Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles Intl Airport by IHG — Hotel in Sterling

IF I COULD GIVE ZERO........DO NOT STAY OR PARK AT THIS HOTEL!!!!!!!!!!! We traveled for a wedding internationally and with an early flight booked to stay here overnight so we didn't have to commute 2 hours at 3am. They advertised for parking and shuttle to the airport so you didn't have to deal with airport parking. So we took advance of that. At check in on Mon 6/24 we were required to sign into their log with our tag number, registered owner, best contact number and email in case they needed to get ahold of you. We were then given a pass to place in our windshield that listed dates 6/24-6/30, which we did. Our flight back was cancelled and we were stuck an extra night coming back from our trip, so I called to speak to someone to make sure our vehicle wasn't towed because it was passed the allotted parking permit. ( we own a towing company we know how it works) I spoke with TJ, gave him my information and advised at 8:38pm that we just found out our flight was canceled and we would not be making it back in that day (the 30th) he said that it was ok, they give a 48 hour grace period because they know flights get delayed/ canceled but as long as we were within that 48 we would be fine. We ended up being back next day at 2AM so within that 48 hours. However upon arriving our truck was no where to be found. So I went into desk and asked to speak to a manager ( we assumed it had been towed to do pass expiring) TJ happened to be at the desk as manager on duty. It was then we were told that it had been towed because they were re-paving and it needed to be moved. I asked who gave consent and why we were not notified. My husbands truck was backed in and the parking brake set, we could see the drag marks on the pavement from the spot they moved it from. TJ said that they didn't notify anyone, were not required to as they had no way to contact us. I said yes you did, you had both our phone and email on the log we signed, he tried to deny that there way till we pointed to it sitting on the desk. We asked to see the log for our day so that we could photo it when we spoke to whatever management above him since he said he didn't have the correct authority to help us. He told us he couldn't find our information, they must not have kept that old of a sheet. So I asked to look through the stack, they had literally every sheet from 4/1/2024 through the current date July 2 2024. Every sheet but the complete sheet for 6/24 & 6/25, there were some at the bottom of a 23rd sheet and then some at the top of the 26th but the sheet with our info, which I was close to the bottom of the sheet for the day I remember was the only one missing.....I asked why just our sheet was missing, unless they know they did wrong and wanted to deniability. He laughed at me and said "oh yea that's what we did" I asked so why is that the only one missing since April then? I asked again why we were not notified about the vehicle needing to be moved, his response this time was that "We've been trying to let people know for weeks not to park as we have been paving areas" to which I of course said "weeks?? we parked here 7 days ago and there were no signs posted, no-one mentioned, "yes you can park here but we are paving so vehicles will be moved" Nothing... he then tried to back petal and said "well it hasn't been weeks" When we asked who we speak to about my husbands anti theft light being on, brake system failure light, and reduced power indicator and the puddle of what appeared to be brake fluid under our truck in its new parking space TJ told us, " Its your problem, call and make a police report and file through your insurance for damages" Would not give us whoever above him we could speak to about it, just told us it was our problem. That were signs everywhere that say park at your own risk, we saw signs "No Parking- Fire lane" But nothing saying park at your own risk. Since it was almost 3am and we had been up for 48 hours straight trying to get home to our small children we...

Carpet in room was dirty, bathroom was in desperate need of remodel, towels had a far from fresh unusual smell. Breakfast was poor quality, and gentleman at the front desk when asked about restaurants in the area dismissed me with the answer of “Arby’s or Wendy’s” - even when asked about other non fast food options. Turns out there were about 50 restaurants within a 10 minute drive. Although the rooms were old and dingy, the housekeeping staff was wonderful, friendly, and always willing and available to help.

No complimentary coffee all day like every other (Hilton and Marriott) hotel we stay at. Our entire sports organization (5 teams of 15-18 players and their families) were staying at this hotel, along with all coaches which equated to approximately 70 rooms. At first we were pleased to find that they grouped the teams in rooms next to each other/in the same hallway. After we returned from late night games (around midnight and not rowdy and had not been drinking), they placed two pilots in a room right next to us that got angry at the noise in the hallway, from simply coming and going from our rooms. Our group was never inappropriately loud at any time of day or night, but a tournament has coming and going anytime between 6am to midnight. The hotel never should have placed pilots in a room sandwiched in the middle of a sports team in the first place. This hotel has so many separate wings. It would not have been difficult for them to plan accordingly and reserve one wing of the hotel for guests that were not part of our group.

The restaurant on property was completely unprepared. We tried to go in and have dinner on 2 separate nights - there were empty tables but they were inadequately staffed to seat them and an hour plus wait. Finally the third night we were able to get a table but for a $120 dinner for our family of 4 it was only one of the 4 of us enjoyed their dinner. Portions were small and it was obvious that the kitchen rushed through the preparation of our food. Our server was kind but the food was cold and fries were barely cooked.

Lastly, a group of parents were quietly and peacefully relaxing in the lobby with a bottle of wine. They were informed by staff that they could not have it, yet when we dined in the restaurant I was able to take my glass of wine with me per our server. This hotel is completely unequipped to handle large groups or operating at capacity, not to mention is dingy and in desperate need of a remodel. When traveling with athletes fueling them with nutritious food is always a priority, and that was made difficult during our stay here with the lackluster and limited food options at the hotel and the front desk staff being unable to direct us in the area.

The WiFi was so terrible that our kids could not do homework in the room. We tried multiple times on different days. I consulted the front desk and she said that the WiFi isn’t good in rooms and staying in the lobby might help.

There was plenty of time for our groups stay to be organized. This was planned by the tournament months in advance. Our experience was a failure on management to adequately accommodate a group of our size. With both of our kids in travel sports we stay in a lot of hotels, most times with a large group so I’d like to say that we have reasonable expectations.

I know that the tournament determines the cost of our room, but I’d say we paid at least $75 per night more than our...

This is the best Holiday Inn we’ve stayed in. The courtesy minibus arrived on time at 1845 at stand G2 & the driver lifted our 2 heavy cases & hand luggage into the back. A few minutes later we arrived in the smart hotel foyer & check-in was swift though we should have been given a voucher for breakfast to present the next morning. The receptionist apologised when I collected it after the waiter explained we needed it. Room 2244 was clean, well-furnished & large with 3 full-length mirrors, hospitality Nespresso machine & 3 coffee pods, including a welcome decaf pod. There was a microwave & fridge & the bed was very comfy though it squeaked a little on one side. The aircon was noisy but very efficient. Each bedside table had a USB charging point & on one side were 4 cables, each with a different size of phone charger. The bathroom had very good Dove toiletries in bottles on the wall. There were 3 hand towels, 3 flannels & 3 bath towels, not bath sheets. The shower worked well. We were tired & hungry on arrival & were pleased to discover O’Malley’s pub was part of the hotel. The service & food were very good as was the Wednesday night live music with a very accomplished acoustic guitar player & singer. At all times the hotel was quiet. Breakfast in Chantilly’s Restaurant, beside O’Malley’s was also good with plenty of fresh fruit & pastries, yoghurt, cereal, orange juice & warm scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, bacon & French toast. There was also porridge, with honey, toast, bagels, etc. There’s a well-stocked shop behind reception where you can buy ready meals in pots & sandwiches to heat in your microwave as well as fruit salad in pots, salads, cold drinks, coffee, etc. Staff were friendly & these two older Brits would definitely...