Holiday Inn Express & Suites Richwood - Cincinnati South by IHG — Hotel in Walton

Pros: Quiet room. Hotel in good location. Staff friendly. Cons: Poor breakfast service. Cold turkey patties served for breakfast & cold muffins placed out...as tho they just took it straight out the fridge & placed it out...would have been ok if there was a microwave to warm it up but there wasn't....then there was the watery oatmeal day after day except on our last morning when it was finally done right... one morning by 9 am they ran out of scrambled eggs & i asked for more & server said they'd bring more out but never did, i sat there waiting for nothing. I'd rather she just tell me they had no more so i wouldn't have waited. Then there were zero Cinnabons & breakfast was not over yet but once it was over they brought more out & then the staff came & helped themselves. No coffee stirrers or lids so we had to ask for them...cant drive with hot coffee without a lid. A single little lonely carton of milk in a nearly empty fridge with a few yogurts & butter pats, soap dispenser did not work in the mens lobby restroom so you had to go back upstairs to your room....the printer in the business center would not print. It seems they'd refill the breakfast area with fresh food after the hotel guests began to leave or when breakfast was nearly over. We heard they had a broken pipe problem possibly from the cold weather but it is more a staff training issue relative to these problems. A lot of guests were there with families so naturally the food gets consumed quicker. If this is the service they give in the season when its kinda slow, they surely cant keep up in a busier time. The day before we were leaving, we went to talk to the mgr & the girl rushed to put all the food out but it was after breakfast. We didn't get to talk to him anyway because we were told he was on a long phone call but would get back to us. He never did naturally. Overall can not recommend this hotel. We were there for 4 nights. Not sure if the pipe problem caused the poor breakfast service regarding heating issues but if it did, it would have been more professional to get a note slipped under the doors of the guests so guest have known. The room however was neat & it was very quiet the whole time. They kept a nice fire going in the breakfast lobby. Basically friendly people worked there. Just poor service, & well below the average Holiday Inn Express that we are accustomed to with top notch service. Looking at Independent reviews they respond that they are sorry about it but they never seem to improve. Leads me to believe they just do not take it serious.. Stay away...

We stayed here to see the Creation and Ark museums. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst hotel experiences we have ever had. I never give 1-star reviews, if that tells you anything.

To start with, we were greeted at first day check-in with "someone pooped in the pool so you can't swim in it". Okay, we won't be swimming. Not the end of the world.

Our room smelled very strange and musty, but we chose not to complain.

The next day we woke to a letter that was placed under our door informing us all belongings had to be off the floor because they were cleaning the carpets and that we needed to be out of the hotel during that time. Can you not do this in sections and avoid disrupting your customers? But again, we overlooked it. By now we should've had a clue and left.

However on the final night, the last straw was finding a LIVE bedbug in our blankets. See photos. We informed the hotel check in lady who was sympathetic but that was about it. We needed to immediately wash all our clothes and she was no help, telling us we would have to go to another hotel to wash them. We looked up a Laundromat, and spent until 2:30 am in the morning washing every article of clothing (it was a lot since we had been traveling 2 weeks and we are a family of 5!!!) We also spent time and money spraying down all our luggage with permetherin. We do NOT want to take those nasty bugs home! We were so stressed and panicked. In the morning, the manager was little help. He implied that we conveniently found the bug on the final night, implying we made it up just to get a refund. We took the LIVE, leg-wriggling bed bug to them in a bottle on the previous night. There was simply no denying the evidence. They refunded us a single night of the three night stay with the implication that we were just faking everything for that refund. Horrible experience, I would not recommend anyone to stay here nor will we ever...

We stayed here because of the proximity to the Ark Encounter. We arrived in the evening and the first sight on the counter was a typed notice that the elevator was not operable. After inquiring, I was told there were no ground floor rooms available. Because of a condition with my knees, steps are difficult to maneuver. The clerk was apologetic, but said she would still charge my card if we went elsewhere because of the inoperable elevator. She said she had called the manager who was not at the hotel and that he could “fix” the elevator. She said that she could usually fix it herself, which leads me to believe this is an ongoing issue that should have been “fixed” properly at an earlier date. I also expressed that surely she could discount the room due to the inconvenience to which she replied I must talk to the manager the following morning.

The room was large and could have been very accommodating except that it was not well kept. The shower was impossible to control. A very strong person could not get it to function properly. The television was not full screen and was dark with volume problems. The sofa bed cushions were torn in the seams and the children who slept there told me after we left that there was gum stuck on the sofa bottom as well.

I never talked to the manager. Someone slipped the bill under our door and we left early.

About 10 days prior to this stay we stayed in another Holiday Inn Express and I received a request for a review. That visit was very positive and I gave them a very good review. Every experience should be that pleasant. I was not surprised that I was not asked to review the Walton, KY hotel and the www.ihg.com/reviews information on the receipt...