be better. Parking is not big enough, and route 1 is a one way road and getting out of the parking lot onto the road is dangerous. Unless forced to by my company I...

Lets get the good out of the way. Most everyone I encountered were great, the room was clean and nice, shuttle service through Logan was so helpful.

My stay should have been 5 stars. The price was fair for having to park my car for a week prior to my stay, the room was great and clean. Bed was comfortable.

However, 3 things have left me very irked with validity.

I flew in very very late (landed at nearly 1 AM) in Logan and rather than another 3 hour drive home, this was perfect. I frequently fly out of Boston and finally decided to see about staying on events like this for better travel quality.

Groggy, and extremely tired, I finally arrived at the hotel around 2 am, got ready for bed and fell asleep around 3 AM.

Little did I know, the ALARM WAS SET FOR 5:15 AM!

Out of a dead sleep, I woke up to an alarm screetching top 40 music after just 2 hours of sleep. Now, if you paid for a hotel room and were in my situation, how irritated would you be? I had all I could do but to collapse when I found the bed, let alone looking at the alarm.

I fell back asleep, and had my phone alarm set for 10 AM to make sure I was up for checkout in time. Well, turns out I didn't need it.

I had housekeeping rapping on my door at 8:26 AM . It was a one night stay, but I could let that slide since I technically didn't have a "DND" sign on my doorknob. I just didn't think I'd need it or that housekeeping would bother me for a very brief one night stay.

The combination of these two things made me ever so happy to head home on what otherwise could have been a nice stay.

The woman at the front desk checked me out the next morning, and she was very apologetic and sincere. It wasn't her fault and she was very kind, and handed me the GM's business card. She also gave me some points to compensate for the lost sleep and to help out.

However, after emailing the GM,

about my concerns, I didn't even get an automated reply. I feel like this was a dropped ball with the holiday season, at least I am hoping for that to give the benefit of the doubt. I feel like my case could be slipped through the cracks as things do happen, but a simple acknowledgement can go a long way. I don't know if I'll stay here again when I need a hand with my...

This place is truly a diamond in the rough. The service from the staff here and the overall hotel experience was amazing. John C at the front desk was an absolute riot! What a great employee! He was having a rough night with some rude customers and we were laughing and having a good time! Really appreciated his attitude change and not letting it affect the other customers checking in!

The rooms were very spacious and very clean! The dove branded products for the shower and vanity were an excellent touch and smelled amazing. The pillows were also labeled on the cases for firm and soft. I mean the details here were unmatched. Plenty of drawer storage, an ironing board, hanging closet with hangers, a comfy chair to sit in and a great channel selection. Beds were extremely comfy! Just the right firm and softness!

They do have a little store front at check in for purchases of snacks and essentials if need be. Laundry soap and dryer sheets. We were ecstatic to Learn there are washers and dryers on each floor as we were traveling for thebweek from new york to Maine on vacation!!! Only $2.65 to wash and dry but do take quite a while. We paid the extra .25 cents for an extra 6 min on top of the 55 min to dry and our jeans were still damp. Washer took about 65 ish minutes to wash. They do add time as they are both cycling so the times are not accurate.

The breakfast was free and had a great selection. It was buffet style with quite a few options. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, muffins, bagels, oatmeal and more. Apple and orange juice, multiple coffee machines with plenty of offerings for cream and flavors complete with to go cups for your travels.

Overall I would absolutely stay here again Placenta of garage and lot parking, 4 airport style buggies to bring in your luggage and so much more. There wa sa neat silent auction in the lobby as well! They do recommend purchasing rooms 3rd party as they can be substantially cheaper. The gal in front of us walked in and paid about 270$ a night on a Saturday where we purchased on priceline for about 124$ a night. So just a heads up in...