HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS HOTEL & SUITES THE WOODLANDS

Decent checkin staff. Room is OK and size is fine. Good AC and decent TV selection. Bath could use a little upkeep. Common area seems dark. Parking can be a challenge with all of the work crew trucks. In the evening it seems the work crews congregate in common areas for drinking sessions. Parking is sort of dark and un inviting. Location is decent. Did not feel family oriented.

Let me start by saying I’m a HUGE Holiday Inn fan. In fact, I’m staying at one right now. I beg you to not patronize this particular location due to the horrendous customer service and management’s response to the situation. Last week I booked a last-minute trip to meet up with my friend that has stage four cancer. Unfortunately, my flight got delayed, so I called the hotel to add her name on which would allow her to check in without me. Apparently, if the front desk doesn’t answer, your call gets rerouted to the national hotline. I hung up and tried calling back, only to be redirected again. I explained to the gentleman I was trying to add my friend’s name to the reservation so and he said because it was for that night I would have to contact the hotel directly. I told him I had tried but that’s how I got routed to him. He offered to call the hotel for me and put me on hold. When he came back, he said the hotel’s system was down and they would not be able to add the name to the reservation. I asked if they could make a manual note so she could check in. He again put me on hold but the hotel denied the request. I explained to him that she was very ill and needed to get into a room as soon as possible to be comfortable. I also explained for health purposes she could not just wait in the lobby for three hours until I arrived. He again put me on hold but they told him that it was hotel policy that I would need to be there. I then asked him if the hotel was sold out to which he responded to with, “no.” I suggested that they hold her credit card, but not charge it in case I for some reason didn’t show up. Then they could keep my points and also charge her for the room. They would clearly be able to see how sick she was upon arrival and understand why she couldn’t just hang out and wait. I was told no. So I told him I was going to need to go cancel the reservation. He apologized profusely, but said less than 24 hours before he would not be able to do it and gave me a different number. My flight was about to takeoff so I told my friend to just find a different hotel to book. The next day I called and explained my situation. The representative was very apologetic and said there was nothing that she would be able to do since the reservation passed. I asked to speak with a supervisor. Magically, while being transferred, I was disconnected. I called back and spoke to someone else, explained the situation again, but again was disconnected. The third time I called, I immediately asked the agent if she could have a supervisor call me so we didn’t get disconnected again. Whoever called me back assured me that the points (like I said, I frequently, almost exclusively, stay at Holiday Inns) had been refunded to my account. A day later, I noticed that my credit card had been charged $129. When I inquired why, I was told this was a no-show fee. She said that the no show fee was because I tried to cancel within the 24 hours of the reservation, even though I had booked the reservation a couple hours before all this happened. She opened a claim for me and said someone would get back to me shortly. A day or two later, I received the attached response. I emailed back and I asked that because of the circumstances I felt like this shouldn’t fall under hotel policy but should be considered on an individual basis. In a separate email explained she had gotten inaccurate information and the reason days had passed (as she said), was because I had been told that the points had been refunded. I was never told about the no-show fee. I told her that I had offered multiple solutions but they were all rejected. Now remember, my request couldn’t be accomplished because their “systems are down.” I said how disappointed I was in the whole experience and expected better from a company that I’ve always spoke so highly about. I never received a response to either email. Today I noticed a different email on my confirmation and decided to try one more time. I received a response from the same manager, which I have attached, as well. If I can save one person one person from going through the awful experience I did, this will have been worth my time. Please give your business to another location. ***Edit*** Just figured out why they charge a no show fee instead of keeping the points. So you can’t write a review on their website. See attached.

Drove 4 hours to go to a concert get to the hotel and not allowed to enter due to a smoker catching the place on fire. They never communicated with anyone so after a couple of hours in the Texas heat we gave up and headed home losing lots of money and wasting my pto.. I'd give you a zero if I could for the lack of communication