Crowne Plaza Springfield - Convention Ctr by IHG — Hotel in Springfield

• Booked reservations as part of the Lincoln and Continental Car Club event. Requested one room be ADA handicap accessible

• 9/19/23 I received an email update and it noted 2 standard rooms. I called and talked to the registration person for over 15 minutes. While exceedingly friendly, she had no idea what a handicap accessible room was. I read her the description off the Crowne Plaza website. She asked if she could get this resolved and call me back. I said yes and she never called.

• 9/23/23 Arrived and the lobby area reeked with a terrible smell and did so for hours. No explanation was given but the guests were all discussing it.

• 9/22/23 checked in and had 2 standard rooms. After about 15 minutes, we were able to finally get one ADA accessible room.

• 9/22/23 room 615 did not have a remote for the TV and one was promised to be sent up

• 9/22/23 room 615 had a toilet stool issue as the chain from the handle to the flapper had broken. I know how to re-attach it but it was broken. Maintenance was contacted.

• At the LCOC event, the microphone did not work and hotel staff indicated they were not allowed to help as it is an AV contract. Fortunately, members of the club were able to fix it with a working battery. Was the club charged for the microphone that was not operable?

• 9/22/23 Returned after the Friday events and room 615 had a remote but still had a broken stool. I walked around and found a party that had helium balloons and took one. I tied it to the flapper so I could now flush without getting my hand wet.

• 9/23/23 Returned after the morning event and the 90-year-old disabled person’s key would not work in his room, 612. I went to the desk to get a new one and since the room was in my wife’s name, they would not give one to me. She said it was policy and he could come down or walk to the hall courtesy phone and call her. He is disabled with a walker! This is totally unacceptable. I found an alternate way to get him in the room, I went back to the desk, she called him and he gave permission to give me a new key.

• 9/23/23 Room 615 toilet is not fixed but the balloon is holding its helium very well

• 9/24/23 Room 615 toilet is not fixed and the balloon was starting to succumb to the humidity of a hot shower but I dried it off and it rebounded

• 9/24/23 at check out, there were very limited suitcase carts for a conference hotel so we carried our suitcases to the car

• There was no concierge at any time we were there and the pool was closed for repairs in spite of the website promoting a pool.

Overall, this is the worst experience I have ever had at a Crowne Plaza and look forward to your service recovery in...

Unfortunately early in our say, this property was hit by a crazy wind & rain event the 2nd day that we were there for our GTO Convention; powerlines and their poles were down everywhere, especially across both driveways leading in and out of the hotel. A connecting road from the Holiday Inn Express was also blocked, so we were essentially trapped with no way out. Several folks were able to drive over the high curbs between the hotel and Red Lobster next door. This was not an option for those of us with older classic Pontiacs. Power was being supplied by a diesel generator to strategic places like hallways, stairwells, and occasionally the elevators, but nothing to the rooms, HVAC fans were running in the rooms but no AC to cool and dehumidify. And worst of all, there was no power to the kitchen, so we could not eat. In spite of this, we stayed an additional night--camping style--to see things in the light of day and to plan an escape, as our weeklong convention had been cancelled since we were told that power would not be restored for at least several days.

All of the front desk staff are to be commended for keeping cool heads and for keeping 750+ people informed as best as possible, and for staying positive in the face of thousands of questions.

This writing is in no way a condemnation of this hotel, under normal circumstances this is a wonderful place to stay and we will not hesitate to use it again when we need this location. The rooms are comfortable and quiet. the restaurant and bar produce high quality food. It is time to get away from the Covid-era, once a week room cleanings, bed-makings, and wet towels in the bathroom. Not cool at all.

The Disaster Protocol procedure amounted to getting all of those people into the interior banquet room as quickly as possible, because initially this was a tornado event complete with the sirens blaring outside. 15 minutes later, it was all over, the damage outdoors was significant, and was declared a derecho, and not a tornado--we never saw a funnel close to us. In English, a derecho is a line of intense, fast-moving, high wind, straight line storms and rain, sometimes accompanied by lightning.

So, give the good folks at the Crowne Plaza Springfield your business (assuming that the power is back on, that is part of the true issue, getting power company crews mobilized and rolling faster than...

After writing a rather critical review of this hotel last year, I hoped to be able to give a good report this year, but, sadly, that is not the case. Construction, including jackhammers, going on in the room above me, starting at 7 am, several days in which the water was turned off, rooms flooded as a result of the above plumbing issues, broken ice machines, and air conditioning units that made a very loud bang every time they cycled off were just a few of the issues that plagued my room and those of the group that I was traveling with. The Wifi, although improved from last year, was still unusable for my purposes....after spending 3 hours trying to upload a small file to a colleague and only achieving 40% success, I managed to find a marginal Xfinity signal near the window and completed the transfer in less than 30 seconds. I also very much missed the refrigerator I always had in my room in the past, and I question why these new upgrades didn't include a small microwave that most other hotels in this class now have. But, by far, the biggest issue was the front desk allowing someone off the street to come in and charge an extra room to a member of my party's bill without so much as a passing effort to verify the validity of this change with the cardholder. Although the hotel removed all charges from this incident, it should never have been allowed to happen. All that being said, there were a few bright points of my stay. The staff was exceptionally friendly and polite, the rooms were as clean and comfortable as always, and the new decor was a nice improvement. I counted 6 USB charging ports in my room. They are a very welcome and necessary addition, and this is an area in which this hotel had been lagging behind the curve. Finally, I have to comment on the bed. This was simply the most comfortable bed on which I have ever slept, and I only hope that I can locate one for my home, and the quite comfortable, although very loud, canvas like sheets have been replaced with something more traditional. In conclusion, while it is nice to see the hotel making improvements, it would be nice to see them pay as much attention to things like air conditioning, plumbing, wifi, and ice machines as they do to putting marble counter tops...