Holiday Inn Express Tampa/Fairgrounds/Casino - Reviews, Photos - Fine stay as usual

hr1487

Senior Contributor

33 reviews

Reviews in 17 cities

17 helpful votes

“Fine stay as usual”

Reviewed 7 February 2012

1

person found this review helpful

Despite the problems other people had I found the staff to be polite and friendly. The Wi-Fi worked fine for me and the hotel was nice looking inside and out. I will say though that the second floor, which we stayed on, smelled like mold. The source? The laundry room. I didn't check to see if each floor had a laundry room or not but this one stunk. I first noticed it when we walked into our hotel room. Later on during our stay I tracked the source. But for one night I'll put up with just about anything.

The hotel is about a five-ten minute drive from Ybor City and down town Tampa. It is easily accessible from the highway as well.

Breakfast in the morning was the standard HIE fare.

I didn't catch her name but the early morning desk clerk (about 0500) was very helpful. I woke up feeling very ill after eating at a nearby restaurant (Ker's Winghouse) and she pointed me to the antacids they had on site since the gas station wasn't open. Big thanks to her!

P.S. - If you're down there to visit the Casino or plan on going there the hotel offers a free shuttle.

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12 March 2012

Thank you for taking the time to write about your visit. Due to your comments, we are testing different cleaning solutions that can be used in the public laundry area to help with the smell that you encountered. It is a work in progress and we are hoping to find a solution soon.
And I do appreciate your other kind words as our staff typically is one of the friendliest around. Please visit us again!

Thank you,
Theresa White
General Manager

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Alex A

Orlando, Florida, United States

1 review

1 helpful vote

“Just OK”

Reviewed 30 January 2012

1

person found this review helpful

The Holiday Inn looks great inside and out. Their breakfast is delicious and free. I'm still amazed with their perfect pancake machine. The rooms are clean and modern. The flat screen TV was a little small but was pleasantly surprised to find HD available.

The only 2 disappointments were the after hours front desk attendant. She was nasty. As Stephon (SNL city correspondent) would say "...don't bother her cause she's on BREAK. The second disappointment was the extreme slow WiFi connection. I appreciate the free Internet, but dial up is faster than the WiFi at this HIExpress.

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3 February 2012

Hello Alex,

First of all, I would like to apologize for the reception that you received when you arrived at our hotel. Please be assured that I have addressed this with our front desk staff, in particular with the person who I believe you encountered. I feel badly that this affected your experience, since we strive to make all of our guests feel welcome.

As far as the WIFI goes, I am not certain why it was so slow for you and I am doing some additional investigation and tests to see if we can determine the actual cause of the problem so that we can fix it.

I appreciate your comments and hope that we will see you again.

Thank you,
Theresa White
General Manager

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JJJTampa

Sarasota, Florida

Reviewer

4 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

2 helpful votes

“Looks great and brand new from the outside but very disappointed inside”

Reviewed 16 January 2012

1

person found this review helpful

Recently booked Holiday Inn Express Casino because of the close proximity to the Hard Rock Casino. What a nightmare when arriving at the hotel I booked 2 double beds and got into my room and it was one single bed. Spoke to the so called "manager" he said they were sold out for the night and that was the last room they had which I did not believe. Than he gave me a very very hard time when asking for a refund when I checked into the room 2 mins ago and once I saw the single bed I could not stay there anymore. Once inside the room, there was an awful smell to the room. The bathroom was also old and the elevator was as fast as a turtle. I was very disappointed because from the outside the hotel looks nice but once inside it was a nightmare. The Manager was very rude and demanding and not nice at all. Buyer beware the Comfort Suites down the road or the Fairfield Inn is way better.

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18 January 2012

Hello JJJ Tampa,

I appreciate the time you have spent in posting your comments and would like to address a few things that you mention that actually affect a few of our bookings.

There are many ways to make room reservations and the issue you experienced with expecting a specific room type is fairly frequent. When our hotel is at a near sell-out, or if you utilize an online travel agency, our computer system allows guests to reserve a room, but not a specific room type. The only way to guarantee a specific room type is to pay a premium/non-discounted rate for the room type you desire and select that specific type on the reservation screen. It appears, by looking at the history and codes on your reservation that your booking was for a General room, not a specific type. I certainly apologize for the lack of clarity in the reservation system and will bring that to the attention of our national product manager.

I also investigated the refund for your room and our manager on duty did immediately post a refund, however had to reverse that action due to luggage still remaining in the room and our inability to re-sell it. I am sorry if his insistence that you remove those items in order to obtain a refund appeared rude; I’ve already discussed this with that manager so that we will be better prepared to address this in the future. Your refund was processed as soon as the room was totally vacated.

In addition, because the room you booked was a General room and we were sold out, you were situated on our Smoking floor. I agree that this location of the building can at times smell stale. We are considering the elimination of the smoking option, however in the past have received many responses in support of it. Your feedback will help us as we make our decision moving forward.

Thank you again for taking time to share.

Theresa White, GM

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tjansen

Appleton, WI

Contributor

12 reviews

Reviews in 5 cities

4 helpful votes

“Clean and affordable”

Reviewed 29 December 2011

2

people found this review helpful

A girlfriend and I stayed three nights at the Holiday Inn Express in December. Our room was a nice size, clean and comfortable with a microwave and refrigerator. We used the shuttle service twice and it was nice. We also used the pool and enjoyed that, although at 2:00 p.m. the sun was behind the building and that was it for the day. The morning breakfast was nice while reading the free newspaper. The menu varied as one morning it was eggs and bacon and the next eggs and sausages or SOS etc.. and the usual items accompanying it. No complaints and I would definitely stay there again.

Room Tip: It was a quiet week and I would imagine any room would be fine.

See more room tips

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18 January 2012

Hello Appleton WI Visitors!
Thank you for taking time to submit a review. It looks like you had a great stay and enjoyed our services. I see that you gave us a 4 out of 5 and I would love to hear from you as to what we could do to earn a 5 from you. We are always striving to be better and I think you could help. Could you please call me at the hotel so that I can get more info? I’d appreciate your partnership in this and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you, Theresa White General Manager

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albp14t

Venice, Florida

Senior Reviewer

10 reviews

Reviews in 9 cities

10 helpful votes

“Great Breakfast”

Reviewed 12 September 2011

4

people found this review helpful

The Holiday Inn Express at Tampa fairgrounds is just 5 minutes fro the Hardrock casino. Continental breakfast and coffee was very good. Chocolate chips cookies and popcorn were a nice touch in the evening

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21 October 2011

Dear Venice Fan,

Thank you so much for staying with us. We are glad you enjoyed the breakfast, hopefully you got the chance to try our new pancake machine. Not only is it yummy but it's fun too.

Thank you again,

Theresa White
General Manager

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