Staying At Holiday Inn Express

Over the last couple of months, I've done a lot of traveling, and I'm not even done with another week long trip starting Saturday. Specifically I've traveled to Minnesota twice. The first time I went was in June with Fred. My best friend's daughter got married. The first night we were back there, we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express by the airport. It was getting renovated. Trust me when I say it was in much need of it.

Then at the beginning of July, the boys and I drove back to Minnesota to spend the month there. We stopped in Indiana our first night. We drove almost half an hour off the freeway to get to the one Fred had booked for us. Fred used to rack up points because he traveled so much! We're still using those points to say the least, but we're nearly empty of them.

On our way home, we stayed at the Holiday City, OH Holiday Inn Express because that's where my niece works. She works their complementary breakfast bar. I was excited for a variety of reasons. It was one more reason we got to see my niece since it had been a few years since the boys and I had seen her last. Then it was right off the freeway, which made getting to it easy! Lastly, it was a perfect stopping place between Minnesota and Maryland.

Now, to be fair, I didn't have high hopes for this being something I'd be able to give a positive report to my niece about. I've been staying at Holiday Inn Express since I've known Fred, the last three years. Let's just say, none of them ever moved me enough to write about them on my blog.

Things definitely changed with this experience. Now, I'm biased because I love my niece, but I'm also extremely opinionated. I don't waste my time or my blog space on something that I don't see value in. My experience at Holiday Inn Express in Holiday City, OH is based on the experience aside from my niece.

The boys and I pulled in at 2am. We were so exhausted, all we walked in with was my purse. I told the boys we could just get our stuff from the car in the morning. I didn't expect there to be anything in the hotel room that would cause me to want to do anything but go to sleep. The two people who were at the welcome desk were super nice, and wide awake surprisingly. lol My attitude was basically, "here's my name, what's my room number, and where's my key?"

Lo' and behold, there was a mini fridge in the room! I realized I had somewhere to put our cooler items overnight and keep the ice cold! I headed back out to the car, and apologized for my lack of conversation when we were checking in. They were once again very understanding.

Ok, the ONE negative about our entire stay was that the room was FREEZING when we walked in! I think it was maybe 65 degrees in the room?! It was crazy. Of course, it had been insanely hot outside all day long. At 2am, it wasn't so delightful.

In the morning, we dragged our hind ends out of bed and down to the continental breakfast. Now, the boys and I have a standard which had as of yet to be reached when it came to them enjoying anything for breakfast. It's the cinnamon roll. They haven't been to an Express that has had one they finished...except this time! All of the food was fresh and good. We did have to ask to have the apple juice refilled because it came out looking like water. My niece takes pride in her work, and it shows in her food.

The room the breakfast was in was extremely nice and in wonderful condition. They have a seating area where you can sit and read or watch tv. Then there are high tables and low tables to eat at. Just very comfortable. We didn't get to visit the exercise room or pool because we were on such a tight schedule. What I did notice before we headed back up to the room was that there was a note saying they were getting new exercise machines.

Our room had two queen beds. And THIS is my favorite part of the hotel...any hotel I've ever stayed at. They had bendable reading lights! Oh my gosh, why doesn't EVERY hotel have these in every room?! I mean, it's a simple touch.

I also liked that the desk had a comfortable rolling chair and a mini desk that pulled out from underneath the larger desk. Very nice for someone who's working from their room.

Oh, and don't want to have to leave by 10am? No sweat! Their regular check out is noon! I mean, this is a hotel that understand it's clients. Business people might want to be out of their room by 8 or 9am, but honestly, families probably want to sleep in a bit or take some time to relax before they head off to their next destination. I was thankful I didn't have to ask for a late checkout. We actually stayed until noon because after breakfast, I was still exhausted and went back to the room to sleep for a couple hours so I'd be cognizant while driving.

I didn't get photos of the front of the hotel as we got there, but it was lit up with bluish/purplish lights giving it a sleepy look. I was going to take a picture of it as we were leaving, but it was absolutely pouring outside when we left. I also didn't get a photo of the room when we first got there because, well, 2am. Hello! I asked to take a photo in a different room, but the guy sent me to a handicapped room with a king size bed, which looked nothing like the room we stayed in. hahahaha

There's no doubt that I would absolutely encourage travelers to stop at this Holiday Inn Express if they're traveling across the top of the OH. It was fantastic to see our fabulous & beautiful niece, even if it was just for a few minutes because she was working. lol

What's your favorite hotel to stay at when you're road tripping?