Holiday Inn Express & Suites Kodak East-Sevierville by IHG — Hotel in Sevierville

This is the worst Holiday Inn Express experience I have had. I give my stay one star only because I can't give it "0". I do not post hotel reviews but thought you needed to be warned before booking this one. I do not know how this hotel has received such good reviews. I can't imagine that everything that happened to us is a "fluke". Let me start with the good. The Housekeeping, Maintenance, and Breakfast staff were great. The breakfast is what is expected at a HIE hotel. That's all that was good. We had issues from check-in to check-out. When traveling with disabled family members, it is important to book handicap accessible rooms. From the time we arrived, we felt like we were discriminated against for needing handicap services. We paid extra for a handicap suite but were told upon checking in that this hotel does not even make an accessible suite. We were told that we could have an accessible regular room (with no discount for the room cost difference) or a suite that was not accessible – that's all we can do. Having no option and not being able to get our money back at that point we were forced to take the non-accessible suite. The lady at the front desk was not friendly and did exactly the bare minimum she had to do to get by. We opened the door and found a hotel room that needs updating and then my wife nearly fell in the floor after sitting on the edge of the bed and finding out it had a broken box-spring. It was after hours so we had to sleep on a broken bed until the next day (when the box spring was replaced with one from another room). The beds are old and worn out and not comfortable but that's to be expected. We noticed the next day that our AC unit had a slight burning smell for a bit every time it turned on and then we were having trouble with the curtain staying closed and discovered that the curtain rod had fallen off the wall on one end. We were tired of reporting problems so we just decided to deal with it. Our last morning there was Christmas. It was taking us a bit longer to pack than we thought so I called the front desk to see if we could request a late check out. I have traveled extensively and have requested late check out on countless number of occasions and have never had the request denied. Sometimes they can only give 30 min extra but it is always appreciated. I was greeted by a grumpy, rude staff member that told me "No. Check out time is at 11." I explained that it was just taking us longer than we thought and asked if it might be possible to have even a few extra minutes and I received a simple reply "nope." Disappointed, I hung up the phone and we raced to finish packing to meet the timeline. After packing the vehicle, I walked back in to speak with the manager about our entire stay. Management cannot deal with issues if it is never brought to their attention. The same lady was on the phone talking to another guest in the same harsh tones. When she was finished I asked if a manager was available and she said that she was the manager on duty. I let her know about all the issues during our stay and she just stared at me with no emotion or response. I asked why we weren't allowed even a few minutes grace on check out time and she told me that all the hotel staff was ready to get home as fast as they could. That is understandable and I would want to get home to my family as well. However, Housekeeping had not even made it to our floor at that point of the day so we were not holding them up at all. I told her that my wife was crying and that I had an entire truck full of upset family because of the rushed fashion that we were forced to leave and she told me "Well...I had to bring my kid to work with me. None of us are having a good day." Just because this lady had to work on Christmas there is never an excuse to talk to guests the way this lady does. NOTE TO MANAGEMENT: The lady working the front desk on Christmas morning 2018 (I can provide her name is contacted) should no longer work for Holiday Inn Express as she does not represent the brand well. As I said before, I don't post reviews but I thought it was so important that management and guests should be informed of what...

This is the worst Holiday Inn Express experience I have had. I give my stay one star only because I can't give it "0". I do not post hotel reviews but thought you needed to be warned before booking this one. I do not know how this hotel has received such good reviews. I can't imagine that everything that happened to us is a "fluke". Let me start with the good. The Housekeeping, Maintenance, and Breakfast staff were great. The breakfast is what is expected at a HIE hotel. That's all that was good. We had issues from check-in to check-out. When traveling with disabled family members, it is important to book handicap accessible rooms. We paid extra for a handicap suite but were told upon checking in that this hotel does not even make an accessible suite. We were told that we could have an accessible regular room (with no discount for the room cost difference) or a suite that was not accessible – that's all we can do. Having no option and not being able to get our money back at that point we were forced to take the non-accessible suite. The lady at the front desk was not friendly and did exactly the bare minimum she had to do to get by. We opened the door and found a hotel room that needs updating and then my wife nearly fell in the floor after sitting on the edge of the bed and finding out it had a broken box-spring. It was after hours so we had to sleep on a broken bed until the next day (when the box spring was replaced with one from another room). The beds are old and worn out and not comfortable but that's to be expected. We noticed the next day that our AC unit had a slight burning smell for a bit every time it turned on and then we were having trouble with the curtain staying closed and discovered that the curtain rod had fallen off the wall on one end. We were tired of reporting problems so we just decided to deal with it. Our last morning there was Christmas. It was taking us a bit longer to pack than we thought so I called the front desk to see if we could request a late check out. I have traveled extensively and have requested late check out on countless number of occasions and have never had the request denied. Sometimes they can only give 30 min extra but it is always appreciated. I was greeted by a grumpy, rude staff member that told me "No. Check out time is at 11." I explained that it was just taking us longer than we thought and asked if we could have even a few extra minutes and I received a simple reply "nope." Disappointed, I hung up the phone and we raced to finish packing to meet the timeline. After packing the vehicle, I walked back in to speak with the manager about our entire stay. Management cannot deal with issues if it is never brought to their attention. The same lady was on the phone talking to another guest in the same harsh tones. When she was finished I asked if a manager was available and she said that she was the manager on duty. I let her know about all the issues during our stay and she just stared at me with no emotion or response. I asked why we couldn't be allowed even a few minutes grace on check out and she told me that all the hotel staff was ready to get home as fast as they could. That is understandable and I would want to get home to my family as well. However, Housekeeping had not even made it to our floor at that point of the day so we were not holding them up at all. I told her that my wife was crying and that I had an entire truck full of upset family because of the rushed fashion that we were forced to leave and she told me "Well...I had to bring my kid to work with me. None of us are having a good day." Just because this lady had to work on Christmas there is never an excuse to talk to guests the way this lady does. NOTE TO MANAGEMENT: The lady working the front desk on Christmas morning 2018 should no longer work for Holiday Inn Express as she does not represent the brand well. As I said before, I don't post reviews but I thought it was so important that you, the...

Upon arrival at 15:45 we walked in and requested a check in. The front desk receptionist stated that the room was not ready. I asked when the room would be ready, and she was less than friendly stating that she wasn't sure she was waiting for housekeeping, it could be 5 minutes or 10 minutes maybe even 20 minutes. After 16:00 which is the check in time she was playing on her phone and walked off. Around 16:05, I asked another front desk receptionist how much longer they were anticipating (because I had reservations based on the check in time. Also, the financial part of check in had already been addressed as the funds were deducted from my account at 05:00 that morning WAY before checking in). Front desk receptionist two stated that she went up to check on housekeeping. When front desk receptionist one came back, she ignored my presence and was avoiding us instead of just being up front and honest with whatever the status may be. After a period of time a new employee also front desk came in. His name was Randy. I asked Randy if he could please let me know how much longer until we would be in a room. Randy stated he had just clocked in and to give him a second and he would find out. Randy is the only reason this hotel has a two out of five-star review. Randy was proactive and took control of the situation. Randy went up to the floor, observed housekeeping not represent, and that housekeeping had turned the key in to indicate clean. Randy got us checked in. Upon arrival in the room, I always do spot checks just for safety purposes. I went into the bathroom (in a room they "just cleaned" keep in mind) in the bathroom found hair all in the floor, trash still in the trash can, but most importantly a pill in the bathroom sink. At this point I was upset because that is a huge safety issue, not to mention that I just waited PAST reservation check in time for cleaning and it wasn't even clean. Additionally, there were also rocks in the carpet of the living area. I took photos and immediately went downstairs. When I got downstairs the female front desk receptionist(s) took off to the back. Randy was still standing there. I showed Randy the photos and he got us into another room so that they could investigate that room. Randy was professional and handled the situation with promptness and understanding; whereas the other two female front desk reps could have cared less and made sure to carry the less than happy to be here attitude. After changing rooms and finally getting settled the rest of the evening was fine. I would like to note that this Holiday Inn seems to run differently compared to the others within the area (Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg locations). This was my first visit to this specific hotel as I typically stay at the other locations listed above. Myself and other family members/friends that I have informed about this situation will also not be a returning guest to this...