Holiday Inn Express Austin North Central

Absolutely one of the worst Holiday Inn Hotels I have stayed. We stay in Holiday Inn branded hotels for work several times a year (50+ nights) in various locations. This is, by far, one of the worst in recent years. It is not clean, old smelly décor, service is terrible and the rooms are extremely noisy. They are renovating, however, a bulldozer is what this place needs. It is next to I-​35 and the traffic noise is very loud. The window units do not work properly. The shower water was lukewarm, with very little pressure. The breaksfast was terrible and over cooked. They ran out of coffee at breaksfast before 8 AM. It is a very bad choice for kids. There is a pool, but it is very small and is in the parking lot (yes, really). If we needed to stay another night in Austin, we would have changed hotels. Also, this hotel is one of the highest priced Holiday Inns in the area. I’m sure that is because of the location, but for the price difference, I will drive into town and stay somewhere nicer.

The worst part is the neighborhood. Better lock your car and door after dark.
We had 2 keys that didn’t seem to work. The manager told me that they were changing all the locks so that we should turn the handle up rather than the normal down to open the door with the swipe key. I don’t understand why that wasn’t stated at the check in. SHEESH!
The room was clean as well as the bathroom. The shower is very strong and the hot water is actually hot! That hot water is a big plus. Just as we started to smile we found that the soda dispenser was out of their $ 1.50 bottles of water. Not good both on the price and the lack of availability.
The beds are very clean and they are very firm which is awesome for my sore back.
The room is fairly large and will serve us well for one night.
Just had the breakfast. Would have lost a star for the terrible coffee but got it back for the extensive btreakfast choices.

Very disappointed. The Internet at this hotel, is the slowest I’ve ever experienced at a hotel. The property is very worn, but clean. The rooms smell funny, and the 4^th floor hallway stinks. It takes a long time for the water to get hot in the bathroom.

My gf was coming into town for one night to visit family, friends and me. I dropped her off at HIE. Called her a few hours later she told me things went well at check in and that the guy at the reception was really nice. Great. Perfect no problems at all. Well later on in the night I took her to dinner and she ended up not staying in the room over night but did take a nap that afternoon after check in. Well I come back next morning around 10:30 am to check out and my keys didnt work on the back door closer to elevators so first I went and got the key problem resolved. At about 10:45 am I’m up on the floor my room is on and I notice the cleaning lady is clOse to my room. Hmm Okay that’s fine. She’s cleaning the room normal procedure. Well what happened next was a complete violation of privacy!!! The cleaning lady decided to grab all our bathroom needs and throw them in a trash bag and also decided to clean out the whole bedroom, drawers and all, of our clothes! This is not suppose to happen. It is about 11 am and check out isn’t for another hour! I walked into the room to find it freshened for new guests. REALLY?! Meanwhile the cleaning lady comes back and I start asking her where our stuff is and she doesn’t really know what to tell me… She doesn’t speak English or really understand it. So I proceed to physically explain what I needed back from her. She started to finally give me back our stuff. It was all in her cart. And she started apologizing which is fine if it was already past check out time but it wasn’t and We hadn’t checked out yet. She ended up telling me that no one answered and because it seemed like no one spent the night there she thought to clean up the room. That’s outrageous. Our stuff was clearly visible! So I proceeded to make sure everything was accounted for and went down to the front office to Check out! Keep in mind We had never checked out in the first place! Not until I went down there to explain to them what I had walked into. The manager told me that, that was not procedure at all and that check out was clearly 12:00pm/noon. She said she would have a talk with the executive housekeeping manager to see what happened. Just because of this I will not come back and stay here and neither will my gf. I am not happy at all.
Alex.

Clean property with nice service. Even the grounds crew helped me through the door with luggage.
However, very unsafe neighborhood. Stay inside. Don’t walk or jog in the area. Windows do not keep highway noise down so keep the fan on. Wifi has issues for work laptop but iPad use was fine. Bedding firm and linens light.

I stayed here for 2 weeks back in February/​March for training. I loved this hotel. Staff are super nice. Continental breakfast was wonderful. Hotel was always clean. You could hear some of the highway noise at night. But not all that much. I stayed again for another week in April for training. I enjoyed it so much that I came back. The rooms were very spacious & so we’re the bathrooms. The beds were very comfy & pillows were super soft. If I go back to Austin, I will more than likely return to this hotel.

Staff was great and of all the basics you get with a HIE, it was pretty standard.
We had an accessible room and the door wouldn’t shut, the water pressure wasn’t great, and we faced the highway so traffic noise at times was a bit loud.
I wasn’t overly impressed, especially for the price. I will not be staying here again.

Contrary to SOME of the negative reviews that I read across different travel sites before booking this hotel, we actually enjoyed our stay, and would stay here again without hesitation! The staff were friendly and accommodating, the room was nice and quiet, the gym and pool are adequate, the FULL breakfast was very satisfying, and the hotel is easily accessible and close to major highways and thoroughfares. Some of the surrounding neighborhoods (3 – 4 miles away I’d say) aren’t the most desirable to drive through looking for fast food after a late night check-​in! Also, the marquis could be better positioned (more visible) as a beacon or landmark.

My relatives were in town and staying at this Inn and I came to pick them up and show them the town! Its brood daylight and I’m in swimming clothes and needed change for my $ 10 bill but apparently Raquel at the front desk thought I had to be trying to scam her, Bc it took her, no kidding, TEN Minutes to verify that my ten $bill was legit. She held it to the light, ok understandable but then went to the back then the front and back again while my cousins and our kids waited while their Mother (btw I’m a former hotel night auditor) was treated like a common criminal. The interaction I had with Raquel made sure I will never stay at Any Holiday Express.

Stayed here a few months ago. Multiple light bulbs were out in the room, it felt unclean and more like a motel. The real problem began the following week when I started receiving phone calls from telemarketers using the 512 area code. I am convinced that the employees at the holiday inn have sold/​givin my number to an outside entity and I do not appreciate it or doubt that I am the only person now being harassed. Save 70 bucks and go to the motel 6 down the road, same quality and hopefully they won’t sell your phone #.

Stayed here for 2 nights. The people were very nice and accommodating. Overall the hotel was fairly clean. They have a full breakfast. Not anything to write home about, but it filled that empty space. They really kept the area clean. Had a hard time sleeping because of the road noise of I-​35 and the air conditioner.

I was completely taken care of at this location! I will warn that the 4^th floor does smell a little like smoke in the hallways, but not in the non-​smoking rooms. And when I asked to change rooms, James went above and beyond and even upgraded me. This hotel is very clean, upkept and the staff are very friendly. When I return to Austin, I will be staying here! :)

I must say that I was treated like a queen during my stay here during SXSW. I rented a suite for one night for surprise gathering for my Husband’s 30^th birthday.
Upon checking in on Friday I was informed that I had received upgrade to the Executive Suite, why? No idea, but It was truly a blessing.
The breakfast was nice and the shuttle service to SXSW was right on time. Not being familiar with the city this was definitely a nicety.
I am so blessed to have had a truly wonderful experience and I thank the staff and front desk clerks int he lobby. They are all so kind, especially the kid with the red hair (didn’t catch his name).

I was scared to stay here based on some of the Unilocal reviews, but it was close to my seminar and so I took a gamble. Check in was friendly albeit a little slow because there was only one person at the desk and the phone was ringing off the hook. A very courteous gentleman was fast with the check-​in once he was able to hang up the phone and he offered me a cold bottle of water and some snacks. Snacks are good…
So I saw I was on the 4^th floor and kind of felt some dread as I had heard about the ciggie smoke up there. Got off the elevator and NO SMOKE SMELL!!! My room was right next to the elevators and I did not hear them one time. Yes, this is an older hotel that was possibly converted to a Holiday Inn Express, but it is clean. Clean is good in my book, décor comes second. Even the décor isn’t too bad. The photo’s show rooms with bright colors but my room had a neutral subdued palate. Overall a good experience. Not as nice as some H.I.E.‘s I’ve stayed at but certainly not the worst. Also, I’m sensitive to cigarette smoke and I wasn’t affected during my stay here.

Disgusting.
We booked a standard room there and found out upon arrival that the standard there is a SMOKING ROOM. They wanted to charge us $ 20 extra to switch to a non-​smoking room. When we argued this fee, the manager then told that there were no more non-​smoking rooms available the entire weekend. How does that happen in 3 mins?!
Common areas smelled like smoke. Beds were uncomfortable. Area of town wasn’t the best. Staff was incredibly RUDE & condescending!
Would never go back!!!

Clean: Yes
Comfortable: No
Most Holiday Inn Expresses are recent construction with comfy beds. This one has a feel of an older hotel that was renovated. Everything just feels a little dated compared to the other Holiday Inn Expresses I’ve stayed at.
The bed was HORRIBLE. It was VERY hard, and the pillow were lumpy and uncomfortable.
Also, I’m a member of all the different chains «perks» clubs, and did not get offered any of the perks I was supposed to, like late check out.

My husband and I visited the in-​laws over the weekend and they were low on space at the casa so we decided to get a room on Hotwire. We liked the price set at $ 50 (bringing it to $ 75 with taxes) for a 2.5 star hotel. It was one exit down from their house, so that was a nice added bonus as well.
We called to see if we could do early check-​in and they were very accommodating. The only downside was that they had two HUGE groups that booked the majority of the hotel and the only rooms available were smoking. I honestly don’t know why hotels have smoking guest rooms anymore — it stinks and compromises your health! They told us nicely that they couldn’t refund us since we booked on Hotwire, but set up a machine to attempt to deodorize the room (about a 1 hr process).
Check-​in was friendly and prompt and our room was ready for us (don’t forget we’re checking in early) in 15 minutes. We were excited to learn that they have FREE WiFi and FREE breakfast! They also have on-​site a tiny pool, laundry facilities, business center and a decent sized fitness room.
Everything was great until we started up the elevators to the 4^th floor. This is where I took away stars. As soon as the elevator doors opened, the pungent smell of smoke lingering for possibly years overwhelms me. The surprising thing is that some genius decided to mix smoking and non-​smoking rooms on the same floor. Who are we kidding? Do not get the Presidential Suite if you are not a smoker. We walk to the end of the hallway where they have opened the window and deodorized the room. It smells pleasant once we are in the room and close the door. There is still a slight smoke scent — it’s hard to really get rid of it completely. I really appreciated the attempt and how friendly the service is.
When you’re a non-​smoker though, the smell of smoke is on the top 3 list of most annoying things… I’d love to give this hotel another try on a weekend when their non-​smoking rooms isn’t booked.
Breakfast was good and was pretty comprehensive. Bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, donuts, cinnamon buns, muffins, cold cereal, yogurt, fruit and juice (apple, orange and cranberry). They have 1 dedicated hotel staffer managing during breakfast hours to ensure food is well stocked and the food area is clean = a huge plus.
Thanks for really trying for us Holiday Inn and Nina. You are the best!