Holiday Inn Express Sheboygan-Kohler (I-43) by IHG — Hotel in Sheboygan

It was a very comfortable, relaxing stay. Beds were soft, there different pillow options to choose from, window could easily open, shampoo and conditioners came in a handy pumper installed within the shower, there were quite a good variety of food for a free breakfast, the number of towels available was agreeable, and the list could go on and on. However, the only unsatisfying thing was when I checked in. The receptionist was not waiting at the front desk, even though it was the desired check-in time: 3 PM. My sister and I had to wait for several minutes, behind a couple who was first in line, until the receptionist came out. She didn't bat an eyelash at her tardiness, didn't give any of us a smile, and just proceeded to check the couple in. When it was our turn to the front desk, the receptionist, like before, didn't smile, and just asked for my ID and payment card. Now I don't know if it was my inexperience in checking in hotels, but even though I booked two rooms, the lady didn't allow me to check-in for both rooms. She only gave me a card key for one room. When I asked her that I reserved two rooms and should be getting two card keys for the separate rooms, she said I had to have the entire party at the front desk in order to check-in for both rooms, but not just that, a different person within the party would check-in for the other room and not me, even though I booked both rooms and they both are under my name and my payment card. I was baffled and confused. I'm sure other hotels allowed a guest to check-in for multiple rooms if booked beforehand. My sister has more hotels experience than me, and even this incident shocked her. Anyway, since my sister and I were the only ones there, and the two hotel rooms I booked were meant to fit 8 guests, which there were 8 of us in total, and since we didn't know who was bunking with who (we didn't plan this earlier) nor did we know where the other hotel room would be (we wanted them near each other), we had to wait until the other 6 arrived before heading to the rooms together to decide roommates. Obviously, the check-in experience could have been quicker and easier if I had access to both rooms immediately, but nope, it didn't go that way. But even so, the overall experience...

I've not paid more for a room due to local events so I'm tweaked, even using miles. During my check-in, no thanks for being an IHG member. It was apparent in the parking lot with four parking spaces for Elite Diamond members (four) that not much attention would be paid to a member with many years of commitment to IHG with apparently no status. This is another story of how I can be a long-standing user of IHG hotels without standing.

My family member, who had a separate room, was emailed an invite to the social event. When she inquired, she was told it was only for IHG members only. I gave her my tickets, which was sort of the beginning of the stay.

The staff was unengaging, and I felt I was in the way of staying there. Complete disinterest would be an adequate description. Staff hovered around the front desk, murmuring, but customers were clearly not the focus. Clearly, staff disunity reigns there without leadership. In fairness, the software glitch affected the hotel; however, the same glitch affected their hospitality.

The staff was not rude but unfriendly and clearly unengaging. The word hospitality implies a desire to serve. The kitchen staff and gentleman cleaning the kitchen were fine, but those with actual customer contact had other interests.

After many IHG stays, this was the first backache I'd experienced due to a really cheap and unsupported mattress. The room cleaning program was not clear. One person at the desk told me I would be getting 500 points for every day I didn't get service. I was wondering how to request room service if I wanted it. It's so hard to accumulate points with IHG that I don't really care if I get them.

The bottom line is that I've had a series of marginal stays, and this was the last one. I take pride in being the Best Customer of the Day and had to rethink my strategy. For Pete's sake..if your system is down and everyone has to fill out all the paperwork. And you have to make excuses and apologize..give them all a free...

Our stay was ok! Not horrible but not the best. The hotel is on the south side, which is further away from our activities, but that was ok since it's easy to get around. We loved these things:

The hotel is trying to update, which was nice to see, however our room wasn't updated.

There was a mini fridge and microwave

The bathroom was nice and large and they provided dove soap, shampoo and conditioner (my hair doesn't mind dove)

There was good room for unpacking and storing clothing (albeit not enough for the 5 of us)

There were usb outlets to plug phone chargers (we could use more of these as we are a family of 5 with many devices)

We appreciate the continental breakfast options

The bathroom fan worked! The room can get stuffy (and the windows aren't able to be opened) so having a fan and circulation is great.

Nice big TV which was mounted on the wall (didn't have to worry about it knocking over on a kiddo)

A few things we didn't like:

The pool was closed and that was a big reason for our stay. We had 2 families with young kiddos and a pool is a must to keep our kiddos occupied. We weren't informed and this would have changed our stay.

The rooms were really hot and dry. We had to run the AC, which felt weird as it was mid-October.

No turning of the rooms or making the beds each day. This is a great perk for those who are traveling and like a tidy room (and need a break) - would love to bring this back daily

The room had little things broken; the toilet was very low and the seat was broken

The drain plug in the tub didn't work

The bed box spring sat in a metal frame and the metal stuck out from the bottom of the frame. We kept worrying it would take out someone's ankles/legs and either bruise or...