Holiday Inn Express & Suites WEST LONG BRANCH - EATONTOWN by IHG

Rooms were clean. Bed not bad. Shower was a trickle, no pressure. Bare bones hotel/motel no coffee in room. Awkward entry if you have bags and parking in back a bit dark. Breakfast was a mess and ended earlier than quoted time of 10am. There was only 1 employee working breakfast area and about 30 people in a small area. There were no eggs, potatoes, bacon, cinnamon rolls or any type of bread and pancake machine out. Everyone standing there asking for food. I asked mgmt to contact me but no contact yet only a comment on my survey like oops sorry. People were going in cabinets looking for food-no joke. Had half a croissant and bacon once I asked to make some but nothing else replenished. Then 30 min later they came out with a plate of potatoes when everyone done. Not attendants fault she didn’t speak English and she was overworked. I would’ve rather not paid for breakfast and gone out to get eggs. After I was done I saw a woman stealing a load of croissants. I told the front desk and there was no reaction. It was like tv sale on black fri at a cheap store lol. Now if you’re thinking we’ll should’ve gone to breakfast earlier then I should’ve been told it’s first come first serve or until we run out and give me a refund. Won’t stay there again.

This hotel was very noisy. I could hear every sound from rooms above and next to us, not to mention the people with kids hanging out in the hallways. It was very disruptive and I expected better for the price we paid ($300+ per night).

This was, without question, the worst hotel experience I have ever had. What should have been a routine three-night stay was marked by inaccurate charges, nonexistent policies, rude and unprofessional treatment, a complete lack of housekeeping, and an apparent inability to locate or reach anyone with the authority to resolve even basic guest issues. 1. Unauthorized $26+ Movie Charge and No Manager Available to Correct It When checking out, I specifically asked the front desk employee to verify that there were no additional charges on my account before printing my final bill. I was assured that there were not. When the bill was printed, there was, in fact, an additional charge of more than $26 for an in-room movie that I never purchased or watched. When I immediately disputed the charge, I was told that only the manager could remove it. I was then informed that the manager was not at the property that day. I asked to contact the manager directly. I was told that the staff was not permitted to contact her while she was at another property. When I asked where she was and how I could reach her, I was told that she oversees two other properties, that the staff did not know her schedule, and that they did not know which property she was at. This is an extraordinarily poor way to operate a hotel. A hotel should have a manager or another authorized individual available to resolve billing disputes when a guest is checking out. Instead, I was charged for something I never purchased and then essentially told that there was no one available who had the authority to correct the error. 2. Rude and Unprofessional Treatment Regarding Towels There were four people staying in our room, yet when I called the front desk to request four towels, I was told by the night manager, Jared, that there was a supposed “rule” allowing only two towels per room. I explained that there were four guests staying in the room and that we needed four towels, particularly because housekeeping had not serviced our room. Jared's response was extremely rude, condescending, and unprofessional. More troublingly, I subsequently spoke with other hotel employees who confirmed that there is no such two-towel policy. Other staff members were able to provide the towels without issue the following day. In other words, a manager apparently invented a policy that did not exist rather than simply accommodating a completely reasonable request from paying hotel guests. Requesting one towel per guest is hardly an unreasonable demand at a hotel. Basic hospitality should not be this difficult. 3. Three-Day Stay With No Housekeeping Despite Repeated Requests The housekeeping situation was even more unacceptable. We were told by Jared that housekeeping only comes every two days. Again, we later learned from other hotel employees that this was not an actual hotel policy. In fact, the hotel's official IHG page explicitly lists “Daily housekeeping” under both its hotel amenities and its housekee

Non existent free breakfast, don’t clean rooms, terrible service. Jared Branch, the night manager, talked down to my wife and refused to give her 4 clean towels when they got back from the beach (2 adults and 2 kids) which is even more shocking when you realize they didn’t clean the room and were stuck with the same 2 dirty towels from before. Complete *****. Doesn’t understand the word hospitality. There is a stack of 50 clean towels at the pool. Caught up in “protocol.” IHG - get rid of him and stop being such knuckleheads. We want a full refund.

I am writing to express my disappointment with my recent experience at the Holiday Inn Express West Long Branch where I stayed last Friday night, July 24th. I had booked my reservation via IHG well in advance at a favorable rate of $385.50. Unfortunately, there was an issue processing the Chase IHG credit card on file. I was later told the hotel attempted to contact me, but I never received a phone call or voicemail – I checked the recent activity on my phone to confirm. Instead, I received an email informing me that my reservation had been canceled. Within just a few minutes of receiving that email, I immediately called IHG Guest Relations to resolve the issue. Rather than simply reinstating my reservation at the original rate, I was told the only option was to rebook the room at the current rate—nearly $100 higher than my original reservation. During that process, the call was accidentally disconnected, requiring me to call back and start over again. Reluctantly, I rebooked because I had already committed to staying there, was in route to the hotel, and had no practical alternative. When I arrived at the hotel, it was clear the staff was dealing with an unusually hectic evening. A new employee was being trained, and the hotel was filled with several youth softball teams. The lobby was extremely busy and chaotic. Given those circumstances, I can certainly understand how mistakes or miscommunication may have occurred. My concern is not with the staff personally, but with the outcome. I have been an IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite member for years and I try to stay exclusively at IHG properties. In fact, I already have ten additional IHG reservations scheduled for the remainder of this year alone. In all my years of loyalty to IHG, I have never experienced having a reservation canceled and then being required to pay a substantially higher rate despite contacting the hotel almost immediately after receiving notice.