Holiday Inn Express Winston-Salem Medical Ctr Area, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Winston-Salem

I've stayed at a few Holiday Inn Express' and this one is just average. It isn't off the chart wonderful, but it isn't terrible, either. It's a decent and economical, no frills (which is pretty much all Holiday Inn Express) place to stay close to the historic West Side of Winston-Salem and a few places to eat within a short walk. There are also two (about to be three) major grocery stores within walking distance and then just a short drive away there is a large shopping center and then a little further down the road is the large mall (Hanes mall I think it was called). The staff as a whole were very friendly. One young woman, we will call her P, who has checked me in most weeks on Sunday evening I have been there had started to recognize me and is very always very friendly and helpful even when I had a problem with my fire alarm beeping in my room, she quickly had me moved to another room. There is a small pool (I never got to use, but looked nice if I had the time). The fitness room is a little small, but I never had a problem getting on one of the two treadmills every evening and I like the separation between the weight equipment/ free weights from the treadmills, elliptical, and bike. The laundry facility is a plus (with two washers and two dryers) for those like me who are traveling for more than a week at a time. (I do wish the dryer had more time on it... my clothes weren't quite dry but luckily I had a couple more days before I had to leave and could hang my clothes in my room to dry). The breakfast was decent looking with fruit, yogurt, milk, pancake machine, many different kinds of breads, eggs, sausage and sometimes bacon, cinnamon rolls, coffee, juice, tea, and hot chocolate... but unfortunately I had to leave so early most mornings I didn't have time to enjoy it (the breakfast started around 6:30 and thats when I needed to leave). I was happy they had a shuttle, but I wasn't able to use it because I had to leave in the mornings before they were usually going. I think they ran from about 7:30am till 9 or 10pm. (The sign said it started at 7am but they weren't ready that early when I did use it the first day when I didn't have to be at work until 8am. Luckily I had my own car to drive.) The rooms were a good size (I had only the king rooms, so far) with a nice small couch, desk, mini fridge, and microwave, nice flat screen TV and a neat little plug on one of the nightstands to plug either two USB or two regular AC plugs. This was great for not having to reach behind bulky furniture and being able to charge my phone at night and so I could keep it next to my bed as an alarm. For the most part the rooms seemed neat and clean, but I'm a stickler so I would only give them a two out of five... some people that don't care as much might give a four or five. The cookies at the end of the day in the lobby were a nice touch and a nice treat after a long...

I cannot recommend this location - and this is coming from someone who has long worked in hospitality themselves.

The room, while mostly clean, reeked of mildew and a sort of bad wet dog smell. The ceiling is crudely patched in areas so perhaps there was a past leak. The hallway smells like a pool, but being on one of the top floors, I’m doubtful it is due to a literal pool being present. The room was tremendously humid, I’m guessing due to an issue with the wall AC unit and whatever water issue never been appropriately managed. The AC unit was extremely loud and rattling when on, and even if you suffer through the noise, it does nothing to combat the humidity. If you turn it off to try and get some peace, the room of course gets even worse in terms of temperature and humidity. The conditions have left me feeling unwell, unrested, and with a severe headache possibly from mold or just the bad smell in general. A less glaring issue, but the shower floor wasn’t as clean as it ought to have been, the towels not hung neatly straight, and the toilet seat was awkwardly up upon arrival. And the WiFi doesn’t seem to work, but maybe it’s user error. Surfaces aren’t all clean, with some dried dripping fluid on the glass of the hung wall art.

Also don’t bother with the free tooth brushes. They’re an injury liability waiting to happen the way the sharp hard plastic bristles simply dislodge from the tooth brushes and get lost in your mouth.

Lastly, the room fridge temperature setting was at the warmest possible option— essentially “off”, making it far too warm to safely store food. I’d adjusted the temperature, but not with enough adjustment time to confidently store the food I had immediately in hand within and have to a safe temperature in adequate time.

For the expense of this location, which is a stone’s throw from a freeway directly outside my window, this was a tremendous waste of money.

While the bed would have otherwise been comfortable, and the spot nearby to convenient food options, the rest of the conditions of this location ensure that I will not be giving this another chance nor recommend it to others. I got a few hours of sleep just due to being desperately exhausted - desperate enough to shell out for what was hopefully going to be a nice hotel based on other ratings, but I otherwise was incapable of any reprieve from the conditions here.

A side note that on check in, despite being paid in advance, they charged my card $30. I understand taking a card number for any incidentals- but why the charge? Unheard of in my experience. The whole thing feels like a shakedown.

A brief edit to add that when I’d gone to the desk to finally report these issues, it was vacant. I hung out for a time, but after no one showed up, I returned...

The hotel itself is outstanding. However, I stopped here to rest while on my way to work. After a day of driving, (12 hours) I was beat and ready for bed. Upon getting to the door, they were locked.. which isn’t unusual being the time was 11:30pm. There was no one at the desk so at first I rang the service button. Nothing. Knocked. Nothing. Rang bell several more times. Nothing. Waited. Nothing. Knocked harder. Still nothing. At this time, I’m getting frustrated. So I Rang bell over and over 15x or so. Nothing. Knocked again but harder. Still nothing. A few minutes go by and the guy appears and opens the door. The first thing he said to me was… IS THERE A REASON YOU HIT THE DOOR THAT HARD? I said yeah, I’ve been standing out there for 15 min trying to get someone to open the door. He said yeah, he was trying to get to the door but he was in the bathroom. All of this is good and all but there was nothing left on the desk to alert people that she/he has stepped away and will be right back. For all I knew, he could’ve been catching some zzz’s in the back. So had there been some form of information left on the desk, I would’ve been more patient but if he, in fact, was sleeping, how long would I have been standing out there waiting. Hence, the reason the knocking got louder. He then tells me there may be a note down there (drawer, I assume) but he didn’t know. But seriously, how easy is it to write (be right back) and tape it to the front of desk?? Said, we don’t normally have people checking in so late. I understand that but your system shows you your check-ins and what you have left. Regardless of who’s checking in, a note to let guest know (checked in or not) that you have stepped away and will be right back would’ve saved all of this from transpiring. The guy was very unprofessional at first and came at me the wrong way all bc I didn’t see anyone at the desk and my attempts to get their attention was to no avail. Again, I didn’t know he was in the John. Why is it not customary for your FDA’s to leave some sort of note on the desk if they are stepping away? I did apologize for knocking hard and it was in no fashion hard enough to “break” the glass as this guy mentioned. Maybe train your employees to be a little more polite and professional in the face of guest regardless the time. If they are stepping away, a simple “BE RIGHT BACK” is sufficient enough to ease guest minds and have a more productive conversation when checking in. Not make a guest feel the need to explain why they are there close to midnight checking in. I stay in many IHG hotels (20 or so a month, every month) and this is the first time I’ve ever had a check in of this type.

7/7/25 at around 11:30pm.

The room. The hotel. Very nice....