Lansing, Michigan: Holiday Inn Express, Visitor Bureau and area

November 2024, weekend, one night 

View from guestroom 326 in Holiday Inn Express & Suites East Lansing

I am sharing a few photos and some basic information from our Lansing visit last month.

Guestroom 326 in Holiday Inn Express & Suites East Lansing

Holiday Inn Express East Lansing, king suite guestroom 326

I reserved a basic king guestroom in this hotel. As a platinum member, I received an upgrade to a king suite. The guestroom was clean and comfortable. 

Guestroom 326 in Holiday Inn Express & Suites East Lansing

East Lansing, Michigan: Hampton Inn

December 2022, weekday, one-night

Reservations, check-in, diamond perks

I reserved a king guestroom online, and that was the only guestroom choice available for check-in when I received the initial check-in notice the day before our stay. I contemplated calling the hotel, since Hilton perks say that room upgrades will be offered for diamond members 3 days before the stay, if available. I decided to wait, and when I checked again the morning of our arrival day, I saw we had been upgraded to a corner suite. I checked in on the app, choosing 4:00 PM as our arrival time, even though check-in at this hotel is 3:00 PM. That was a mistake on my part, because we ended up arriving in the area just before 3:00 PM, and our room was not ready yet. It was ready when we returned to the hotel shortly after 4:00 PM. We received two bottles of water from the front desk agent, after she asked if she could get me anything, like water or a snack.

King suite 400 in Hampton Inn East Lansing

King suite 400

This guestroom was spacious, and it was quiet. We did not hear any noise from outside the guestroom. Although the guestroom was clean and roomy, we did not think it was very comfortable, other than the work area. The desk chair was comfortable, and this area met my needs for working. The soft chair, and the sofa were both uncomfortable, and the bed was hard. If you like hard mattresses, and only want the room for working, you will probably love this room! I neglected to get a photo of the living room chair, and the work desk and chair, which were located at the left end of the sofa in the photo above. Photo #2 on the hotel website looks exactly like guestroom 400.

The kitchen area contained a coffeemaker with supplies, microwave, small fridge, and a sink. A closet and full length mirror were located in the hall area outside the bathroom.

Bathroom in suite 400 in Hampton Inn East Lansing

Michigan Breweries: Ann Arbor/Saline, Lansing, Jackson

 February 2021, Weekdays after restaurants and bars reopened at 25% capacity

We tend to go out on less busy days, and finding open locations during the pandemic has proven to be a challenge. Even with the allowed opening, some places have opted for much shorter hours and/or fewer open days. We found several places that are only opening a few days a week, and many have not been opening until 3PM or later. I am sharing information about some of the places we looked into or visited shortly after inside seating reopened.

Salt Spring Brewery in Saline, MI

Ann Arbor/Saline

Most of the breweries in this area were not open in the afternoons and/or on weekdays. We had hoped to visit Mothfire Brewery Company, since it was only two miles from our hotel; however, their current temporary hours are Thursday - Saturday from 5PM to 8PM. Townies Brewery, and most of the locations downtown had similar hours. The only downtown brewery that we found with weekday afternoon hours was Grizzly Peak Brewing Company, and we did not end up making it downtown.

Salt Spring Brewery in Saline, MI

We visited two locations that were open on weekday afternoons: Salt Springs Brewery and Wolverine State Brewing. Although Salt Springs Brewery has a Saline address, it is only five miles from south Ann Arbor. This is a location we would visit again. It is in a beautiful old church with inside and outside seating. The beers were good, the service was good, and they have a fabulous Happy Hour starting at 3PM; specials on appetizers and beers. I wish we had been hungry when we visited, because the food smelled fabulous. Wolverine State Brewing also had inside and outside seating, along with food and beer. Plexiglass barriers were installed at the bar for bar seating. 

Neither location was very busy during our afternoon visits. I had been wondering if we would run into wait times with only 25% capacity, and we have not experienced this yet.

Grand River Brewing in Jackson, MI

Lansing, Michigan: Crowne Plaza Lansing West

February 2021, weekday, 1 night, king corner guestroom #436

We have stayed in this hotel a few times before this stay, and I have previously posted hotel info in this blog. You can find my most recent post with more photos here. This is a brief post with just a few bits of additional information, since this was our first stay during COVID-19.

Reservation, arrival, platinum perks

I booked the IHG member rate with breakfast. I made our reservation over the telephone with the hotel directly, because when I looked online, deluxe rooms were available; however, there were no corner rooms for any night that I chose (we had been considering and searching several different dates). The agent was able to make us a reservation for a corner guestroom when I called. There are only a couple of corner guestrooms in this hotel, and portions of the hotel were shutdown to conserve energy due to the decreased business caused by the pandemic.

I received an email for mobile check-in the day before our arrival; however, I received an error message when I tried to complete mobile check-in. Checking in at the front desk when we arrived was friendly and efficient, so this did not present a problem for us. During check-in, we received a couple of chocolate hearts and a small package of Brach's candy, as our stay was an early Valentine's Day getaway. Hand sanitizer was available throughout the hotel, and plexiglass barriers were installed at the front desk. The platinum bonus points posted to my account immediately after check-in.

Guestroom 436

This one of our favorite guestrooms in this hotel. I did not take any photos of the room this stay, as the guestroom was mostly the same as last time we had stayed in it. You can follow this link to see photos from our stay in 2016. 

The bedding has been updated since those photos were taken, and there was a new flat iPhone charger next to the bed. The guestroom layout was the same.

Delicious Bloody Mary at Bordeaux restaurant 
inside Crowne Plaza Lansing West!

Lansing, Michigan / Crowne Plaza Lansing West

January and February 2017, 2 separate nights - weekday and weekend, King deluxe room #547 and King corner room #416

Our stay at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West was just as impressive this trip as it had been November 2016. The hotel is very clean and well maintained, and the staff is excellent. There was a minor snag with my first night's stay, and staff members went above and beyond to make this right. I had two separate stays here, which I am combining into this one post. We stayed on a weekday, and then on the weekend a week later. I used points for both nights.

View from the 4th floor

Platinum perks and check-in

I received the Platinum on-site amenity choice for both stays: bottled water, beverage in the lounge, or bonus points. I always choose the points, since I tend to use my points so frequently. I had reserved a corner guestroom for my first night, and a deluxe room for my second stay. I would have reserved a corner room for both nights, except a corner room was not showing as available for the second stay when I made the reservation online. When I checked in for the first night [corner guestroom, weekday], the front desk agent had difficulty finding me a corner room. She said there had been one set aside for me, although it was showing that it had not been cleaned, even though we were not checking in early. I waited a few moments while she called someone to confirm whether the room had been cleaned or not. She then told me deluxe rooms were available, and I said that would be fine. She assigned us a guestroom on the top floor, and said she would request a corner guestroom for us when we returned.

When I checked in for the second stay, we received a corner guestroom on the 4th floor. The employee apologized for the fact that I had not received this type of guestroom the week earlier, and she said there was an amenity in the guestroom fridge for me.

Travel between Lansing, Michigan and Cancun, Mexico via MiamiAir booked through Apple Vacations (destination Luxury Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an in Riviera Maya )

January - February 2017

This post could easily become extremely long. I have condensed the information somewhat to focus on the main points. If you have any questions, or would like more details, just ask!

Although our travel experiences include over 15 resort stays in Mexico and the Caribbean (some before I started this blog), this was our first experience with Apple Vacations and MiamiAir. You can find separate posts in this blog for Luxury Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an and our excursions.

Booking through Apple Vacations with MiamiAir charter flight

We booked our vacation over the telephone with an Apple representative, since we had not booked with them before, and I had a few questions. If you want to have access to your Apple Vacations booking online, I suggest booking online instead. I found out afterward that you can access your Apple Vacations booking online, if you book online; however, you cannot access your itinerary and such for reservations that have been booked over the telephone.

We booked this trip at the last minute because we happened upon an amazing price--$839 each for 7 nights, including air. We then paid an additional $78 each to upgrade our airline seats to Preferred Perks Plus roundtrip, which is similar to first class. The airline upgrade said it included the following per person each way: fresh meal/snack box, two standard alcoholic drinks (21yrs.), and preferred check-in, security, boarding and seating. Without Preferred Perks Plus, there is a fee to select seats, and another fee to check bags ($40 roundtrip per bag when purchased through Apple beforehand--$50 at the airport).

The telephone number provided in our travel documents to check flight status before heading to the airport was incorrect. The telephone number Apple Vacations provided was for Norwegian Air. The telephone number on the MiamiAir website to check flight status is: (305) 871-8001.

Miami Air in Lansing, Michigan

Departure from Lansing, Michigan via Miami Air 

The MiamiAir website provided the following information for check-in: Ticket counters will open 3 hours prior to departure. Check in locations are as follows: Lansing, Michigan Capital Region International Airport (LAN) – Main Terminal, check-in counters located at Door 2. I also found this news story about the Apple Vacations/MiamiAir/Lansing Airport relationship.

Lansing, Michigan / Crowne Plaza Lansing West

November 2016, Weekday, 1-night, King corner guestroom 436

This was our first stay at the Crowne Plaza in Lansing, Michigan. In fact, I did not recall knowing this hotel is not too far from the Lansing airport the last time we had stayed in a Lansing airport hotel. I will definitely choose this hotel again the next time I have a Lansing flight, or need to stay in the area.

Platinum perks and check-in

We arrived a bit before check-in time of 3:00 p.m. The employee who completed the check-in process provided excellent assistance, and she went out of her way to meet our needs. I needed a ride to the airport around 5:00 a.m., and the hotel shuttle does not normally operate that early. She checked the schedule to see if there was an airline crew scheduled for the next morning, and was able to schedule a ride time for me that met both our needs. We received an upgrade to a king corner room (I requested this), and the 600 bonus points for Platinum members.

View of desk from entrance area

View from entrance

King corner guestroom 436

This guestroom contained a king size bed, night stands, desk and chair, soft chair with footstool, and a large flatscreen TV on an armoire. A small fridge, microwave, ice bucket, glass glasses, coffee mugs, and coffeemaker with supplies, were located in the armoire. The bed was super comfy, and the sheets were good quality.

A large vanity and a closet with mirrored doors were located left of the armoire. The closet contained two robes, along with hangers, and a folding luggage rack. Bath amenities were provided on the vanity. The towels were good quality. The toilet and tub/shower combination were located in a small room at the end of the vanity.

Lansing, Michigan / Hyatt Place Lansing Eastwood Towne Center

March 2016, Weekend, 1-night, King guestroom 402

view from guestroom 402 - Walmart on the left

Arrival and status perks

I redeemed points for a room with one king bed. My profile preference is for a high-floor guestroom; however, I was not sure if my points stay would cover a high floor room, as the cost was $5 more. My status was Platinum at the time of this stay. The information on the Hyatt Place Eastwood Towne Center website does not show the guestroom square footage, and I could not figure out why the guestrooms on higher floors would cost more (it's not like there was a view of anything other than the shopping center). The only difference in the photos on the website were the bathrooms; the king bathroom photo showed a walk-in shower, and the high floor king bathroom photo was of a tub/shower combination. I usually think a walk-in tile shower with a glass door is nicer, so I did not understand why a walk-in shower guestroom would cost less. Also, the guestrooms with two queen beds were $10 less than king rooms. Again, this logic confused me, as two beds often means more guests for breakfast and more guests to clean up after.

Check-in time is 3:00 p.m, which is about the time we arrived. We waited a couple of minutes behind two other guests, as there was only one agent working at the front desk when we arrived. Another employee arrived at the front desk about the time it was our turn. The hotel was very busy, so when we checked in, I told the agent we would prefer a room on the top floor in a quiet area, like a corner. We did not receive a guestroom on one of the top floors, although she did assign us a great corner room. 

Lansing, Michigan/Hampton Inn West

November 2011, Weekday, King guestroom #344 & 348

Status perks

I typically do not receive any extra perks from Hampton for having Gold HHonors status, so when the agent did not acknowledge my status or guestroom type at check-in, I did not ask about an upgrade.

Guestroom

Guestroom 348

We had been assigned a guestroom at the end of the hall on the top floor, which is my preference. Room 348 contained a small fridge and microwave; however, the room was very small and the furnishings were old. It did not look like there were many guests at the hotel--there were only a couple cars in the parking lot--so, I decided to call the front desk to ask about an upgrade. The agent said he could give us an upgrade, so I went back down to the front desk, and he gave me a key for room 344. The agent again did not say anything about the room type I was receiving. I took the key, and hoped for the best.

Guestroom 344

Guestroom 344 was a larger room, although the furnishings were just as old. The room contained a microwave and small fridge like the first guestroom. There was also an outside door and balcony behind the sofa. Before our stay, I had read online reviews, which said that even though this is an older hotel, the rooms were clean and comfortable. I needed an extra HHonors stay this year, and this hotel was in the area I wanted to stay, so I had chosen it, even though it didn't look that great online. I must have different expectations than most of the people writing reviews on TripAdvisor, because I would not stay at this hotel again. Even though the second room we received was an upgraded room, I felt that we had stayed in a $50 hotel room (something I would not normally do), and that it had cost us $87.

The carpet in the guestroom was old, dingy looking, and frayed in spots. The furniture was old and did not smell fresh. The HVAC unit was an older style unit on the outside wall. The front cover of the HVAC unit fell off that evening! It was still connected on one corner; however, it was hanging by the hinges, and gave us quite a start when it fell down. The guestroom door, and the bathroom door, were both old, dinged up wood doors. The bathroom sink drain was slow; fortunately the tub/shower drain drained well. The bed and sheets looked clean, and, if that had not been the case, we would not have stayed the night.

The TV in both guestrooms were updated flat screen models, and that was the only thing in the hotel that looked current. The guestroom had a wired Internet connection; however, we had only brought our iPad and no laptop, so it did not do us any good. The hotel wireless service did not show up in the guestroom. When I went to the lobby with my iPad to use the Internet that evening, I observed another guest with an iPad doing the same thing. 

Food & Beverage

We had an early flight, and checked out before breakfast in the morning. We requested to-go breakfast bags, which contained the same items I have always received in a Hampton breakfast bag: bottled water, apple, muffin, Special-K bar, and Hampton mints. Cookies were available at the front desk when we arrived; however, there were no napkins with the cookies.

Pool

The wireless Internet signal was decent in the pool area, and my husband said that the hot tub was hot and clean. The seating in the pool area was comfortable.

Public areas and misc.

I thought all areas of this property needed to be refurbished and cleaned better. All of the doors were dinged up old doors, the elevator was scratched and dirty, as was the foyer area outside the elevator, and the hallway carpet was old and frayed. There was dust buildup and debris in all the corners, and on the carpet at the base of the walls. 

There was not a gift/snack shop in the hotel, and there was only one food vending machine. The vending machine did not have microwave popcorn--something I was looking for since both guestrooms we had seen contained a microwave, and I have seen popcorn in vending machines before.