Holiday Inn & Suites Santa Maria by IHG

It doresn't feel like a RCI Resort It would be nice if they stocked the cabinets with pans, plates, cups, appliances and a better view. and allowed 4 adults. This is a family resort. We are wasting our maintenance money with RCI. There was no help when the TV didn't work.

Stay somewhere else We stayed for two nights and wish we hadn't. The place looked great on the website photos. When we arrived and went to our room, the place is SO run down it's ridiculous. The carpets are stained and look to be about 15 years past their prime. The room, while spacious, smelled of smoke and felt musty. We were excited to go to the hot tub the first night. "Hot" tub was a stretch. More like a luke warm tub, at best. There were no towels at the pool, so we walked back soaking wet. Took a shower and there was no hot water, only warm. (See a trend here?) there was a non-slip mat in the shower which had stains on it. The beds were fairly comfortable though. The next day, we expected housekeeping to come and clean the room and bring new towels, but when we arrived back at our room, they hadn't come at all. I called the front desk and they said that due to Covid, housekeeping wasn't cleaning the rooms. Hmmm.....but you're charging me the same price as if I were receiving housekeeping services, so what gives? I asked them for some new towels and they said they would bring them to me. 40 minutes passed and still no one bringing towels, so I called again. They apologized and said they'd had some mix-ups with calls and the guy came with the towels. Just not at all what I would have expected from the photos. Very run-down and old and the staff weren't helpful. After having stayed here, I wouldn't pay more than $125/night for this place.

If you can, stay elsewhere Pluses: the rooms are very spacious and are equipped with a sink, refrigerator and microwave. The ice machines were working and plentiful and our room was clean. Parking was also plentiful and the hotel is close to the freeway. Negatives: the front desk staff are rude. The young man checking us in claimed that I didn’t have a reservation. I had to show him on my app that I did and he said it was my fault for booking through Priceline. He also seemed spaced out. They also couldn’t find a luggage cart either. The young lady who checked me out didn’t give me a receipt for my stay and just said to look it up on the app. She claimed she didn’t have to give receipts if I book through Priceline. Tip: they must really hate Priceline or third party reservations so be prepared. The front desk is extremely frustrating to deal with and left a bad taste in my mouth for the entire stay. The showers are a nightmare. I had to call down and ask how to turn them on. You have to pull very hard to make them work and it’s an effort. The AC was also wonky in my room. It would run for 10 minutes and shut off. I finally figured out that you have to hit the heat button and then move the temperature down. You have to keep waking up in the middle of the night to do this. My parents didn’t have the same problem but they did have the same issue with the shower. All of us stayed on the 2nd floor. All in all, I recommend staying elsewhere. Even with the awful AC problems, the front desk was just horrible to deal with. They had teens or young adults manning them and they could care less about being helpful. If I come back, I’m paying extra and staying at the Hampton Inn. Don’t book rooms on the second floor. Hopefully the showers and AC’s are better on other floors.

Deceptive Pet Policy on Website Per their website, I called the IHG 800 number directly to book a "pet friendly suite" for one of the two rooms in my stay. The person who booked my room told me "it had to be on the first floor" and then proceeded to book me two rooms at above the rate I could have gotten by directly booking through the IHG app. When the reservations hit my account neither of them indicated it was a pet friendly suite, so I called the hotel directly. The person who answered the phone said that they would make a note on one of the reservations. When we arrived at the hotel I checked in to both rooms. There was no mention of the "pet friendly suite" so I asked which room it was. The receptionist told me that "it didn't really matter which room as long as I filled out a pet waiver form and payed a $50 non-refundable deposit". This was the first mention of a $50 pet fee (was not mentioned by the 800 number, nor was it mentioned by the hotel when I called directly). As a result, between the pet fee and the upcharged room from booking through the IHG 800 number I paid about $80 more for the room than I anticipated. To add to the confusion, when I checked out, because the room was booked through the IHG 80 number I was told that they couldn't print my room invoice for me and I would have to wait for an e-mail containing the invoice. As a result there was no way to verify the pet fee or dispute it directly with the hotel until the receipt arrived two days later. Beyond the pet issue the hotel was adequate but inconsistent. One room had a sitting chair, for example, and one did not. There was no recognition for being an IHG platinum, but 500 points were added to my account for platinum check-in without any notice. On the positive side - the bartender/waitress who served us dinner for the night was amazing and deserves special recognition. The food (Mahi and Salmon) were both outstanding. Despite the positives, we likely won't be back to this location. Part of the reason we stay with IHG is the predictability and value of it. Inaccurate information on the website that is not corrected by either the national line or the front line folks at the hotel until we arrive at the hotel is unacceptable. A guest should never be left with the choice of paying a $50 additional fee or having to find another hotel to stay at.

Unhelpful front desk, smoky & dirty rooms The hotel changed our reservation on us without communicating the change because they were all sold out of the room type we chose. The front desk was not very helpful. The interior of the hotel and room appeared worn and dirty. The shower did not work well - I thought it was broken at first. The room phone was broken so it was impossible to ask for help. The first room we were given smelled like smoke and we had to change rooms. The room also did not have the coffee stocked. Guests were not wearing masks and the pool area was loud. However, the restaurant had amazing breakfast and TBH it was probably the best hotel breakfast I've ever had.