This is a true & accurate account of my recent stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites San Antonio NW Near SeaWorld. All opinions are mine.
As someone who loves to travel, I’ve stayed in lots of hotels. I’ve also stayed in many different types of hotels, from luxurious resorts, to no-frills accommodations. Never have I stayed somewhere where I felt my health had been put in jeopardy, until recently.
I had to travel to Texas, for personal business. Because of COVID-19, I couldn’t stay with family, so a hotel was my only option.
My first mistake was not reading the hotel reviews. I know better. Had I done that, none of this would’ve happened.
I am sharing this experience, so you’ll make better choices than I did. I naively thought all reputable hotel chains would be following strict COVID-19 cleaning protocols. I was wrong.
I checked into the Holiday Inn Express & Suites San Antonio NW near SeaWorld, late at night. We’ve stayed at a few Holiday Inn Express hotels in the past. We’ve always enjoyed our stays there. (Our favorite Holiday Inn Express is in Waikiki, on Oahu, just two blocks from the beach. Amazing ocean views, great staff, tasty breakfast, highly recommend it!)
I made my way to my room, tired from a long day of traveling. First stop was the bathroom, to wash my hands, because of Covid-19. That’s when I saw my first “surprise.” There was standing water in the sink and a screwdriver nearby. There was also a small piece of metal next to the screwdriver. The metal piece goes to the sink stopper. I’ve fixed sinks before, so I recognized it. I also noticed the bathroom floor looked dirty, and could see a lot of dark spots on it. (When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw the same spots on the floor outside of the bathroom.)
I went ahead & washed my hands in the sink. Then I called down to the front desk and told them about the water in the sink & the screwdriver. The person I spoke to sounded surprised. She said there was nothing in her “system” saying anything about sink repairs. She asked if I wanted to change rooms. I told her no, because I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. I asked if she could send someone to my room the next day to fix the sink. She said she would.
The next morning, I brushed my teeth with my bottled water, and spit the toothpaste out into the toilet. Then I took a shower. That’s when I discovered “surprise” number two. I didn’t have any large bath towels. I had to use hand towels to dry my body.
As I left the hotel for the day, I stopped at the front desk. I told the guy at the desk to please have someone fix the sink, and asked him to remind housekeeping to leave large towels for me, because I didn’t have any. He asked for my room number and nodded his head.
When I returned that night, I discovered my room had not been cleaned. The sink was still messed up, and no towels had been left for me. No bueno.
The next day, as I left the hotel, there was no one at the front desk. I had an appointment to get to, so I couldn’t wait around. I left without being able to speak to anyone about the room.
When I returned that night, I discovered my room key wasn’t working. I went back down to the front desk, with my hands full. I had a bag in one hand and a drink (unsweetened tea) in the other. I told the lady at the desk my key wasn’t working. She asked for my room number. I told her 203, then she said: “I have a note here. Mgt wants you to change rooms, because of the sink.” I told her the sink had been messed up since I’d checked in, I didn’t have any bath towels, and my room hadn’t been cleaned the whole time I was there. She shook her head back & forth and said, “We need to talk to housekeeping, other people have complained about them too.” I told her I’d go ahead and change rooms. She offered to help me move my things to the new room, and I thanked her. We both made our way to my room. It had been cleaned, and there wasn’t any water in the sink. The screwdriver was gone too. I got my bags and a suitcase, she got the other suitcase. We took it to my new room across the hall. Then I came back and got my shoes and a bag from my mini fridge. I went to the new room, opened the fridge and put the bag in it, without even looking inside. Once everything was in my new room, I thanked her and she left. I was due to check out in the morning. I ate my food, and went to bed.
Next morning, I got up and showered. I noticed the floor looked the same as the one in my other room. It was full of spots, same with the floor outside the bathroom. I did have plenty of bath towels though, so I was relieved, and the sink worked!
As I started to gather up my stuff, so I could check out, I remembered my bag in the fridge. I opened the fridge, pulled out my bag, then bent down to look inside. I wanted to make sure nothing had fallen out of my bag. That’s when “surprise” number three became apparent. There was a clear plastic cup, full of orange beverage, with a straw in it, inside my fridge. Someone else’s drink, was in my mini fridge! The fridge hadn’t been cleaned out. Mind blown!
I grabbed my stuff, and left the room. When I got down to the front desk, I saw two women vacuuming. One stopped when she saw me. She turned off the vacuum and made a comment about being short staffed. She walked over to the front desk, and asked if I was checking out. I told her I was, and she pulled my info up on the computer and told me I was good to go. I left and walked out, mind still spinning. I think I was in a state of shock. I could not believe what I’d just seen in my mini fridge.
I felt sick to my stomach. If my fridge hadn’t been cleaned, what else hadn’t been cleaned in that room (room 204)? And what about the first room I was in for two days, room 203. What hadn’t been cleaned in that room? I started to freak out.
As someone living with Pre-existing medical conditions, I’m at an increased risk for contracting COVID-19. I trusted my hotel would be following stringent COVID-19 cleaning protocols. I thought back to everything I’d seen in the two rooms I’d occupied: floors that appeared to be dirty, no towels, dirty mirror in the first room, broken sink with standing water, and someone else’s beverage in my fridge. I could feel my anxiety levels rising. I felt sick to my stomach.
As soon as I could, I emailed the hotel, telling them what I’d experienced at their property. I also reached out to Holiday Inn Express on Twitter. They were quick to get back to me and offer their support. The hotel was another matter.
When I finally heard from them, none of my specific concerns were addressed. In fact, the GM emailed me from a personal gmail account, not a company email. That’s weird, isn’t it? At the very least, it isn’t professional. The email was basically a “thank you for staying at our hotel,” with an apology for the room not meeting my expectations. The GM had given his name, but did not identify himself as the GM. In fact, there was no job title anywhere in that email. Why would a GM send an email from a personal email account and not list his job title? I had to reach out to the Holiday Inn Express Twitter account to ask them if they knew who this person was, and how he was affiliated with the hotel. They’re the ones who told me he was the GM.
After discovering he was the GM, I emailed him back. I asked him to address my concerns, and asked what cleaning protocols they have in place to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. He responded by saying, “From what I gather by the screwdriver by the sink, you were assigned an Out of Order room (a room under maintenance, this can happen by a number of reasons, most likely an error assigning your room number), this also explains the level of cleanliness. I’m very sorry that you accepted the room at all …”
It felt kinda like he was shifting the blame to me, because I “accepted” the room. He mentioned the “level of cleanliness” yet I found the same dirty-looking floors in the second room they moved me to. Was that room Out Of Order also?
And what about the cup of orange beverage in my mini fridge, in the second room they moved me to? The cup that was left in the fridge by some other guest? His response blew me away! I have copied & pasted it directly from the email. I have not altered any words, or corrected any misspellings. Here it is: “Unfortunately even though the girls here do there best cleaning 30 or 40 rooms a day, sometimes they do miss a drink in the fridge or something like that.”
WHAT?!
How could he even write that? With Covid-19 killing thousands of people every day, he nonchalantly stated drinks are left inside fridges. Fridges that are supposed to be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected. And what about the rest of the comment, the “something like that” part. “They do miss a drink in the fridge or something like that.” WOW! So this sounds like a pretty regular occurrence. He wasn’t even shocked. And “girls”?!
I was livid after reading his email. I replied back that we’re in a pandemic, & NONE OF THIS was ok. I told him that I, as the guest, should not have to explain to the GM, why this wasn’t acceptable. He never responded back.
I reached out to the Holiday Inn Express twitter team again, telling them what he’d said. I told them I was extremely upset, disgusted, and at this point, I just wanted a refund. They replied back saying they would relay the message to the GM. I let them know I’d keep them in the loop.
The following day came & went, and I didn’t hear from the GM. I reported back to the Holiday Inn team. They told me they’d been in contact with the GM and he had denied my request for a refund.
And that was the end of it. My request for a refund fell on deaf ears. Excuses were made for the cleanliness of the room, and I was victim-shamed for accepting the room in the first place!
I will never stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites San Antonio NW Near Seaworld ever again. I will not recommend it to any of my friends or family. In fact, I would dissuade everyone reading this from staying there.
All hotels need to be following strict COVID-19 cleaning protocols.
I debated whether or not to write this. I’m an extremely non-confrontational person. In the end, I decided I had to share my experience, because it’s the right thing to do.
Photo credit: Google.com (First photo posted of outside of hotel)
