Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites TOPEKA NORTH by IHG

Staff who care to make your loved one smile :) My husband is working in Topeka until October. He’s been staying at this Holiday Inn for a couple weeks now. We live in Arizona and today was his birthday. I called the hotel and spoke with a lady named Rachel. I told her I wanted to do something special for my husband’s birthday and needed her help to see it through. Without hesitation, Rachel kindly agreed to help me! Not only did she put decorations together and stage the room with a cake, she bought a birthday card for her staff to sign AND came in early for her shift to make this possible. My husband was pleasantly surprised and it made his birthday away from home more bearable because of staff members like Rachel who go above and beyond for their guests! Not only do they want to accommodate your hotel stay, staff like Rachel are willing to accommodate special days like a birthday :) She gets it! The hotel is fortunate to have such a generous and selfless employee.

Lots of Issues At This Hotel I checked in on 1/23/24 and was assigned Room 414. Arriving at the room, I opened the refrigerator to store perishable medication. The refrigerator didn't seem to work, so I pulled it out to make sure it was plugged in and turned on. Nothing. I called the front desk, explaining to the front desk clerk that the refrigerator didn't work and that I would need a new room with a working fridge so I could store my meds. "What kind of medication is it?", asked the front desk clerk, offering to let me store my meds in the lobby fridge. Since her questions was a borderline HIPAA violation, I told her that was none of her business. She told me she would call me back in 5 minutes. While waiting for the callback, I decided to watch some TV...cable didn't work. I reported this to the front desk clerk, who told me to come to the lobby and wait while they tried to find another room for me. I went back down to the lobby and waited about 10 minutes. The original front desk clerk's shift was over, and I overheard her tell her relief clerk (pointing at me), "That's the guy that needs another room". Another 5 minutes passed, and the new clerk gave me the keys to my new room. I went to the room...cable didn't work, so I called back to the front desk. The clerk told me the GM was cleaning a room and would come by shortly. The GM came and got the cable activated. I mentioned the original clerk's HIPAA question and she said she would address the issue. Later that evening, I was sitting in my room and another guest walked in; he was given a key to my room. I reported this to the front desk clerk. I decided to reheat some food and the pix attached show the lack of cleanliness of the microwave. I'm in the food service industry and if one of my accounts had a microwave in this condition, it would be a health department critical violation. Clearly, the tile floor was mopped with extremely dirty mop water (see pix below). As a Diamond Elite member and traveling District Manager, I stay in IHG properties 250-275 nights per year and this property, in no way, meets my expectations of customer service and cleanliness that IHG properties typically meet. Day 1 is complete, and I can't wait to see what Day 2 brings. When I travel back to Topeka, this IHG property is one place I will not stay. I understand business finances and P&Ls, so I think the manager should offer better pay, which just might lead to hiring better employees.

Your Holiday Inn Express expectations will not be met We have long been a happy customer of HI Express, principally due to many being pet friendly. We came in from Denver on I-70, let Google Maps guide us several miles from i-70 to this hotel and noticed that the parking lot was almost bare. Upon arrival, we asked for a luggage cart as we have a 32-gallon transport tub of pet logistics and suitcases. The desk clerk said they had NONE. She helped me tote the tub to the room at the end of the hall on an upper floor. Contrary to what they claim, there are few nearby restaurants. I went to the close by Dlckey's to get some barbecue for my bride, my dog and myself. Apparently due to being short staffed, they closed early. The IHOP was still open, I ordered two take out sandwiches and returned to the room. The sandwiches were horrible. My advice, call ahead to the desk to see if they have carts, if the badly needed restoration is completed, and if they have reduced the pest population.

Kinda crappy They didn't have the room we reserved due to renovations, which feels pretty unprofessional, especially because I reserved on the actual website. So we took a different room, which had chunks of something in the tub. Also, the toilet paper fixture fell off the wall when I went to get TP. They got us a new room, which was not that bad but their cleaning detail is not very good. There was hair etc in the corners of the bathroom and for having just been renovated, it was weird that the tub already had what looked like rust stains. There were bugs everywhere - both dead and alive, grasshoppers, crickets, flies, ants - in the welcome area and every hallway. Ew. By way of amenities, they provided two bottles of conditioner, one of lotion, and a little bar of hand soap. Kind of a weird mix to have so much conditioner and no shampoo, but it worked ok. Thankfully the front desk staff was very nice and helped us get to a clean room that wasn't being renovated. If not for them I'd give this hotel one star or none.

terrible stay absolutely horrible stay. outdated hotel. broken furniture. damp sheets. loud people in the room above us. most likely unsupervised kids. i cant imagine any adult was in the same room and allowed that noise. a very nice front desk attendant named gabe who tried to help, but to no avail. there are other hotels in the area. skip this one.