Room with a view

The Holiday Inn Express in Wichita Falls Texas is a lovely, relatively new hotel on the outskirts of town. It was a bit challenging to find at first because of the highway construction. In order to get to it I had to drive through the gas station and around the Sonic Drive-In. After the first time finding my way in though it was no problem.

One side of the hotel overlooks a little man-made lake. I bet there is a nice view. I wouldn't know because I wasn't on that side of the hotel. I wonder what you have to do to get one of those rooms? I'm a Platinum priority member, I booked an executive suite - and I didn't get a room with a view. I got a room with a lovely view of the highway construction, complete with sound effects. But, the heavy machinery didn't bother me too much because the fan worked well in the room.

I also discovered that I wished I was better skilled at TV channel-surfing. The hotel had HD TV, but I couldn't find the HD channels. It turns out that I had to channel down on the remote control in order to find them. I never thought about channeling down from zero. It would have been nice to know that. Maybe the hotel could give a hint or two in their hotel guide. They could call it "Remote Control for Dummies."

Speaking of control... the toilet seat in the bathroom slid over when I sat down. Now I know that this isn't a big deal, but it was a little disconcerting.

Oh, and one last thing. This hotel had a surprising number of active military personnel staying there. Word must have spread that if you had to go TDY to the local air force base, it was a quality hotel with quiet rooms. And, I hope that the servicemen and women were warmly welcomed and given the very best rooms with a nice view of the lake.

Can't you show a little excitement?

The plane was half full. The pilot walked into the aisle and said "Good news folks, we're taking off a little early and getting you there early!" Three people clapped. The pilot said "I know it's Midland, but hey can't you at least act excited?" We arrived 10 minutes early. Nice. It made me want to clap - especially since my morning flight had been canceled. I was just glad to have arrived at all.

This trip was a "freebie" since it was not a business trip, but for pleasure. (Yes, really. We went to see Summer Mummers, a wonderful Midland event.) Anyway, we used one of my free nights, and stayed in the Holiday Inn Express in Midland,Texas. It was a great stay. No complaints at all. We were recognized immediately as priority members and given nice little gift bags with all the necessities - trail mix, chips, cookies and bottled water. Believe me... in Midland you really appreciate the bottled water.

The only thing I can really comment on was the alarm clock. But you know, I didn't even attempt to set it as I always use my Blackberry for an alarm when I travel. But since my husband was with me he was determined to figure it out. I tell you what. I think I'll let you read his story for yourself.


UPDATE: The month after I stayed in this hotel I was matching my credit card receipts against my statement and came across a very odd thing. Two days after checking out I was billed on our credit card for our stay at the highest nightly rate, $170.00. Since we used a reward night I shouldn't have been billed for anything. I called the hotel, and the person I spoke with asked if I had charged anything to the room. I said no we hadn't, but in the back of my mind I was wondering who in the world could charge anything worth that much money at a Holiday Inn Express?! Anyway, I was told the manager was in a meeting and would call me back. After 2 days and making 3 more calls to the hotel (I never was able to speak with the manager) the last person I spoke with said "Oh they took care of it and credited your credit card." I said I was glad to hear it but it would have been nice to have been informed of the action. I asked for a copy of the credit and gave them my email address. The next day I received an email from the manager. It said "Here is your requested receipt. Please let us know if we can do anything else to assist you." There was no apology for the mistake or even a thank you for your patience. I can't believe the manager didn't even take the time to call me. I'm sad to think this lovely stay was marred by an error like this. But mostly I'm really glad I always check my credit card statements!

You have to have a sense of humor

The Holiday Inn Express in Macon, Georgia was interesting. There was no fluff or warm fuzzies when I checked in, and no acknowledgment as a priority member at check in other than having my keys ready.

But they had little bags of popcorn on the counter for the guests, so I figured they had a little culture.

This was an older property, and was the old style of the hotel chain. It was very different in that the decor in the hallways was deep blue, yellow, and sage green. I was surprised when I first saw it, but it actually had a nice feel to it.

When I entered the room, sitting on the table was a laminated card that welcomed me as a platinum priority member, a bottle of water, and a small package of Famous Amos cookies. I did not receive an upgrade, and was given a room with two double beds. I don't have a problem with double beds, but these were hard beds. They did try to disguise them with a pillow top, but it only helped a little. The room was small and felt very cramped. I had to fight past my clothes and out the door, because the space for hanging up clothes was right next to the front door. There were no electric outlets that were not in use so I had to charge my phone in the bathroom.

I've mentioned before that in hotels I need to have a fan running constantly to keep outside noise from waking me up. This hotels window unit cycled on and off all night, and so did my sleep - even with ear plugs. I think I'm going to invest in one of those small white noise machines so I can listen to crashing waves or whale songs instead.

The cabinet with the fridge and microwave was placed in a location that only left about two feet clearance to get by to the bathroom. But, since the toilet only flushed every other time and the bathtub wouldn't drain, I wasn't particularly inclined to spend much time in there anyway.

Holiday Inn Express breakfasts are legendary. You may remember that the hotel chain even featured them in an advertising campaign at one time. The food is always the same everywhere, so in theory there should be no surprises. Well, this one was a surprise from start to finish. Oh, the product was the same, but the preparation was virtually non-existent. I started out trying the omelet. I'm not sure if it was even heated up, because the slice of cheese in the middle was cold. So I tossed it and thought I'd have biscuits and gravy instead. I couldn't open the biscuit because it was rock-hard. Now, this happened to be the one day I really needed something for breakfast because I was going to miss lunch due to my meeting schedule. I was determined to find something. I got a bowl of cereal, and the cereal was stale. I moved on to my last resort: Holiday Inn Express has a trademarked hot cinnamon roll. While I know they are quite tasty, I don't usually get them because I have tried to reduce my intake of sugar carbs. I placed a cinnamon roll on a plate and went back to my table. Anticipating the forbidden carbs, I anxiously took a bite. It was cold.

I took my coffee back to the room and ate a few Famous Amos cookies.

But I have saved my favorite feature for the last. When I opened the curtains to let in the morning sun, I discovered I had a corner room with a view... of the dumpsters and the roof of the neighboring Motel 6.

Now that's class.

The Midnight Express

I liked Albuquerque, and I liked the Albuquerque Midtown Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites on Menaul Boulevard. I had appointments all over the city, so location wasn't an issue. I picked this hotel completely at random off the list of hotels on the website. As it turns out, I made a good choice. Due to a delayed flight, I arrived at the hotel at midnight rather than the anticipated 7:30 pm. The desk clerk was a wonderful young man who immediately acknowledged me as a Priority Member, and had my room keys ready and waiting for an express check in. He offered me a "goody bag" with bottled water and a snack. The snack came in very handy as I had missed dinner because of the airport delays. I was upgraded to a suite, and the room was quite spacious with a nice executive workspace. The only real downside to the room was the bed. It was an extra firm mattress with no nice comfortable pillow top. Most hotels nowadays have pillow top mattresses, so I missed that.

I was key-challenged at this hotel. The key reader for my room was quirky. If you put the key card in too slow it didn't work. If you put it in too fast it didn't work. After two replacement keys, they sent me with the maintenance guy to see if he could help and he showed me the "slow slide while pushing up" method. A little weird, but I didn't have any more problems after that.

You just gotta love the complimentary breakfasts at the HI Express. (If for no other reason, they provide excellent people-watching opportunities.) While the choices are the same at all properties, the quality can be questionable. This breakfast bar was well stocked, fresh, and had a very pleasant and attentive hostess.

The next time business takes me to Albuquerque, I would definitely consider this hotel again... especially if I want to work out the kinks in my back from sleeping on all those soft pillow top mattresses at the other properties.