Holiday Inn Express Southampton

Review of Holiday Inn Express Southampton West - Part of International Hotel's Group I am writing to warn others and record my disappointment with the standard of care and customer service provided by Holiday Inn Express Southampton West during a recent stay. When staying at this hotel, a 'perfect storm' occurred including stolen belongings including essential medication, leading to the real potential situation in which two of our family could have ended up in hospital, leaving four young children, one with additional needs, without anyone to care for them. Another adult from our family travelled over 100 miles to assist, but the hotel refused to let them stay in the room that was already booked, despite it being advertised as suitable for an extra person, (and therefore not breaching maximum occupancy rules). Additionally, IHG policy states additional guests can be subsequently added to a booking for an administration fee, which we were more that willing to pay. Instead, staff insisted we purchase an additional room at an extortionate price, located on a completely different floor. This decision removed essential support at a critical moment and showed no regard for guest welfare. In circumstances where guest welfare should be a clear priority, the hotel staff member demonstrated unprofessional conduct shouting reception, drawing attention to our predicament to all in the vicinity. He offered no meaningful assistance, and no initiative in helping us to ensure the children's safety or wellbeing. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the staff member remained dismissive, uncompassionate and unhelpful. We were left to manage the situation entirely on our own, without reassurance, practical support, or even basic information about what the hotel could do to assist. This lack of engagement created unnecessary stress at an already difficult time and fell far short of the duty of care expected from a hotel accommodating families. Equally concerning was the IHG's dreadful complaints procedure. Attempts to raise the issue formally were met with slow, unclear responses, broken promises, inaccurate information, limited accountability, and no clear pathway for resolution. The process felt dismissive, with no indication that the hotel was willing to review what had happened, appraise the additional evidence provided, or take steps to prevent similar failures in future. Overall, this experience has left us feeling that guest wellbeing and responsible customer service, especially in emergencies, are not treated as priorities at this property and that the complaints process is not fit for purpose. Based on this, I cannot recommend Holiday Inn Express Southampton West or International Hotels Group for families, or anyone who may need reliable support in unforeseen circumstances.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn for two nights, arriving on Monday 10th August 2026 and leaving today, Wednesday 12th August. Overall, we had a lovely stay, and I’m giving the hotel 5 stars, despite a disappointing experience when we first arrived. We arrived at approximately 9:50am from the airport after being awake since around 2am, with two very tired children. I completely understood that we were extremely early for check-in and wasn’t expecting to be given our room straight away. I simply wanted to see if we could leave our bags and head off to Paultons Park. Unfortunately, our first interaction at reception really put a dampener on things. I had to try to get his attention as he didn’t greet me. I said, “Hi, I’m here to check in,” to which he replied, “For what?” I explained that we had a booking, and he very abruptly told me that we couldn’t check in early. I then asked if we were too late for breakfast, and again the response was quite abrupt, simply telling me we were too late. I completely understand that breakfast had finished, but given that I had two exhausted children with me after travelling since 2am, a little kindness would have gone a long way. Even offering a cup of tea and some toast for the children would have made such a difference. I then said we would come back around 3pm and started to leave, only to realise that we still had all of our luggage. The bags were clearly visible to him, but I had to turn back and ask if we could leave them there. I would have expected this to be offered proactively. I do appreciate that everyone can have a bad day, and perhaps he was having one himself. However, as someone working in a hotel, you never know what the guests walking through the door are going through either. A friendly greeting and a little empathy can make such a difference, especially when someone has travelled for hours with tired children. Even my older son commented afterwards about how rude the gentleman had been. It honestly left me feeling quite upset and dreading coming back to the hotel. Thankfully, everything changed when we returned. We were greeted by Lucy, who was absolutely fantastic. She was so friendly, welcoming and helpful and explained everything to us in detail. She genuinely couldn’t have done enough for us and completely changed how I felt about staying at the hotel. I also want to mention Sam on reception, who was fantastic when I had a query regarding breakfast this morning. I had actually rang reception late last night about it, and Sam was extremely helpful when dealing with my query. There was also a lovely lady working in the breakfast area this morning who was fantastic. We had an early flight and she very kindly brought out the rashers early for me, which I really appreciated. And finally, the lovely girl at reception when we were checking out today offered me a cup of tea to take with me as we were leaving. Such a small gesture, but after travelling with two children it was genuinely appreciated. I’m sorry I didn’t get everyone’s names, but Lucy, Sam, the gentleman who helped me with the key cards, the lovely lady at breakfast and the girl who offered me the tea were all absolutely fantastic and a real credit to this hotel. The room itself was lovely — very clean, comfortable and had everything we needed. We had no complaints whatsoever about the room or the facilities. So, despite the poor first impression on Monday morning, the staff we encountered afterwards were so friendly and helpful that they completely turned the experience around. I’m giving 5 stars because I don’t want one bad experience with one member of staff to tarnish what was otherwise a really good stay. The kindness and professionalism shown by the other members of staff far outweighed that initial experience. To management, I would simply ask that the attitude shown by the first gentleman on reception be addressed. Staff are dealing with people from all walks of life, and you never know what someone may have been through before they arrive at your hotel. A little warmth and empathy can make an enormous difference. Thank you to all the staff who made the rest of our stay so enjoyable. You really are a credit to the hotel. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Location convenient for M27. Reception staff failed to point out car parking screen now I am dreading the possibility of a car parking fine. Bedrooms had no aircon. Seemed to be some discrimination going on as some selected stayers mainly male from what I could tell, were being told we have moved you to the ground floor to keep you cooler. I was on the top floor. Using a qr code to read menu is a nightmare. Food was ok.