Holiday Inn Downtown

The location is great, the shuttle is fine otherwise terrible. This place was like a joke. As soon as we arrived there they were having problems with the room check in system so people were waiting in the lobby. That didn’t take too long to fix, but it just went downhill. The air conditioner in the room didn’t work, when we arrived it was around 80 degrees. We tried to get it running and left for awhile and it didn’t improve. Didn’t sleep well that first night because was too hot. We talked to the front desk people twice and they eventually sent up an “engineer” but he couldn’t fix it. They did move us from our room on 4th floor to 11th floor and it was much cooler. In that room part of the shower door was missing so water got on the floor and you had to step into cold water to turn the shower on. We didnt complain because didn’t want to move again. The maid only showed up once in the 4 nights we stayed here. On what was supposed to be our fifth and final night, they had an explosion/fire so had to evacuate when the alarm went off in the late afternoon and a dozen fire trucks. We went to our dinner reservation and when we came back, the fire department was gone but when we walked into the hotel we were told they had to move everyone to different hotels. They said we could go up to the room and get our stuff so we walked up 11 flights of stairs where it smelled of smoke. Then we packed up in the dark and came back down 11 flights of stairs with our luggage. I was so out of breath when finally got back to lobby. No one offered to help get our stuff (we are both 60) and no electricity so no elevators. They shuttled us to the Sheraton which was SO much nicer. We had to pay for our own cab to get back to the Holiday Inn to get our car from the ramp. There were a couple nice people at the hotel but most were incompetent. I believe they are closed for a few weeks because of the fire. When they reopen do yourself a favor and don’t stay there. There were many more issues to numerous to go into. I am done with Holiday Inn. Read less

Where do I begin? Warning: this post will have some disgusting pictures from our stay. I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, but this was hands down the WORST hotel experience I’ve ever had. Please read til the end of the post. First off, we got a good deal for this hotel on Priceline. The staff was kind at check in, there is complimentary fruit infused water in the lobby, & GREAT location—Rendezvous right next door (over-rated), Peabody ducks across street (awesome), and the walk to downtown/Beale St. is very quick. We did reserve a king bed but they said there were only doubles left, so we ended up with 2 double beds. Also, valet parking is required and technically “separate” from hotel for $25. It goes downhill from there. The upstairs hallways are hot/muggy/musty and have stains all across the carpet. Our room had a beautiful view of the Peabody Hotel across the street. The beds were pretty comfortable. That’s the extent of the pros. Here’s where our stay went downhill fast: -doors are so thin it made for a disruptive night with lots of commotion in hallways/hearing other guests’ conversations in adjacent rooms, etc. -there was gum stuck to the chair top in our room -there was mold/mildew growing in the tub -there was what appeared to be blood smeared by the tv (it definitely wasn’t BBQ sauce!) -the worst over the edge thing that happened was there was a huge gross stain on the shower curtain. Turns out, there was HUMAN FECES smashed into the shower curtain! And it fell INTO the shower while I was in it! Absolutely disgusting (and I cleaned it up myself so I could finish my shower)!! And the stain was so obvious, that the maids had to see it! It’s one of the first things I saw in the room (just didn’t check the inside of the curtain right away). Totally creeped us out that the rest of the room probably had more unclean things throughout it, but after blood, gum, and poop, we didn’t want to search any harder. I told the front desk staff at our checkout about our unclean room. There was a lady in front of me in line who was very upset about her stay as well. They weren’t able to do anything for me because we had pre-booked through a 3rd party, but they gave me a card for the manager. They said management would be in touch with me and if I didn’t hear in 24 hours, to call and follow up. I followed up 24 hours later and spoke with the manager who didn’t seem to have a clue about my story. She said they had an explosion/power outage so she couldn’t review my account til the following week. She said she would try to get me a refund. I kindly explained that if you had been a guest that had human POOP fall into YOUR shower, wouldn’t you want to rectify the situation by going above and beyond in kindness and courtesy? She did call and follow up once the power was back on to say a refund had been issued and to offer a complimentary stay next time I plan to stay at that Memphis hotel. I was grateful for the refund but also explained I was so grossed out by the unsanitary standards of this hotel, that I will never stay there again. We negotiated that the stay would be converted to points to use anywhere for possibly one stay or part of a stay. I’m grateful for them attempting to rectify the situation but disappointed with the customer service. I practically had to argue my case with picture proof and all just to receive bare minimum treatment. I called Holiday Inn corporate to report the situation and explain everything —Memphis hotel “resolution” included. I spoke with the kindest man who was the most helpful. He was very apologetic and informed me the points I was gifted from Memphis management were less than the equivalent for the night stay I had paid at that hotel. Corporate gave us enough points to actually cover a full night’s stay. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend staying at this Holiday Inn until they can get their hotel cleanliness standards up to par. And to Holiday Inn employees & anyone else who actually reads this review— remember, it always pays to treat others the way we want to be treated. Kindness is always a win. On the bright side, we now have a disgusting/hilarious story to tell for years to come about our Memphis adventures. Read less

I coordinated the reunion through Ms Olivia. She was terrific to work with. The personnel at the front desk are great, very helpful to my fellow veterans The hotel had a shuttle service that was available from 7 am till the wee hours. The hotel is ideally located so by using the shuttle you can see all the sights and sites in Memphis. Graceland is outside the 5 mile radius of the shuttle but a free bus from the Sun Records studio will take you to Graceland and return. The day time shuttle driver is very versed in the area and points of interest.He is also very nice. Rooms are nice, very clean, recently remodeled.Terrific playe to stay. Housekeeping is very attentive and helpful too. Read less

Memphis seemed to be under construction. Period. personally for me hard to get around, old streets and a lot of traffic. with all that there are still several things to see and we did try to take in what we came for. Sun Studios, Graceland and Beale street. the prices were ok and the food seemed very good but the panhandlers in downtown were horrible. To the point of me asking to be left alone and then was followed by the panhandler and when asked to leave us alone and what are you trying to do he would cross his arms and stare at us. We had to tell the police and all they did was talk to him and he then stood across the street outside the restaurant staring at us. Threatening type of feeling, So Memphis glad I met ya and will never see ya again. Read less