A very good hotel in a good location, 10minute walk from downtown. Spacious and clean rooms, nice personnel. Breakfast was rich with a variety of choices.
As for the works outside, this is not a "construction" site, it is an archaeological excavation and we all should be more patient and nice about this kind of work. After all, rooms are perfectly quiet if you close the windows.
We enjoyed very much our stay there especially as we booked with a discount. Check the hotel's website for special offers.

This is not a 5-star hotel as claimed by Expedia or the hotel itself, so that star-rating is very misleading. But honestly, the chain Holiday Inn is supposed to be a 5-star anyways.

Pros
- Good location with close proximity to several historical landmarks
- Staff in general were friendly and hospitable
- Choice of hard or soft pillows
- Shower water pressure strong
- Cable internet (paid) in room was fast

Cons
- The road of the front entrance is closed off for construction, so all vehicles entry come in from the back alley, and you have to walk this dark narrow and ugly alley to the front
- Bed was firm with no extra padding
- Elevator was so small and could not fit in 4 person without bags or 2 person with bags
- Dinner service was quite slow and staff can get quickly overwhelmed
- General decor of the entire property was tired and in need or renovation

I have just spent a week in the Holiday Inn Hotel in Thessaloniki; it is 10m further after the main boulevard Egnatia, very well placed even for someone like me who had to walk 4 times a day to the harbour and back. Even though it looks a lot like in its glorious 80,ies- 90,ies, it is a very well taken cared off hotel; rooms are large with all the necessary amenities, beds are huge and comfy, bathroom large and luminous and with its own little window, which is great! All rooms have balconnies on the street side and this is also a plus for smokers. Just in f'ront of the hotel there are 2 small archeological diggings, one with some housing ruijs, and another over a 600 years old cemetery, from a period of great hunger. I found this to be mega interesting, connecting the intelligent people with history and with our ancestors, and this is not given every day...
The servie is wonderfull, and I have especially appreciated the fact that almost all waiters and cleaning people are middle aged, aka with a lot of experience, patience, they,ve seen a lot, and you could ask them the moon, they will always find a way to bring it to you. The reception desk was also extremely helpfull and connected to all my queries, including finding a good doctor, or a late check out b y 15h30 for professional reasons. Breakfast is good and interesting, including some 4 types of greek yoghourt to die for. It is possible to have it in your room also, for no extra charge except for a nice tip. Room service is coming from the downstairs restaurant and it is very comprehensive, especially for good soups which were paradise like on rainy autumn days. There are also many buses that run just in front of the hotel that could take you in 10000 different directions.
The gym is placed in a regular room and it is very adapted to some serious workpout of a person or two in the same time, with a good running path, one bike and one crosstrainner, and 2 very good benches for the upper body, with many weights and with fresh air!
In all this hotel was a marvellous surprise to me and offered me a comfy shelter ina very stressfull week.

OK, there's an archaeological dig directly outside and you can see the bones of about a dozen people exposed as they work (see photos) and they've been there for 2 and a half years and given that they are building a metro with a trowel and archaeological brush, they'll probably be there for another century. The bones are from 1500 BC or so I was told.

I agree with the most recent of the other reviews ... place is a bit worn, charging for internet is annoying, and we (a group of 4 on business) seemed to be the only guests in this "Marie Celeste" of an hotel. Breakfast was the usual HI fare, which is a plus BTW. Also on the plus side, the staff were helpful and friendly.