My husband and I stayed here just one night and overall, it was fine for the price. We would have liked to stay downtown or near UT but the prices for those hotels were out of our budget. We picked this Holiday Inn Express because we used to live in that area and know that it's relatively new and it would be in our budget.

The check in staff was super nice and because we are Priority Club members, we got a welcome bag with 2 bottles of water, some chocolates and some maps and brochures about Austin. There were complimentary chocolate chip cookies at check in but we didn't eat any since we had just eaten lunch. I'm sure they were delicious!

The room was fine. It was clean and we got a King sized bed like we requested. Unfortunately, our window looked out onto a bunch of AC units and the wall of another building, but since we weren't going to be spending much time in the room and it was for a night, we really didn't care too much. The only problem was the air conditioning. For one, our room had a window unit which I am always baffled to see in the 21st century and in Texas. Most places have central air these days unless you are trying to be cheap. The unit seemed to be working when we checked in and even a couple hours later when we left the hotel. Even when we came back a few hours later, it felt like a meat locker, which is good! We went to bed and 2 hours later I woke up sweating. It was set at 70 degrees and it felt like it was pumping out air but at a much warmer temperature. I got up and lowered it to 65 and it started cooling a little better but it did not feel like 65 degrees in that room. Instead it felt like 80. Because of that, I did not sleep well and I was disappointed that they couldn't get a decent working window unit if they're not going to spring for central air.

I have stayed at several HI Express hotels in the last few months and I was quite surprised by the Sunset Valley location, but not necessarily in a good way. My room faced the highway and, had I not had ear plugs, it would have been difficult to get any sleep. Furthermore, left to close on their own, the surrounding guest room doors will slam shut - very annoying if you are trying to sleep, watch TV, or get any work done!
The hotel staff was friendly; however, I was required to give my credit card and the room was charged to my card even though my company had called and made a reservation using the company credit card. The director of my company had to make a phone call to the sales executive at the Sunset Valley location and advise him to take the charge off my credit card and put it on my company's credit card - a bit of an annoyance especially when the pending charge remained on my card for several days.
My king suite was spacious and the bed was quite comfortable; however, I have come to expect ammenities such as refrigerators and microwaves from HI Express and this suite had neither.
And the icing on the cake - this HI Express is difficult to find even though it is right on the service road and it also is difficult to get back to if you venture off the property. If you do not know the area, definitely ask someone at the front desk for specific directions on how to return to the hotel.

In short, this was a below average suite hotel room with a major service issue. Booked via my employer, I found the hotel to be a somewhat tired suite hotel - not comparable to the Hyatt Place I'd stayed the night before. Good breakfast, but there are better options. My service issue was a miscommunication about shipping an item left in the room that was mistakenly (I had explicitly stated that it should be shipped using the least expensive method) shipped overnight at a charge of $125. This was more than the cost of the hotel and near the value of the item. I mentioned the mistake in a phone call to management and was not offered any redress or explanation. This would have been an easy management fix - more a lesson in how to deal with customers than a critique of this particular hotel or its other service staff.

OK hotel with no surprises. I had a big room with a view on the pool at the back. The airco in my room was big, clunky and noisy which made it hard for me to sleep the first nights. Breakfast was rubbery and the orange juice was awful.
The only high point was an agreeable dinner across the road at BJ's Brewhouse (it was recommended to me by the gentleman at reception.)