Candlewood Suites Birmingham - Inverness by IHG

Disappointing Experience Really had a bad experience here. While physically the facility was clean and attractive, there were multiple problems. We stayed here several times before Candlewood acquired this Hyatt Place. We booked the room through Orbitz and thought we were getting an accessible room with a king bed with a couch. Turns out the room was not accessible and did not have a couch. The photos and description on the web site evidently were old Hyatt photos that never were updated. Instead of being helpful staff were argumentative and denied that the photos should a couch in the room. There was a recliner in the room, which was very difficult to use (recline). Don’t know if it was broken? At check in they also told us that there was no breakfast served because the rooms had kitchens and we could cook our own, as if we carried groceries around with us all the time?! The room seemed set up exclusively for the single business traveler who was planning to spend some time there. Perhaps the worse thing however was that we on the first floor and outside near our room was some sort of lighted up patio. Around 1:30 in the morning, we were awaken by loud boisterous talking that went for about 2 hours. There was no phone in the room to call the front desk, but frankly I didn’t know how anyone could have slept in the vicinity. I hesitated to walk to the from desk since they were so unhelpful before. Finally location is also an issue. Access to the hotel is from a very busy and dangerous highway. We didn’t remember how inconvenient this was. Next time we are in the area we will try another Hyatt Place.

My First Stay at Candlewood Suites Hotel is clean, personnel are extremely helpful and friendly. Bed was very comfortable, but the pillows were very hard and uncomfortable, prevented me from sleeping. The tv is located on a wall outside of the bedroom area, so made it difficult to watch tv at night while laying in bed. I guess they do that because they have a small sitting area inside the room, but there's only 1 chair, so it's not like more than 1 person can sit and watch tv in that area. They have a mini-kitchen with a hotplate and microwave, a 5 cup coffee maker and a refrigerator. They do provide dishes for 2 people, but not flatware. So make sure you bring your own if you plan to cook or eat in the room. Icemaker worked the first night there, but the next 2 nights it never dropped even 1 ice cube. And the hotel has NO ice machines, so that meant every morning before heading out at 7am, we had to buy ice somewhere before putting our coolers together with food and drinks. There is no breakfast provided. I was told I can cook my own since my room has a kitchen. Both the ice and breakfast issues created an inconvenience for us. We've never stayed in a hotel that did not have an ice machine or serve a continental breakfast. There are no security cameras outside in the parking lot, but I'm not finding many hotels that do have security cameras. This is a very nice place to stay, very clean, smells fresh and new. Carpet in the room was the cleanest I've ever seen, as was the bathroom and shower! Only issue I had were the lack of the ice machine and breakfast.