Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gulf Shores by IHG

Unsanitary conditions 2 stars given because of the decent breakfast and friendly guy at the front desk (evening shift). The bed area has been slightly updated but the bathroom ceiling showed mildew stains and the tub was cracked and old. The bathroom was not clean showing evidence of hair in a few places in the tub, upon arrival. The room had ants, some of which were in the bed, and the others infested the bath towels after use and in the tub overnight. The front desk was notified and the room was sprayed. However, upon return the bathroom was left dirty with dead ants in the tub and the same foot towel with dead ants left to step out on. It makes me ponder if the health department has inspected this facility. To have paid $678 (in points) has left me angry and embarrassed that I selected this hotel for my family. I will not recommend a stay here unless you are okay with unsanitary conditions.

All three nights were great...highly recommended. Fantastic staff! We spent 3 nights there and had a thoroughly pleasant experience. Site was clean, comfortable and well-lighted at night. The bed and pillows were incredibly comfortable. The free breakfast was slightly different each morning and yummy all three days. The staff were friendly and helpful the entire time and we were able to do an early check-in. We would not hesitate recommending this hotel to friends and family visiting Gulf Shores and will certainly stay there again when we have the opportunity.

Terrible customer service! I made a reservation ahead of time. The email said my card wouldn’t be charged until I check in. The check in time is at 3 PM. My card was ran at 6 AM of the same day instead. Since it was a different state, my card declined because it seemed like an inappropriate transaction. I received a notification on my phone and when I saw it I authorized it to go through. When I arrived to check in, the front staff said the card declined and that he doesn’t have any rooms available for me. Then he said he can get me a room with 2 queen beds for $25 more than my previous reservation. Then he said he can get me a king suite for $40 more than my original reservation. I didn’t have any other option, but to take up what he offered. I understand that they can “run out” of rooms, but this is not fair. He found 2 room options for me in less than 3 minutes of telling me they’re sold out. They could’ve called me or held the room till I checked in. I tried to tell him but he wouldn’t even listen. I always stay at Holiday Inn, but this was one of the worst experiences I have ever had with them. Terrible customer service!

Good for a budget stay Stayed here for 1 night whilst visiting Gulf Shores, staff were friendly and helpful during check in. The location is only a 5-10min drive from the beach! There was ample free parking, plus free breakfast – which was basic, a few hot options and some cereal/pastries, nothing overly special but not bad considering it is free. Please stop using plastic cutlery!! The room was clean and spacious and tidy, and while the pool’s nothing fancy, it’s a decent enough place to stay for a night, on a budget price. Overall, we were happy and would recommend.

The Good & The Bad @ Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gulf Shores We give it 4 stars because 2 of their staff members went above and beyond. The Good: Anna Kay (Breakfast Service) and Mrs. Melissa (check-in) are 2 of the sweetest and kindest individuals that we have ever had the pleasure of meeting, and my children adored them. They both were always smiling and ready to greet us every single time we passed them, and we're very accommodating. Anna doing a fantastic job of making sure there were plenty of food choices for the children, and Mrs. Melissa helping us figure out how to maneuver through The kinks of the room like getting the TV's working and getting around taking showers without making water messes because of the short shower curtains. Towels were clean and soft, they provided some wonderful body wash, shampoo and conditioner and other personal hygiene accommodation products. The Bad: As soon as you enter the room there is a stale odor, the room appears cleaned and made up but, you take a couple steps to the carpet and in the bathroom and see they have a few things they need to improve. The walls, counters, and beds look good. However the carpets are quite filthy and full of stains, we were adamant about keeping our house shoes on so not to filthy our feet. When I checked the bathroom and toilet to disinfect it before any of my family uses the restroom there is urine on the toilet and opened tissue just as if the toilet had been used by someone before we checked in, or it wasn't cleaned properly after the last guests. So, right away before getting settled in, I had to clean the toilet, next, as soon as one of us is taking a shower, water is getting everywhere due to the shower curtain being so short, Then one elevator was out of service our entire stay, and the one working elevator was constantly getting stuck between floors, at one point everyone one of us on the elevator had to just take the stairs."Ok, No Biggie, we are patient people, we've got this, we will still enjoy ourselves" Our stay was from 5-13-24 to 5-17-24 but, due to a little booking confusion we had to check in on the 13th and check out on the 16th and then recheck into another room on the 16th and check out on the 17th. They handled that transition quite smoothly. "No Biggie". (We enjoyed ourselves because we were with each other) however, for what we spent to stay, they definitely need to enhance their accommodations and update their floors, elevators, and get longer showers curtains. Our recommendations would be, to add a game room where preteens and teenagers could mingle with each other, add either a bigger pool area or at a hot tub area. Maybe add a bar and an evening restaurant area where the men can mingle in the evening.