Holiday Inn Staunton Conference Center by IHG — Hotel in Staunton

Made reservations in June for a stay Thurs Sept 25 through Sun 28 with a group (had a block of rooms). Check IHG website on Mon Sept 22, no upcoming stay listed. Called hotel and was assured that they had my 3 night reservation. Travelling to hotel on Thurs Sept 25, got a call from the hotel, 10 minutes away, that they had overbooked and that my reservation was cancelled. All our group events were at or started from the hotel. They told me that they would find something close by for me. Told them to do what they could and that I would be there in 10 minutes. Got there - was told that all the nearby hotels were booked and the best they could do was a hotel 30 minutes up the interstate. But, they offered that they had a room on Thurs and on Sat and that they would find us a room for Fri (and pay for it). Luckily, friends from our group were able to share a room for Fri and graciously allowed us to have one of their rooms. So, took the room for Thurs and they assured me that they made a reservation for Sat. They gave us free breakfast vouchers for Fri morning, but the restaurant was closed because the hotel was completely booked and I've seen better buffets at a Super 8. I checked with the front desk on Fri morning to confirm that Sat reservation. Was told that there wasn't a reservation. I couldn't dispute this as we had to leave with our group. Another in our group, who also had their 3 day reservation cancelled, got a call on Fri afternoon that a room had opened up for Fri and that they had a room for Fri and Sat nights. I called immediately and asked if there were any rooms available for Sat, and Fri if possible. Was told that Fri was booked but there was a room available on Sat. However, since our block was full, they wouldn't offer our group rate of $109 and would charge $279 for the room. At this point, I said fine just to get the room reserved and would discuss the rate when we got back to the hotel. We get in Fri afternoon and the same woman that made our Sat reservation on Thurs night when we arrived was working. I explained that we hadn't had a reservation for Sat and had to make a new one at much more than our group (and original) rate. She said that she didn't make the reservation for the room on Sat when we arrived on Thur under our name, but under a special code? I don't know how we would have checked in on Sat with a mystery code... So, I told her that we had made a reservation that afternoon that we needed to cancel if the original reservation was still in the system. She found the new reservation and said that she'd just change the rate on that one. Makes me believe that a Sat reservation was not made on Thurs when we arrived... So, packed up our stuff for the second time Sat morning and headed out with the group. We were able to check in to our third room in 3 days on Sat afternoon when we arrived back at the hotel. It was at the group rate, and they even gave us a free breakfast for Sun morning. We woke up Sun, tired of eating microwaved egg wraps in our room for breakfast, and decided to brave the hotel breakfast buffet. We got to the lobby to see a darkened restaurant and a sign saying that it was closed and that breakfast was not available. We asked the front desk, who related that the person that cooks breakfast didn't show up for work that morning. What a perfect end to an absolutely miserable hotel experience. The final straw was when I checked my IHG Rewards on the website on Sept 29, it still did not show any stays. I chatted for over 20 minutes with customer service trying to get the stays posted while explaining all that had happened, and why I didn't have confirmation numbers. The customer service representative told me that she couldn't help with any of the issues and that she would connect me with the complaint dept. The chat abruptly ended. With no connection to a complaint dept. And logged me off the rewards website. And still no contact from the"complaint" dept to date. I have never seen such inept hotel management. I'd look elsewhere if you're planning a group stay...

We were exhausted when we arrived on Friday evening, and were pleasantly surprised by the first impression of the hotel. The front desk clerk who checked us in was friendly and personable, but poorly trained. We had two rooms for our one family, but we were placed on separate floors.

Room was mostly clean and attractive. Air conditioner was loud, but did keep the room cool. Picture conspicuously missing from above the love seat. A larger wall-mounted tv had been replaced with a smaller TV (too small for the location in the room). Many TV channels on the list were not available. Bathroom was mostly clean, weird presentation of towel in sink. Dirty washrag left in shower. Bath mat was frayed and falling apart. Iron and ironing board were a nice perk. Nice desk/work area. Nice view of golf course. Very, very lightweight door and huge gaps around door let in lots of light, and all activity in the corridor was very audible. Fortunately there was not too much activity on my floor after bedtime. Water pressure excellent, plenty of hot water. Internet service was so slow, I was unable to do routine work accessing various websites, uploads and downloads. I can "always" work from the road, but not this time. The worst internet service I have experienced in any Holiday Inn.

Unremarkable dinner and aloof, unfriendly service in the restaurant. A problem with the front desk's internal bookkeeping was handled rudely and unprofessionally--completely unforgivable customer service failure. No management presence/personnel in the hotel on a busy Friday night with lots of guests.

We were away until late evening on Saturday. Room was only partially serviced, with a note explaining that they couldn't make up the bed because a personal item had been left on it. Really? Laaaaaaazy.

I had dinner at the bar. Roxie (I think was her name) was very friendly and attentive. I had a small, weak, expensive and not-very-good margarita, a decent quesadilla, some nice pasta. An okay experience for a hotel bar.

Check-out early on Sunday morning. Front desk clerk could/would not refund our cash deposit, could offer no explanation or reason at all for this problem. No apology from her at all. No management personnel/presence in the hotel on a Sunday morning. Apparently no manager on call, either. Complete failure of management, complete failure of training, complete failure of customer service. Unforgivable! We had to get on the road, so we left assuming our small deposit had been stolen. What else would we think? Sunday evening, I wrote to management to ask about getting our deposit. I had to write to IGH corporate, and wait until late Wednesday to even get a response from the incompetent, uncaring management "team" at this Holiday Inn. It took 13 days to receive our refund.

This is the worst experience we have ever had at a...

First of all we chose this hotel because my wife spoke so highly, and had nice family experience there years ago. I guess like anything that used to be good....things change.

Upon check in the first clue should have been the customer who checked in to a room that was already occupied, and talked to like he was in the wrong. We should have turned around then, demanded a refund then gone up the road a few miles and tried walking in to get a room....but when you have already driven 10 hours in traffic and have 7 more to go to reach your destination you need to stop and hopefully rest.

The hallways looked like they might have been vacuumed and dusted a few weeks prior. Fried chicken box in the hallway with crumbs and leftovers kinda stinky...no to mention the smell of wet dog through the hallway.

Secondly, the doors in the room have at least a 1/4 to 1/3 inch gap that let a strange semi-rectangular shape beam of light in room even with blinds drawn, and lights out. This in combination with a recessed light next door that was buzzing and flickering make for an "American Horror" like experience just trying to get a few hours of rest before getting back on the road.

Thirdly, the room service was poor. Two salads two coffees $60 bucks with tip service fee etc etc. OK, I get room service is a premium, but two phone calls to get the order right and it still wasn't right. Same for breakfast, awful food, mistakes on order and no real care or concern that there was a mistake.

Finally, at check out and contrary to the guarantee on all hotel literature, when asked how our stay was...suggestions fell on deaf ears. We were still charged for the room, all meals that cost more together with gratuity than the room, and given rewards points to make up for "some", that's right "some" of the inconvenience. Terrible response. We should be reinbursed in full but were not, plus an attitude with no concern. So I guess we are in the day in age where guarantees aren't really guarantees. I sincerely hope that management reaches out to me to rectify the dissatisfaction, otherwise Holiday Inn will be off our radar...