John R.
We just finished writing a TA review for the single best Holiday Inn Express we have ever stayed at. This is NOT that review. This is a review for the single WORST Holiday Inn Express we have had the misfortune of staying!||• We had pre-booked online. While doing so we requested extra pillows (necessary due to physical issues). Room availability was assured as of 3 pm.|• We arrived at 5:30 pm., unprepared for what was to be an obscenely prolonged exercise. Nothing was ready for our check-in.|• We were assigned a room on the second floor. When we unlocked the door, it was obvious that the room had not been cleaned. The housekeeping cart was left unattended down the hall. |• After a prolonged wait a second room, on the first floor was assigned. When we unlocked the door, we noticed that there were only two pillows on the king-size bed instead of the usual four (much less, the requested six.)|• When we called asking for additional pillows, the response given was a curt, “I don’t think that there are any more!” (“Don’t THINK? Don’t you KNOW?)|• When we asked about nearby restaurants, the response was a curt, “There is a Bar-b-Que place not far.” They had no menu or idea of offerings or prices, and there was NO info about alternatives.|• We, of course, checked the TA website and found a highly rated teriyaki restaurant within a mile of the motel. When we returned from our dinner after 8 pm, we noticed only six cars were in the very large parking lot. |• We decided to try again for the pillows. First we had to wait while another new customer spent a tortuously long time trying to register for a room. Finally, he had his key, but when we asked about the pillows, the answer was the same – there were no pillows available. Frustrated, we left for our room, but on the way we passed an open door and looking in we saw more than a dozen pillows atop a cabinet. We returned to the front desk and found a rotund, slovenly dressed man engaged in a casual chat with the young female at the front desk. After a few minutes, the clerk paused, looked at us and asked, “Yes?” I told her of the pillows and asked if any of them might be available for us to use. She spoke to the man and they both headed to the room in question. They soon brought us one pillow. I thanked her but asked if none of the others were available. The response was that none were because they were all “stained.” At which point, I admit I lost it. I asked her to please contact her manager to ask if nothing more could be done – either with one of the pillows in that room or in one of the many vacant rooms that they obviously had. At that point, the slovenly one spoke up identifying himself as “The Manager” and that no pillows were available since stained pillows could not be used even for positioning legs, nor could pillows in vacant rooms be used per corporate policy. Frustrated, I gave up.|• As a result, I spent the night sitting up in a chair, dozing only rarely!|• I must note that the next morning the housekeeping cart was still in the hallway where it was the previous evening.|• Unfortunately, things did not get better in the morning. When we went for breakfast we found that the were no biscuits and gravy and none of the Holiday Inn Express’ signature cinnamon rolls. The woman in charge of the breakfast area apologized saying :”They said, ‘No!’|| I know that this saga is ridiculously long, but I wanted to share fully why we consider the Holiday Inn Express at Lookout Mountain is, in our honest opinion, the single WORST we have ever encountered!|| We strongly encourage everyone to DO EVERTHING POSSIBLE TO AVOID THIS ESTABLISHMENT! This should not be difficult as there are two other Holiday Inn Expresses in the near vicinity.
