Holiday Inn Express Hilton Head Island by IHG

Advise that you don’t stay here This Holiday in isn’t up to the standards of most Holiday Inns I have stayed in. Shower had rust and dirt around the bottom area where the caulking is. The ceiling had black stuff on it that looked like mold. 1 small mirror over the sink No chair on balcony The pool water was very dirty. The reception area is down the street room the building we stayed in. I would never stay at this hotel again.

Not clean/ possible bedbugs When we checked into this hotel, the main building that is used to check-in and for breakfast is separate from the building with the actual rooms. Our taxi dropped us off at the main building and we had to hike a good distance to another building with all of our bags to find our room. No help was offered. Upon the third day of our vacation, I noticed several little bites on my leg. I have not 100% confirmed they are bed bug bites, but after reading extensively on it, I highly suspect it. The shower was awful! The handle fell off when I tried to change the temperature. It also made a loud, motor like sound when the water was turned to hot. The shower head was not in good shape and didn’t have any pressure. The floor of the bathroom, lobby, and elevators were all dingy, as were the walls too. Pictures attached show mold in the shower. The fridge needed defrosted and was rusty. I asked the front desk a few questions about local transportation, but they were unable to answer any of those questions. On our final day, we checked out and had to pay a “resort fee” of $18 per day. I don’t understand what we were paying for as there were no resort amenities available. There was a guy trying to sell time shares in the hotel commons one evening. The fountain in the pond was broken or turned off outside our window too. Trash littered the grounds. A broken tree branch was lying in the path the entire time we were there. Due to COVID staff are not cleaning rooms during the stay, so no clean towels or linens or new rolls of toilet paper unless you want to hike and go pick them up yourself. There was no air in the elevators or hallway. Our Uber driver told us a story about how he got stuck on an elevator in the building! Again, I have no idea what the $18 pays for—no amenities, no housekeeping, no help with activities or travel. I have had good luck with Holiday Inns in the past, but there is no way I will be booking here again, although I do hope to visit Hilton Head again soon!

Dangerous Elevators and Terrible Front Desk Service While I do like the property itself (pretty lagoon, nice pool, awesome playground right next to the parking lot), I was not impressed with the staff. I always stay at IHG hotels and the front desk employee who checked me in is the worst IHG employee I have ever encountered. Here’s why: I used my default credit card to book the room via the IHG app. I wanted to pay with a different card, so at check in I had the front desk representative switch my card associated with the reservation. Checked my bank accounts a little while later and there are holds for the full stay’s amount from both of my bank accounts. I expected it with the card I gave her to pay with, but there’s no reason for 5-7 day holds to be placed with both accounts. I called the front desk and it was the same girl that had checked me in a couple hours prior. I asked about why there are two holds. She said it was because I changed the card. I asked her if she knew that would cause two separate holds, why hadn’t she told me at check in? I would have just kept it with the original card and only had one 5-7 day hold. I feel that common sense was lacking here. I asked to speak to a manager to see if one of the holds could be released. She told me there wasn’t one available, but when they got back in she’d have them call me on my cell phone. It’s been 48 hours and nobody has called me. Very frustrating. Luckily, I just moved money around from other accounts to cover both holds. But for some people who live paycheck to paycheck this really could have put someone in a huge bind! And the cavalier attitude from the front desk rep when I explained this to her was super unprofessional. The elevator has gotten stuck multiple times since we’ve been here... with people inside! Fire and EMS were here our first night to help get them out. I also heard the elevator alarm button being pressed and an other alarm sounding the next morning. This was the left elevator both times. We have only been using the right elevator, and yesterday we rode the elevator up and the doors opened on our floor but the elevator was still moving! I had to pull my daughter back; she almost got very very hurt by this malfunctioning elevator. I called the front desk and they said “okay.” I said, “that’s it?” and she told me they’d let maintenance know. I doubt she did. I wanted to include this in my review to log a paper trail that the elevator is malfunctioning in case someone gets hurt. The hotel has been informed of issues and I truly hope they do something about it. My daughter is lucky she didn’t lose a limb! Also, when guests are waiting for an elevator it’s common courtesy for housekeeping/maintenance staff with a full garbage bun to let the guests use the elevator and then wait until the next one. There was a long elevator line and an employee hopped in front with his garbage bin. I was appalled. I’ve never ever in my life ever seen a hotel employee not step aside and let the guests go first. Small issue, but since I’m already annoyed with staff it’s probably bothering me more than it normally would. Hotel management, if you see this, PLEASE do something about that elevator before someone gets hurt. It’s negligent to keep it operating the way it is now. And please re-train front desk staff to let guests know they will have two separate holds placed if they use a different credit card at check in than the one used to book the room online. Lots of room for improvement with staff here at this hotel. I have two other IHG stays booked during the next week and a half (Raleigh and then Greenville) and I sincerely hope my experiences are way better!

Nice hotel and even better breakfast. This is a nice hotel with a few minor issues in the room. Room was clean, but the the restroom does not work and the outlets at the sink do not work. Beds are comfortable, but noisy ac unit. Breakfast was impressive, but a little inconvenient having to walk so far to the separate building… Worth the walk though.

Disappointed Not what we expected. I felt mislead when we checked in – I was expecting accommodations that were a short walk to the beach. In actuality, the hotel rooms were at least ½ mile away from the most crowded beach on the Island. I was also surprised to see that the reception desk and breakfast area was in a separate location about 2 tenths of a mile from the rooms. This is not made clear in the hotel information when booking, and advertising walking distance to the beach is misleading for most people. During our stay – I spoke to several other guests who felt the same – so I know we were not the only guests who felt this way. I listed items that were positive and items than need improvement. Need Improvement: On a Friday evening around 9PM – the front desk line went to voice mail. There were no writing pads available – even from the front desk, No TV listings – the staff blamed covid, but they could have used throw away photocopies or a laminated copy that could be sanitized. The Hallways need freshen up. The pool water was cloudy, which raised questions on the water quality. The hotel had some good points: There was adequate parking – including covered parking. The rooms were clean. Beds were comfortable. Showers worked with hot water most of the time. The breakfast was great – it was like the breakfasts I remember. The WIFI worked great, and the room had plenty of electric and USB outlets. The staff was polite and tried to be helpful. Bottom line is that I do not believe that the value was there. Given the points above – combined with an annoying $18 per day resort fee for a cloudy pool – the value was not there. At almost $1300 for 4 nights, we paid 4-star rates for 2-star accommodations, even if it is Hilton Head in July. We will not return to this property. While there, I spoke to other guests who felt the same way. There are nicer places in Hilton Head for the same price point.