Holiday Inn Express & Suites Lamar, an IHG Hotel

Mar 26th, 2024

I really hate to give an IHG hotel a one star review, as my husband and I stay in quite a few for a job that requires 100% travel. And I dont often leave reviews on hotels when most of my stays are one or two nights (who has time to leave reviews practically daily?). This review is in regard to the non-existent manager. We drove into Lamar on February 28th, as we were traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles by vehicle for work. We were trying to make good time driving and I hadnt booked a room ahead like I usually do, so we didnt know until we arrived that this location was undergoing major renovations. I should have gone with my gut before we stepped in the front door and saw all the construction work at the entrance- we had to step around workers laying new floor tiles in the lobby to get to the table set up as the front desk. My husband asked for the room, I provided the payment and my IHG member number, received the key and went back outside to try to park- all of the parking spaces including the diamond elite spaces were filled with the vehicles of the construction workers. We immediately went back in to the desk to say we would be staying somewhere else and asked for the charge to be canceled. The woman at the front desk called her manager and told us that the charge would be canceled. I watched my credit card app, expecting the pending charge to fall off after several days. Instead, the charge for the room cleared my credit card, and the IHG app shows that we checked in on the 28th and checked out on the 28th. We have tried calling numerous times to speak to a manager to have the charge refunded back to the credit card, and regardless of what time of day I or my husband call, the manager is never available to speak to us. We have been told that the manager wasnt in and would get back to us, we have been told the manager is aware and that they are working on the refund, we have been told that the manager would reach out to us, we have been placed on hold with no one picking back up. Numerous calls, no contact with the manager, no calls back, no pending refund on my credit card. It is now the 7th of March and I got fed up trying to allow the manager of this location to make things right. I finally called my credit card company to dispute the charge. As a hotel overall Im sure it will be nice once renovations are complete, and had it not been for the extent of construction going on, we would have stayed and probably had an uneventful, restful one night stay here. We never have issues with any hotel we stay in where we need to involve management, even in some of the less than ideal hotels (of any hotel chain) where we might bring some maintenance issues to the attention of the front desk. But realizing there was no parking, and that we would have to wheel our luggage through construction dust and debris to get to our room was just not an ideal stay for the night when we had been traveling across the country. Again, I should have made the decision to go elsewhere in town (not a lot of options in Lamar) prior to going to the desk and giving my credit card, but as an IHG hotel, I really expected better customer service than being ignored, pushed off, lied to and absolutely zero interaction with the manager. I will still stay in IHG hotels as they are much nicer and more comfortable than other options around the same price point in many places, but I am making a mental note to never consider this IHG location again because of the managers unwillingness or inability to address issues that her employees cannot. Edit: I did receive a credit back to my credit card, but not before filing the dispute with my credit card company and writing this review. And still no call from the manager to explain we have been refunded or apologize for the inconvenience it caused. So my above opinions of the manager and review of the hotel due to managements lack of handling the issue still stands.
Mar 10th, 2024

Hotel currently under renovations. It has a musty smell in it. Room was nice. Located near some restaurants.
Feb 22nd, 2024

Definitely an older Holiday Inn Express. Evening desk person very nice and helpful. Morning staff hanging at desk and very unwelcoming. Rooms run down with broken blinds. TV down due to ice on the satellite which is understandable due to weather conditions, congregation of smokers allowed by front entrance. Decent location with adequate parking. Offered me a safe place to spend a few hours out of the elements but wouldn't make it a regular stop for sure.
Jan 28th, 2024

Jan 25th, 2024