Memorably Horrible Visit
Our family of three stayed at this Holiday Inn for five night and without question, was the worst hotel experience we have ever had (we take several trips per year, different locations). We stayed on the 11th floor; I'm unsure whether our terrible overall experience had anything to do with the particular floor we were assigned to or not (our room was #1121). There were so many facets about this place that were either awful and/or just plain unacceptable that it's hard to know where to start. The list, beginning with the floor/room: absolutely no air conditioning in the hallways; two of the four elevators had shaky-scary movements (we noticed an elevator repair van in the parking lot twice, but never saw anyone repairing the elevators nor noticed any improvement in them); very dirty carpet in the room (feet and socks were dirtied from walking on it, so we were sure to wear shoes in the room); equally dirty marble tiles in the incredibly tiny bathroom (so dirty that when wiped with a wet paper towel, the towel came away black!); a shower curtain that was not water repellant or even water resistant; very dirty and dusty around the bases of the beds and behind the headboards; curtains at the window were also very dusty with hair stuck onto the fabric; fluorescent bulbs in all of the lighting fixtures (I'm all for being green, but these were not good quality fluorescent bulbs and the visibilty with all fixtures glowing a low, yellowish-green was headache-inducing; the white bedcovers were clearly dirty (smudged and dusty); our air conditioning unit did not cool well part of the time (this could have been due to the heat outside and our high-elevation room location) and there was dried food on the back of the desk chair. Although we were very unhappy with the accommodations, we knew - from trying to book a room elsewhere - that other area hotels were full, and we as we found out most of the problems only after bringing all of our items up to the room and beginning to settle in - and our trip plans involved not being at the hotel for very long each day - we decided to try to make the best of things, however, it was a very bothersome situation. The hotel restaurant - Eden West - should be avoided at all costs. We ate their twice. The first time, we were there for dinner and there were very few other diners in the restaurant (which, like the rooms, had fluoresent bulbs in the fixtures - these had more of a greenish tinge - making the restaurant atmosphere too dim and creepy). We placed our order and waited a half-hour for it to arrive. In the meantime, we asked for bread, and were brought clearly burned rolls. When we inquired about those, our waitress said that they were "supposed to be that way" and asked us to try them. We tried them, and, yes, they were definitely burned rolls. We asked for unburned rolls, and she unexplicably brought us spicy pepperoni-infused bread that was also inedible. The food was unexceptional when it arrived, but by then we were ravenous. The second trip there was, unfortunately due to time constraints, and we hoped for a better experience (alas, it was worse). This time, our food arrived in a more timely manner, but the chicken tenders-type of meal that our son had enjoyed for the most part the first time around (and had ordered this second visit) featured "chicken tenders" that looked unlike anything we had ever seen with that name. The "tenders" were long, wavy, stringy things that had more batter than chicken. When we inquired of the waitress why there was a difference over two days before, she said that the restaurant had "changed its menu" (the menu itself, though, was identical to our previous visit). Our son tried a piece of this new type of tender, but couldn not eat it; eating only the fries served with it. My salad, edible on the previous visit was deemed not so on this second visit due to the presence of a hair in it, which I discovered in mid-chew. The management did not charge us for this meal. There is a very small cafe/convenience store in the lobby of the hotel, which we viewed as helpful - and it was, except for when it was inexplicably closed at times, not following the hours posted. The pool at the hotel was fun for our son, however the cloudiness of the water bothered my husband and I. There was a lifeguard on duty, though, which was a plus to us, as well as towels provided in the pool area for those visiting. I will say that our housekeeper was very nice, despite the fact that the room's cleanliness was not acceptable, and we always had adequate towels and soaps (however, not toilet tissue). I am unsure if the major cleaning - behind and under furniture, the tall curtains and the bathroom floors - is left up to other staff, with daily cleaning undertaken by a different team. We will not stay at this hotel again and definitely cannot recommend it nor the restaurant there.