Fultondale, Alabama / Holiday Inn Express & Suites Birmingham North -

November, Weekend, 1-night, Extended king guestroom 519

Sunset from guestroom 519

Platinum perks and check-in

The morning of our arrival, I noticed that the AAA rate for a king guestroom had dropped $5. Rather than redoing our reservation to save the $5, I decided to call the hotel to see if we could secure an upgrade instead. The person I spoke with said she would change our reservation to a suite right then. When we arrived, we were not able to get the suite (guestroom 430, I think it was) that the agent had assigned us because another staff member told her the A/C unit in that guestroom was not working. That must have been the only suite guestroom left, because we were then reassigned a different guestroom type. I think the original guestroom was a larger corner suite; however, I forgot to take a photo of the guestroom diagram when we got to our room, and now I do not recall the exact details. I chose 500 bonus points for my Platinum perk.

View from entrance guestroom 519

Guestroom 519

Although the agent had referred to this guestroom as a suite also, it looked like an extended guestroom, to me. I would not be too happy, if I had booked and paid for a suite, and then received this type of guestroom. As far as a regular guestroom goes though, this one was fabulous. It was almost exactly the same as the one I'd had at the Holiday Inn Express in Evansville two days prior (except this is a king guestroom, rather than two queen beds). 

Jeffersonville, Indiana / Sheraton Louisville Riverside Hotel

November 2018, Weekday, 1-Night, King guestroom 812

River and sunset is visible from riverview and rooms on west side.
This photo taken from parking lot across Riverside Drive from hotel.

Gold perks and check-in

This hotel provided the worst service and Gold member recognition I have ever received at a Marriott or Starwood hotel. The agent did not recognize my status, and when I inquired about an upgrade, I was told that Marriott does not allow them to give upgrades to Gold members; only Platinum members. I told the agent that could not be correct, because I receive upgrades at Starwood and Marriott hotels all the time. She went to get the manager, who then told me the same thing.

When I had checked in on the Marriott app before my arrival, the screen showed I was eligible for an upgrade. I did not take a snapshot of  that screen, although I have taken one for every stay since then. The screen shot above was taken after I checked in for my next Marriott stay, one day after I checked out of Sheraton. The screenshot below shows Gold member perks listed on Marriott's website. Although no one mentioned the 500 Gold bonus points, these posted to my account when this stay posted.

Gold upgrade perks from Marriott/SPG website 11/11/2019
Click to enlarge

King guestroom 812

This guestroom is on the 8th floor of this 10 floor hotel. It has a connecting room door, and it faces the expressway. The bridge view from the guestroom was nice; however, we could hear traffic through the window. The expressway is fully visible to the left of the building shown in the photo below.

View from guestroom 812

The king size bed in the guestroom was comfortable, and the full length windows offered good visibility. The desk and chair were strategically placed facing out the window. The guestroom also contained nightstands with lamps, a soft chair and foot stool, flatscreen TV on an armoire, ice bucket, and coffeemaker with supplies. The coffee was good quality. The guestroom was smaller than I had expected from viewing the photos on the hotel website.

Guestroom 812; view from in front of desk

Evansville, Indiana / Holiday Inn Express

November 2018, Weekday, 1-Night, Queen guestroom #427

Wow, this was the most comfortable, clean, and well-appointed Holiday Inn Express I have ever stayed in!

Sunset from guestroom 427

Advance reservations, check-in, platinum perks

I called this hotel to make my reservation because the online rates were much higher than neighboring hotels--about $40 more per night than Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, Marriott Courtyard... The agent I spoke with said the least expensive room type is 2-queen beds, and that he had one available he could give me. The online system had not shown me this guestroom type was available, and I did not know he was booking me an accessible/handicap guestroom until I looked at the reservation the next day under my IHG profile. I had asked him to request a top floor guestroom for me, so I hoped someone would cancel before my stay, and I could end up in a regular guestroom on a higher floor.

When I arrived, I received a top floor non-handicap guestroom. The agent did not recognize my status or mention any IHG perks, although 500 Platinum bonus points posted to my account before I checked out.

Microwave, Keurig coffee, fridge
Located in hall entrance between bathroom and beds

Guestroom 427

This guestroom is on the top floor near the end of the hall (exactly my preference!). The sunset view was beautiful, and the room quality was excellent. I cannot say enough nice things about the quality of the guestroom at this hotel. I wish all Holiday Inn Express hotels offered this same comfort.