I have stayed in a lot of Holiday Inns in the past, and the Holiday Inn Columbus North I-85 in Columbus, Georgia was by far the worst property I have ever stayed in.
I understand that construction and improvements are necessary to maintain a hotel, and I’ve stayed in numerous hotels in the middle of a remodeling process. However, this hotel appears to have made little (if any) effort to reduce the impact for guests.
While the lobby area was fairly nice, there were large piles of construction debris around the entire hotel. The side entrance closest to my room had a mountain of debris (read trash here) that made it impossible to enter without climbing through it and collecting dirt on shoes, clothing, and luggage. There was no way into the building that one could avoid tracking dust and dirt into the hotel hallways, or back into the car. The access ramp leading to the door was covered with construction materials, and the only way I could get my rolling luggage to the door was to lift it up and over the curb – stepping through the pile instead of next to it. But I felt oh-so-much better when I saw the tattered sign placed inside the door that said “pardon our dust.”
I went into my assigned room. I couldn’t believe this was a Holiday Inn property.
The guest room sliding glass doors opened to the debris filled parking lot. The doors didn’t close tightly and had a gap large enough to let in a cold breeze. The room smelled musty or like an animal had been in it, and the mini-fridge was sitting on the floor in the entryway to the room with the cord stretched out along the wall to reach the room’s only outlet. Lamp shades were askew and the sofa cushions didn’t match the sofa. The bathtub stopper was broken, and in order to take a shower the stopper (very nasty) had to be pulled out of the drain and set aside or the water wouldn’t drain.
I am a female business traveler and I never felt safe in this room. As I look back on this experience, I can’t believe I stayed. But I did, and I survived to tell the tale.
And, in the midst all the negatives, there is one positive note. The desk staff I encountered were pleasant and professional. It is my opinion that they should be commended for maintaining professionalism in a hostile environment. Either that - or they should be awarded Purple Hearts.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Georgia on my mind
I always have mixed emotions when I know I'm going to Atlanta, Georgia. I enjoy the city but hate the traffic, so when selecting a hotel in Atlanta my primary criteria is location. This particular trip took me to the Atlanta Buckhead district, so I decided to stay two nights in the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta. This was a good choice for a really great hotel. The hotel is gorgeous. I had a standard king-sized room (no upgrade here, but none was expected). The generous sized room was absolutely beautiful with upscale decor, had a nice assortment of bathroom amenities, and offered an extremely comfortable bed.
But even diamonds can have flaws. For instance, don't expect any old-fashioned-southern-down-home-friendly hospitality. The front desk was all business and efficiency when I checked in. I was the only person at the desk at the time, and there was no chit-chat and only an obligatory smile.
Many times when staying in a hotel I choose to eat in the hotel lounge instead of the restaurant since they usually have a variety of appetizers that are meal-sized. Sometimes they even offer a full menu. There's really no reason to go to a restaurant if I'm not really in the mood for a large dinner. This being the case, I went to the hotel's lounge only to be told by the bartender (the only one on duty) that if I ordered there I would have to wait for an hour or more to receive the meal. Now this was not an empty hotel lounge as many often are - this was a busy lounge, and a very busy hotel. The lack of employees in the lounge seemed an oversight to me. Not really wanting to wait over an hour, I went to the restaurant. The fine dining restaurant was full service and open all night. My meal was excellent and served quickly.
Sensitive readers be advised that the following may be considered a rant.
Now, before I make my next comments I need to put something into perspective. This was not a cheap hotel. In fact, it was almost too pricey for my business travel. So, I have to ask this question: when you pay that much for a hotel, why do they charge an additional $20.00 a day for self parking? $20.00 a day?! (Valet parking was $30.00.) It's not as if the parking spaces were at a premium as the large underground garage was relatively empty. And charging for the internet is also a mystery to me. If McDonald's and Starbucks can offer free WiFi, you'd think that expensive hotels would consider their customers important enough to offer complimentary access. But I have discovered that the more expensive hotels usually charge for the internet as if their access is somehow better than the less expensive hotels. I think this is a problem that should be addressed in the industry as a whole.
But even diamonds can have flaws. For instance, don't expect any old-fashioned-southern-down-home-friendly hospitality. The front desk was all business and efficiency when I checked in. I was the only person at the desk at the time, and there was no chit-chat and only an obligatory smile.
Many times when staying in a hotel I choose to eat in the hotel lounge instead of the restaurant since they usually have a variety of appetizers that are meal-sized. Sometimes they even offer a full menu. There's really no reason to go to a restaurant if I'm not really in the mood for a large dinner. This being the case, I went to the hotel's lounge only to be told by the bartender (the only one on duty) that if I ordered there I would have to wait for an hour or more to receive the meal. Now this was not an empty hotel lounge as many often are - this was a busy lounge, and a very busy hotel. The lack of employees in the lounge seemed an oversight to me. Not really wanting to wait over an hour, I went to the restaurant. The fine dining restaurant was full service and open all night. My meal was excellent and served quickly.
Sensitive readers be advised that the following may be considered a rant.
Now, before I make my next comments I need to put something into perspective. This was not a cheap hotel. In fact, it was almost too pricey for my business travel. So, I have to ask this question: when you pay that much for a hotel, why do they charge an additional $20.00 a day for self parking? $20.00 a day?! (Valet parking was $30.00.) It's not as if the parking spaces were at a premium as the large underground garage was relatively empty. And charging for the internet is also a mystery to me. If McDonald's and Starbucks can offer free WiFi, you'd think that expensive hotels would consider their customers important enough to offer complimentary access. But I have discovered that the more expensive hotels usually charge for the internet as if their access is somehow better than the less expensive hotels. I think this is a problem that should be addressed in the industry as a whole.
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