Holiday Inn Gainesville-University Ctr

For 200 dollars daily rate this hotel is a piece of garbage! The TV in my room did not work! The room’s appearance is disheveled! The shower is horrible! The air condition does not work properly! Cockroaches at the entrance of the building! Since there is no competition, holiday inn continues to provide horrible services here in Gainesville!

We were a large crowd in town for a workshop and this place accommodated all of us. The rooms were clean and relatively modern. There was a microwave, mini fridge, and TV in the room. Only problem I had was a clogged sink. Their breakfast wasn’t too bad (mainly bagels), and they had a complimentary airport shuttle which was great. You also get complimentary water bottles if you ask for some. The other thing that was awesome about it is that it was connected to a restaurant/​bar that made things very convenient for our group. The staff that worked there were very friendly and always eager to help.

Always my favorite place to stay while in Gainesville. Resteraunts are plentiful and via walking distance. Plenty of bars. Staff is always top notch. I’d say the best Holiday Inn staff I have experienced. Rooms are a little compact especially the bathrooms which is my only reason for 4 stars out of 5. Enjoy your stay! Highly recommended.

Nothing beats this location but the rooms need an overhaul. The bathrooms are old and dingy. The linens however are crisp and clean. The cost on game day is that of a fancy hotel on Miami beach, but do not expect anything like that.
The reason I’m giving a 3 star review is because of one AMAZING employee, his name is Sega! Never have I had someone be so patient, helpful and fun! GIVE THE MAN A RAISE! He’s awesome, and although he is probably a college student I hope he’s there the next time we visit.

Front desk service excellent! Pool is pretty cool and unique. The facility is a little dated but service makes up for it!

I was blown away by the sincere effort to ensure a good stay by the employees of this hotel!
We booked online through our travel agent about an hour before arriving, and we chose this because of it’s location– it is the only hotel on University Avenue and it is adjacent to the University of Florida.
As soon as we walked in we were greeted by some bellhops, who I know just really wanted a tip but still they were very welcoming and friendly. At the desk, we discovered that our booking did not go through– we weren’t in a dire situation for long, though, because the assistant at the desk found a room for us and gave us an even cheaper rate than we had originally booked! She was absolutely superb with working with us, because we came in unprepared but she made sure that we got our room and answered all of our questions that we had about the university and the city.
She even gave us complimentary water bottles before we ventured out to explore in 100 degree weather!
The rooms are nice– it is what you can expect for a holiday inn. Nothing to be blown away about, but there is enough room and it is very clean. The wifi is easy to access, but the complimentary breakfast was a bit underwhelming.
The hotel itself is very nice and clean– the lobby is pretty and has a station for complimentary coffee and cookies. It is also connected to a restaurant called Piesanos, and the hotel allows for it to advertise in the lobby and have Italian-​themed décor near it’s vicinity.
This hotel also offers a discount rate to parents of students at UF, which is an awesome perk.
I am very pleased with my experience here, and this is the place where I would want my parents to stay if they ever visit me in college.

Normal Holiday Inn. Clean, neat and nice for ront desk staff. This one needs room service.

Never stayed there, but I love holiday inn and Gainesville (every other day there’s a gator on the lawn) gotta love Tom Petty!

Usually stay here for business trips.
General areas: from the exterior, it does not stand out because it is such an old looking property. The lobby is beautiful and looks freshly renovated. There are a couple of computers for general/​business use and a few tables for relaxing or for breakfast. The hallways all feel old, as if you are walking through a hotel that hasn’t seen an update in a while… though I know painting was done a while back ago. The gym is on the third floor and has a few machines, but not a lot. The pool is also on the third floor, open to the sky. It has to be one of my favorite parts of the entire hotel. This place also has that ribbed carpet that makes moving a baggage cart up and down it a loud experience.
Rooms: they too feel as if they need to be updated. The furniture is fairly new as well as the televisions. The bathroom I had was pretty small, but definitely functional. I was happy to find a fridge and microwave were already there without having to ask. Oh, each room has a balcony, but you cannot access it no matter how hard you try.
Wi-​fi: awesome! I had absolutely no problems the entire time so that was very refreshing!
Staff: Check in and check out were flawless. The associates were polite and professional as well as personable. The one thing I noticed was that they were not very attentive when people would enter or exit the building… probably because the check in desk is pretty far from the entrances.
Location: it is almost perfectly located in Gainesville, with easy access to a large number of good restaurants within walking distance. Some of them are simply across the street or alley.
Definitely a decent hotel to stay at should you find yourself in Gainesville for a vacation or business.

Comfortable enough at first glance, but the restaurant was under renovation and there was some construction going on around and in the pool area. The pool is very old fashioned and in need of work. The sheets were very rough – obviously a polyester blend and nubby, and also very hot. The window unit air conditioner would not get the room cold enough in the middle of the summer, and my wife did not get to sleep until around 4:30 a.m. This place is in serious need of major renovation in many other aspects than just the restaurant and pool. To their credit, they did offer free continental breakfast in the lobby since the restaurant was closed, which rated them another star, but we will not go back to this hotel until we are sure things have been renovated all over. The location is great and very close to campus and lots of great restaurants to try. We got our reservations on Hotwire at a discount but it is still the highest we paid for a room all summer in our travels and probably the most uncomfortable over all and the worst experience.

The location is right on the corner of campus and just across the street from restaurants and shops. The service and staff are as good as the location. The hotel and rooms are aging and sort of dank. It’s a good value, but don’t expect too much.

I stayed here just one night at the beginning of a long trip to Gainesville when my mom broke a hip. I had known it from the ‘70s as The Flagler Inn. Well, it doesn’t seem to have been updated since then. Big disappointment for a former classic with prime location.

This hotel needs to be razed… yesterday. To say this hotel has passed its prime would be a gross understatement. It is old and broken. We checked in this past weekend to watch our beloved Gators play (and lose, once again). We chose this hotel due to its proximity to the university and stadium. I am embarrassed to say how much we paid but we were able to book for only one night. As anyone knows this is near impossible in Gainesville on a game day weekend. The bathroom was cramped, dim, and without a single towel rack or shelf anywhere. The walls were painted the most awful shade of baby-​poo brown and the drop ceiling was so low that even a horizontally-​challenged lady (me) could reach it while trying to tame this mess I call hair. After a frantic search for towels they were discovered stacked inside the base cabinet under the sink. This is also where I found the wall mountable hair dryer. It was interesting trying to use it as the cord and accompanying holder are all attached. The countertop was super small and I had to balance our small bag of toiletries on the back of the toilet. The shower curtain was horribly wrinkled and looked as if it had been forgotten in the dryer for a week. The wi-​fi was inoperable for our visit. The room itself was sufficient if a little cramped. The staff were friendly and helpful and for this hotel they are the only bright spots in an otherwise pretty poor experience. If you are able to stay anywhere else in Gainesville, even the super sketchy hotels on south 13^th, I would say do it!

This is a 2 star hotel in a 4 star location.
The hotel is a slightly refurbished 1970 style hotel with old fashioned loud and inefficient air conditioners.
The best reason to stay here is if you are visiting UF and want the closest hotel to the stadium or fraternity /​sorority row.

So have to say pleasantly surprised!!! I thought this place was going to be a dump and it wasn’t!
Here’s how I grade it:
Location-​5 stars
–It’s super close to the stadium and right across the street from Leonardo’s pizza
Affordability-​4 stars
room itself– 3 stars
Free wifi– 5 stars
shower water pressure– 5 stars *amazeballs kids*
fridge to put your alcoholic beverages in [keep them cold]- 5 stars *amazeballs squared*
microwave-don’t know what I need this for but it’s there– 5 stars
view-​1 star
parking-​5 stars
lobby bar-​nobody was there :(- 1 star-​boooooooo
totally would stay there again!

Comfortable hotel. Friendly staff. Great beds!

3 reasons to stay at this hotel when visiting Gainesville:
1) Location: it is right on the corner of 13^th and University, putting it directly across the street from the University campus. It is located near a handful of good restaurants and some fast food joints, a gas station, and a beer/​liquor store.
2) The Staff: the employees of this hotel are all really nice. From the front desk folks, to the folks that clean the rooms, to the folks that drive their van/​shuttle, the staff was super friendly and smiley. When my room keycard didn’t work the first night, someone ran right up with a replacement. As I prepared to leave, they were willing to hold my bag behind the counter while I got lunch and sat and wrote this review. Very accommodating.
3) The Room: like a McDonalds hamburger, Holiday Inns offer rooms that look and feel exactly the same no matter where you are. I am happy with what these rooms offer, and I found the bed to be very comfortable and I took naps and slept soundly all night.
Only gripe was they were unable to give me the room for the promotional price because I had already paid for the room ahead of time with my credit card. It would have saved me like a hundred bucks if they had, so that sorta pissed me off. Just be sure you don’t let that happen to you, and you might be able to give this place a 5 star review.

i give this place three stars. service here is great! the staff are all extremely friendly and accommodating. top-​notch folks. they have free wireless, which is a big bonus. free on-​site parking is also a plus. AND, every time i’ve been here (i’ve stayed here three times) they’ve given me a coupon for a free drink at the bar next door. try the landshark microbrew on tap — you won’t regret it! finally, it is immediately opposite the UF campus, which makes it über-​convenient for anyone with business at the school itself.
the facility itself can be a little on the dingy side (interior features not updated/​well worn), but it’s clean. the bathrooms are extremely small.
so yeah — three stars.

These people have my undying loyalty. I came down with the flu on my way to a business presentation at UF and really needed some help. I was going to stay at the Paramount Plaza but it was too weird, so I drove around until I found this Holiday Inn. Now I know how Mary and Joseph felt when they found the manger! Everyone was very accommodating — bringing me waters, driving me across the street to my appointment. The room was very clean and perfectly comfortable. Which is good because I may be too sick to travel and have to stay and extra day.

I agree with the first reviewer; they are very accommodating at this hotel. My requests for extra pillows and towels are always met with breathtaking speed and cheerfulness. Apart from the convenience of the location, which is right across the street from the UF campus, there are other advantages: the beds are heavenly, the showers are powerful, the service great, the prices reasonable and the parking is free! They also have a large pool area and free wireless internet in the rooms and lobby.
I take one star off for not offering complimentary breakfast, though they do have a restaurant and room service. Krispy Kreme is across the street and McDonald’s is next door to the hotel.
I’ve stayed here three times in recent years and the place has improved in my estimation with every visit.