My wife and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express/US 19 in Clearwater, Florida for 5 nights in October 2010. We figured that its location was perfect for the places we were going in the area. The check-in process was difficult, the staff person was distracted by the phone ringing and she was alone. It was 3 in the afternoon. The first floor room was a reasonable size, with 2 queen beds. The A/C was off, and was very noisy when we turned it on. It was very hard to regulate, so we would wake-up too warm in the middle of the night. The "heated pool" was small and cold and the area was not inviting. There was a very cheap "economy inn"" next door, which overlooked two sides of the pool.
The first night, we left a small spot of the duvet cover. The next day, after we returned, the room was only half cleaned-no clean towels, the sink was still dirty, but the beds had been made, with the spot on the duvet cover. It was never changed.
The whole atmosphere of the hotel was negative. The staff seemed afraid of the manager. When she was around, they were very jumpy. One afternoon, my wife was watching TV, so I went to the lobby to read. As I was sitting there, the manager proceeded to chew out the desk person for at least 5 minutes. It was very unprofessional and, if justified, should not have been done in public.
There was free wireless available during our stay. On the day before our departure, we went to the "business center" to print out our boarding passes. There was 1 computer, which wasn't working. Plus, have you ever heard of a business center WITHOUT a printer??
In sum, a good location, but not a place I'd stay again. There are a lot of other options nearby.
- Holiday Inn Clearwater
- Holiday Inn Express Clearwater
- Clearwater Holiday Inn
