Holiday Inn Rolling Meadows - Schaumburg Area

The Shining Movie I am not kidding that it reminded me of the shining movie: the strangest hotel I ever been. Creepy decorated like in Hawaii or something run down, soda machines that are connected but don't work. I wanted water and they told me that I could go the gas station that was a walking distance, we were at 28 degrees!. Somebody tried to open my room at 2 am. In the restaurant food at the counter and I was the only person there. A very nice man waiting the tables by himself. Really a weird place, read more reviews and you see that some people have walked out of this place. I don't think it will last for long.

Worst hotel stay ever When I made our reservation a month or so ago for a 2-night stay, I had read reviews and knew there were renovations going on, but the location and pet policy met our needs AND allowed us to stay on IHG points, and we had particular financial reasons for wanted to keep our costs to a bare minimum. We received the standard “we’re preparing for your upcoming stay” email a couple of days prior to check-in. Imagine our surprise then when we arrived only to be told that the property was actually CLOSED for renovations. WHAT! Supposedly the closure was happening a week sooner than planned, but for some reason it was beyond their ability to contact guests ahead of time. Initially the clerk offered right away to reassign us to the Holiday Inn Express sister property right next door (same ownership, same pet policy), but when I reminded her about having our small dog with us (as was noted in the original reservation) she said they wouldn’t be able to accommodate that — she knew both of the HIExpress pet-friendly rooms were taken — yes, that’s right, supposedly only TWO rooms were available for pets. Would she still call over and could they not make an exception for this situation? No. Would she find us accommodations at another area IHG property? Yes. Would they cover the cost and the difference in the pet fee? No. What were our options? They had an area of the hotel not yet under renovation so we could actually stay there. In hindsight, we probably should have bit the bullet and forked out the money to stay at another hotel, but we were just so thrown off by the whole situation and the principal of the thing, that we just said fine. Laughingly, she still insisted on swiping a credit card for “incidentals” — excuse me, your hotel is closed, there are no amenities at which we could spend any money! In the hallway of our room, there were plaster flakes all over the floor, the doors to the rooms were ajar and we could see that many rooms were in the process of being stripped. While our room was made up and generally clean, it was extremely dated and worn; the wall of the bathroom area was water-stained with peeling paint. I called IHG guest services to voice my complaint and thought they might intervene, but the agent was barely sympathetic. After a hold where she presumably contacted the property, she just parroted that we were in a “non-renovation” area and if we wanted to move, it would be at our expense. We had no toiletries and when we turned on the TV, there was no service (both issues were remedied with a call to the front desk). The next morning the water was turned off. Luckily we were done getting ready and would be out for most of the day; it was back on when we returned. The 2nd morning as we were getting ready to leave, someone related to the renovations crew knocked on our door — since our door was closed and the TV was on, he was wondering who was in the room — he had no idea anyone was staying in the hotel at all! Was it our choice to stay? Yes. Are we customers that spend thousands of dollars on IHG hotel nights every year? No, but we are still customers. I will never get over the fact that they couldn’t see fit to call or email us when they knew we were going to be showing up after their closure. Plus, to be so rigid and not even be willing to attempt to accommodate us at the sister property is just unfathomable. It’s obvious why they are renovating and thank goodness they are, but even if it turns out to be the Ritz I would never trust the management of these two properties and risk another stay. The only positives were we didn’t have to ask to have the pet fee waived, and when I needed to follow-up a week later with a phone call to inquire about there still being a pending $25 charge from when our card was swiped for “incidentals”, I did speak to a really nice woman, who did have some sympathy (“Oh, were you in room 259!” she exclaimed) and actually went out of her way to try to find an answer for me.

Bed Bugs- Diagnosed by Doctor I travel often for work as a software consultant. I have encountered bed bugs before- it seems every hotel denies what is a national epidemic. This hotel room was dirty, dark, and depressing. The indoor pool made every room humid and smell of chlorine. I thought the mustiness in the room was due to the humidity issues. I DID check both mattresses and they were "iffy"- dark spots, wood splinters (?) and just gross looking, but I didn't see any actual bed bugs or their exoskeletons. Had I made the reservation, I would have cancelled. Had I drove, I would have just chugged espresso and made the drive back to Indianapolis. I even considered sleeping in the car, but it was too cold. My point is that the hotel room was so bad, I didn't even want to sleep there. I put all my clothing on hangers, slept naked, and hoped for the best. Now I am covered in textbook bed bug bites and need steroids to counter the allergic reaction I'm having. The other person who shared the room also has bites, but not the allergic rash that I have. If you stayed here and also had bumps appear, know that bed bug bites can take up to 2 weeks to appear. They also appear faster which each exposure. They are usually on your arms, stomach, hands, neck or face (fleas tend to stick to your feet and ankles). The bites will usually be in a line or zig zag pattern. Again, I was diagnosed by a doctor with an allergic reaction to "textbook bed bug bites." I would never stay at this hotel again- I thought it was being remodelled, not torn down. It should probably be torn down.

A little run down Stayed two nights for business. Room was pretty decent, didn't have any issues with the cleanliness. The hotel is undergoing some renovations so there was some construction going on that was annoying. The pool and fitness areas a run down. Used both though. The hot tub was huge and hot. Bar was small and dark, but the bartender was friendly and had a few drinks there each night. Ate breakfast buffet both mornings and it was very good. No free breakfast here though.

Walked Out We booked this hotel for the pool, which is a big deal for our young kids. The outside parking area was very dark, and one of the shuttles out front was rusted and appeared to be held together with white tape. The front desk staff was nice enough, but I felt like I was inconveniencing him by checking in. We had to walk thru the open pool area to reach our room. The whole area was dark and really creepy. Our room smelled wet and moldy. We put on our swim suits and headed to the pool, which again was very dark. The carpet all around the pool gates was so wet water splashed when we walked. The pool temp was very comfortable, but as I grabbed the railing on the pool stairs it came out of the ground and I had to catch myself from falling forward into the pool. The pool liner was very soft and as I walked around in the water I realized it was bubbled up in many spots, one spot about 4' wide. The part of the liner that was out of the water around the edge had mildew all over it. While swimming with my kids my wife noticed globs of hair floating in the pool so we decided to get out. There was hair on the wet pool deck as well, and it looked like the deck had not been mopped in at least a day. We tried to get in the hot tub, but there was little white flakes floating everywhere so we skipped it as well. The first 2 pool towels we grabbed off the shelf had hair on them. When we got back to the room we started hanging up our wet suits and discovered thumbtacks and dust on the shelf. The more we looked the paint was chipping off the walls in the sink area and the tub was chipped. The carpet was damp and stuck to our feet. We pulled back the covers on the beds to find sheets so thin we could see right thru to the mattress pad, which was stained. Upon further looking we found what appeared to be blood on the duvet. At this point we were so disgusted we packed up and went to another hotel. I worked in the hotel industry for 17+ years and this was the first time I have ever walked out like that. I understand a hotel needing updating, but there is no excuse for this condition and cleanliness.