Goshen, Indiana / Holiday Inn Express

September 2013, Weekend-weekday, 2-nights, King guestroom #309

Status perks and check-in

When I arrived at this Holiday Inn Express around 8 p.m., I observed a printed sign on the counter that said, "Be right back. Assisting a guest." I was surprised by this sign since there were less than five cars in the parking lot. After I had been waiting a couple of minutes, another guest arrived to check-in. She asked how long I had been waiting, and then I decided to call the hotel telephone number. When I did, an employee answered the call, and then walked right out to the counter from the back. When we asked if we should have called sooner, she said that she had just gotten back.

After this, the check-in process went smoothly, and the front desk agent provided professional and warm service. My key packet was prepared, she welcomed me, and she recognized my status. She said that I had received a guestroom upgrade, and I also received two bottles of water, and my choice of one snack for being a Platinum member. She happily assisted me with getting a carton of milk from the breakfast room after I requested one.

Guestroom 309

I am not sure which classification this guestroom falls under. I had reserved a basic king guestroom, and this guestroom is the second smallest guestroom according to the diagram on the back of the guestroom door. The guestroom descriptions include: king leisure, king suite, king feature, executive suite, and family suite, priced in that order. Even though the online description for king feature does not mention the kitchen area, I assume that those guestrooms also have a kitchen area, because the rate is higher than a king suite rate. Going by the guestroom rates and sizes, I would guess that this guestroom is classified as a king suite. That would make it one step up from what I had reserved.


The guestroom is located away from the elevator near the end of the hallway. It is on the front side of the building facing the road.

The bathroom near the entrance contained a long vanity with Bath & Body Works amenities, a wall mounted hairdryer, and a tub/shower combination with a shower curtain on a curved rod. The towels were good quality, and the water was softened water.

An open closet and full length mirror were located in the entry area outside of the bathroom. The closet contained a few hangers, extra bedding, an iron, and an ironing board.

The kitchen area around the corner had a tile floor, and the following items were included: small fridge, sink, microwave, small coffeepot with supplies, and ice bucket. The cupboards contained disposable plates, silverware, napkins, and cups.

The living area contained a sofa, coffee table, end table, and desk with chair. A lamp, and an ethernet connection with a cord were on the desk.

The bedroom area contained a flatscreen TV with swivel stand on an armoire, a suitcase bench, large wall mirror, king size bed, and nightstands with lighted alarm clock and lamps. There was a screen in the large window, which opened a few inches. The mattress on the bed was comfortable, although the bedsheets and pillows were not good quality. The sheets were kind of scratchy, and the pillows were not comfortable.

It was somewhat noisy in this guestroom. There is a large gap around the door; however, there were not many guests in the hotel the first night of my stay, so that was not a problem. I did, however, hear a lot of traffic and trains all night long. Even though the guestroom window could be opened, I left it closed because of the noise. The second night, there was less train noise, and more guest noise.

Food & Beverage

Standard Holiday Inn Express breakfast items were served both mornings: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage gravy and biscuits, pancake maker, whites breads and bagels, hard boiled eggs, Yoplait yogurt, two kinds of milk, cold cereal in dispensers, instant oatmeal, fresh bananas, coffee, tea, and juices. I have not seen the fold-over omelets at any of the Holiday Inn Express hotels that I have stayed in recently, and I am beginning to wonder if they still serve them.

Fitness center

The fitness center contained the following: three cardio machines, hand weights, flatscreen TV with remote, water cooler, scale, towels, and sani-wipes. The first morning that I went to the fitness center, another guest was using one of the treadmills, with an extension cord across the floor. She said that the outlets on the wall in front of the machines were not working, and that an employee had brought in the cord. She said that she was almost done, so I waited. The second morning, the extension cord was gone, and none of the machines worked when I tried them. After I went to the front desk, we discovered that the wall outlets were just fine; however, the machines had not been turned on.

Overall and misc.
There is not much around this hotel in terms of dining or anything else. There is a small park across the street, and that is about it. A Hampton Inn and a Marriott Courtyard are located next to each other, a couple of miles down the road. Both of those hotels looked like older properties online, which is why I chose the Holiday Inn Express. Although I did not go inside either of those hotels, they looked nicer when I saw them from the outside, than the pictures had looked on the website. There is a Wal-Mart, and a couple of restaurants, near the Hampton Inn and the Courtyard.