Grand Rapids, Michigan / Holiday Inn - GRR Airport

February 2018, Weekday, 1-night, King suite #230

Platinum perks and check-in

I redeemed points for this stay, and received an upgrade to a suite before our stay. I called IHG to make the reservation, because the site was not functioning properly when I tried to make the reservation online. When I called, I found out it was because the only available room type with points for three guests, was a queen-bed handicap guestroom. The agent said he could reserve that for me, and he suggested I call the hotel directly to see if they would upgrade me to a king suite because of my status. King suites have a sofa bed, whereas, a standard king guestroom does not. I called the hotel, and the agent happily fulfilled my request. At check-in, I received 500 Platinum bonus points, which posted to my account right after we checked out.

King suite 230

There are three floors at this hotel, and the agent had told me the suite on the top floor was not ready yet. We had arrived about 15 minutes early of check-in time, and gladly accepted the one on the second floor.

The suite was comfortable, and we loved it. The only thing we did not like about it, is that the lighting over the table in the work/sitting room was extremely dim. I am not sure how anyone could hold a meeting at the table. A guest we chatted with in the bar that evening commented that he did not like that the door into the guestroom opens into the bedroom instead of the sitting room. This suite served our purposes well.

Wet bar area in the work/sitting room

The workroom contained a small fridge, sink, table with four or five chairs, TV, work desk, and sofa sleeper.  A K-cup coffee maker with supplies was on the sink. I am guessing there was supposed to be a trash liner in the large trash can in this room. The lid was not set on all of the way, as if housekeeping had not completely finished up before leaving the room.

Room with sofa sleeper and table

There is a door between the bedroom and this room. Our son slept on the sofa sleeper in the extra room. Extra bedding was not provided in the guestroom. We called to request this, and housekeeping delivered a pillow and the bedding within 15 minutes.

Bedroom

The bedroom area contained a soft chair and footstool, king size bed, and a flatscreen TV on an armoire. The bedding and pillows were very comfortable, and the guestroom was well soundproofed.

Bathroom vanity with tile shower to right and toilet to left

The bathroom was located near the entrance door. It contained a nice tile shower, and the usual amenities in the vanity area. The towels were good quality.

Fridge and microwave outside bathroom near entrance

A second small fridge and a microwave were located outside the bathroom. A closet with hangers was located in the hallway between the bathroom and the bedroom.

Food & Beverage

The food we had in the bar was excellent, although the service left something to be desired. The counter was dirty when we arrived, and I had to request that the bar be wiped (the bartender set napkins/coasters on the dirty bar top to take our orders without cleaning it). During our visit, we had to get the bartender's attention to request silverware, and anything else we wanted. When he served our food, he did not provide this, and he did not ask if we needed anything else. The bartender was apparently more interested in chatting with guests he knew than in assisting us with our orders.

Pool area

One reason we chose this hotel over the Staybridge Suites across the street is because they used to have an indoor hot tub in the pool area. We were disappointed to see that this had been filled with cement. Since we stayed on a Thursday night, it would have been more beneficial for us to stay at the Staybridge Suites, as they provide an evening social hour.

Airport shuttle

We took the hotel shuttle to the airport around 5:00 AM, and we returned in the afternoon around 2:00 PM. The service was very good both times. Another guest had signed up for the morning shuttle the same time as we did, and he was late arriving to the lobby, so we departed a couple of minutes late. Our driver did not waste any time getting to the airport. We waited 16 minutes for the shuttle when we returned.

Misc. and overall for this hotel and nearby Crowne Plaza

I have stayed in this hotel at least three times before this stay, so I was surprised when I could not find any posts for this property in my blog. The guestroom types I previously stayed in were king suite, king guestroom, and 2-queen guestroom. Things I remember from those stays: the king guestrooms have a nice walk-in shower, just like the suite; the 2-queen guestroom was quite small, and there was not a chair in the guestroom other than the desk chair; the previous time I received a suite, it was an upgrade after I inquired about an upgrade; and on previous stays, I received free [Platinum status] appetizer coupons to use in the lounge.

I like this Holiday Inn, and it is one of my considerations when choosing an airport hotel. There used to be a few reasons we usually chose the Crowne Plaza instead, although things have recently changed. The Crowne Plaza has a spacious inside/outside pool area, the Crowne Plaza airport shuttle is pretty regular 24-hours, and the Crowne Plaza had an executive lounge with snacks and beverages. Our last stay at the Crowne Plaza was not good, and we changed to the Holiday Inn at the last minute. I did not write a review after our last Crowne Plaza stay in January 2018, because I really dislike providing criticism. 

I am providing a few facts from that stay for anyone considering the Grand Rapids airport Crowne Plaza. 

• The executive lounge has closed (around June 2017 from what I was told).
• The first guestroom I was assigned had not been cleaned.
• The tub/shower drain in the second guestroom we were assigned was clogged, and I was unable to shower in the morning before my flight. I did not realize this until 4:00 AM the next morning. There was standing water in the tub before the water even got hot.
• There was a small fridge in the dirty guestroom I had been assigned, but not in the second room.
• I filled out the guest survey after our stay, and indicated I would like someone to contact me. No one has contacted me, and I did not receive any compensation or discount for the clogged shower. I told the front desk agent about this at checkout, so it could be fixed before someone else checked into the guestroom.
• The front desk agent at check-in, did give me a couple of beverage coupons when I returned to the front desk from the unclean guestroom. The coupons did not have any restrictions on them, so I asked the server in the lounge to charge us for the Happy Hour beverages, and that we wanted to use the beverage coupons on the other ones. She applied our coupons the other way around. The beverages we paid for were $5 beers, and the Happy Hour drinks were only about $3.50. 

Sampler

Jaden James Brewery and Cascade Winery

This brewery and winery is located only a couple of miles away from the airport area. They are listed in the Grand Rapids Brewsader booklet. This was our first visit, and we really liked the place. It was quite busy for a Thursday evening. The photo above is a sampler with beers and ciders. I also tried a couple of wines. Everything was excellent.

Let me know if you have any questions!