Holiday Inn Express & Suites West Long Branch - Eatontown by IHG — Hotel in West Long Branch

Gave this hotel 3 times to make right. ||With not many choices to stay at.||While visiting someone in the hospital and not wanting to pay more then $300 ||I don't even want to pay $240 a night!!||We stayed here as it was really late one night and hated that they only had one room / suite left for $240 ||I was told to go outside and find my HIG number by just downloading the app 30 mins later I finally got somewhere. ||I just don't understand why the hotel wasn't able to look up with my phone number. ||Bed was clean and comfortable but that night it was still cold out and the heat/ac didn't work inside the bedroom only in the living room side. ||Bathroom floor wasn't cleaned at all ||Shower didn't work as the knob just keeps going in circles so cold shower it was. No extra K-pods or cups for coffee ||I had emailed about this stay and only received they would look into it.||||A month later I have to stay in town again thought I would try and book ahead of time for a better well prepared room. ||Again beds are cleaned but that's where it ends.||No wrapped cups for coffee only one pack of sugar/stir ||Coffee rings on night stands and sticky ||on counters, bathroom floor wasn't cleaned or mirror TP left in toilet||Hair and gross towels hung up as if it was a fresh towel ( here's a picture) ||I understand hair in towels but I would think as your hang them up your would see long ass black hair.||Again spoke to front desk and was told they would take care of it and let management know. ||Breakfast is Good with your usual stuff bacon , sausage, eggs, biscuits, sticky buns , pancakes , cereal, milk, yogurt and fruit.||As things happen in life||we had to extend our stay and had already checked out of the room. ||Later after evening ||My husband went inside to book the room and was told fully book no rooms at all. Well I had seen online there are rooms so I just booked and walked right back in within 3 mins and got a room ||Ok so they do save rooms for online good for us. At this point I don't care about rewards/ numbers just let me sleep. ||Get to the room and I was able to push door open no key needed I tried to close door and doesn't work at all ||The bolt look doesn't work either ||So now I can't lock the door and knowing their fully booked I can't change rooms.||Leaving the room and trying to close/ lock the door takes a few try's and locks if you slam it hard enough. ||Sorry neighbors! ||The front desk did send someone up to look at door but only seen it works if you close from the outside of room ||Again can't lock myself inside for the night. I was told they could give me a free stay for the following night but that doesn't work out for me. ||This room shouldn't be able to book and the tub should be bleached real well as the corners were filled with mold and so was the soap dispenser||That makes three stays and something wrong in each one. ||Again the beds are all white and cleaned sheets would be nice to have an extra blanket for the thin...

Gave this hotel 3 times to make right. ||With not many choices to stay at.||While visiting someone in the hospital and not wanting to pay more then $300 ||I don't even want to pay $240 a night!!||We stayed here as it was really late one night and hated that they only had one room / suite left for $240 ||I was told to go outside and find my HIG number by just downloading the app 30 mins later I finally got somewhere. ||I just don't understand why the hotel wasn't able to look up with my phone number. ||Bed was clean and comfortable but that night it was still cold out and the heat/ac didn't work inside the bedroom only in the living room side. ||Bathroom floor wasn't cleaned at all ||Shower didn't work as the knob just keeps going in circles so cold shower it was. No extra K-pods or cups for coffee ||I had emailed about this stay and only received they would look into it.||||A month later I have to stay in town again thought I would try and book ahead of time for a better well prepared room. ||Again beds are cleaned but that's where it ends.||No wrapped cups for coffee only one pack of sugar/stir ||Coffee rings on night stands and sticky ||on counters, bathroom floor wasn't cleaned or mirror TP left in toilet||Hair and gross towels hung up as if it was a fresh towel ( here's a picture) ||I understand hair in towels but I would think as your hang them up your would see long ass black hair.||Again spoke to front desk and was told they would take care of it and let management know. ||Breakfast is Good with your usual stuff bacon , sausage, eggs, biscuits, sticky buns , pancakes , cereal, milk, yogurt and fruit.||As things happen in life||we had to extend our stay and had already checked out of the room. ||Later after evening ||My husband went inside to book the room and was told fully book no rooms at all. Well I had seen online there are rooms so I just booked and walked right back in within 3 mins and got a room ||Ok so they do save rooms for online good for us. At this point I don't care about rewards/ numbers just let me sleep. ||Get to the room and I was able to push door open no key needed I tried to close door and doesn't work at all ||The bolt look doesn't work either ||So now I can't lock the door and knowing their fully booked I can't change rooms.||Leaving the room and trying to close/ lock the door takes a few try's and locks if you slam it hard enough. ||Sorry neighbors! ||The front desk did send someone up to look at door but only seen it works if you close from the outside of room ||Again can't lock myself inside for the night. I was told they could give me a free stay for the following night but that doesn't work out for me. ||This room shouldn't be able to book and the tub should be bleached real well as the corners were filled with mold and so was the soap dispenser||That makes three stays and something wrong in each one. ||Again the beds are all white and cleaned sheets would be nice to have an extra blanket for the thin...

We needed to book a hotel close to Manalapan as we were in visiting family.

There isn't a ton of options for hotels in this area, and since we've stayed at dozens of Holiday Inn Express before, I thought this place was the perfect choice.

Let me start by saying the hotel and the rooms were exceptionally clean. As soon as we walked in, we noticed the whole front desk and lobby area was decorated for Fall, with all the happy smells and even free apple cider. The front desk staff the entire stay was also really wonderful. Always greeted and always patient and hospitable.

We only had 2 issues during our stay that were certainly minor inconveniences, but on a trip like this, were a bit frustrating.

The first was our hotel key cards did not work consistently the first 3 full days of our trip. We have a son in a wheelchair and it was definitely annoying to have to send my husband down while we waited in the hallway 3x for the front desk to reset the key.

When we had checked in, another hotel guest had come to the front desk to have his key reset and the front desk clerk made it sound like this is an ongoing issue. I might recommend to the IHG team to update the key card system at this location. It's something the front desk should not have to waste their time doing so much and most definitely is not something hotel guests should have to be inconvenienced by.

The second was on the one day we wanted to have breakfast as a family in the lobby, by 8am (breakfast is from 6am-10am) the food was gone and it appeared the kitchen was short staffed to keep up with making more food. It took so long, in fact, we just went to wawa down the street. This sort of took away the convenience of having breakfast in the hotel. No recommendation here, as it may be a staffing issue and I understand in NJ it is a bit hard to keep staff right now due to Covid, but wanted to shout it out just in case there is a gap corporate can help close for this location.

Overall, the rooms were very clean, comfortable, we had a mini fridge so we could store our amazing food from NJ that we grew to miss so much, and the staff truly was excellent to us. So friendly and so kind.

I would recommend this hotel, but would caution future guests to be prepared for potential issues with your key and have a plan B for breakfast if the food runs out. (There is a Wawa up the street and a Dunkin Donuts across the street as well so it's not like you're not close to...