March 2021, Weekend, One night
Holiday Inn Express Queen Whirlpool Suite 126
The day before our arrival, I checked in online via the IHG check-in email. After I had checked in, the system said I would be notified when our room was ready. I received a notification from my credit card company when my credit card was processed the next day; however, I did not receive a notification from IHG that my room was ready. We arrived about 20 minutes after the credit card notification, which was about half an hour before check-in time, and our room was ready. The agent did not recognize my status, nor offer any additional platinum perks. The onsite amenity points posted to my account when my credit card had been run before our arrival. The checkout feature also did not work on the app the next day, so it appeared something was wrong with the IHG site at the time of our stay. I received the digital checkout email more than 24 hours after we had checked out. I immediately checked my credit card charges to make sure we had not been charged for a two-night stay! 😬
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| Holiday Inn Express Marshall queen whirlpool suite bedroom. Photo taken from doorway between bedroom and living room. |
Suite 126 is a corner room on the bottom floor. I do not usually like bottom floor rooms; however, in this case, it happened to be a good thing. With the pandemic situation, we did not need to worry about riding the elevator or waiting, if there were already too many guests on it. I assume the guestroom above us was empty, as all was quiet during our stay (one reason I usually request top floor rooms). There is an outside exit just outside this guestroom, which goes out to the west end of the parking lot. Our window views were out the west side and grass area behind the hotel; not the parking lot.
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| Beverage area at Holiday Inn Express Marshall. |
We liked the layout of this guestroom. The beverage space was located in the wide hall area outside the bathroom, and contained: Keurig coffeemaker with supplies, ice bucket with plastic cups, microwave, sink, and small fridge.
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| Bathroom in queen suite 126 at Holiday Inn Express Marshall. |
The bathroom contained a large vanity and tub/shower combination. Refillable J.R. Watkins shower amenities were on the wall in the shower/tub. Towels and washcloths were good quality, thick, and clean.
The living room contained a large whirlpool tub, sofa, coffee table, long desk, and flatscreen TV. There were a couple of hooks for jackets on the wall between the desk and beverage area.
Although there was not a door between the living room and bedroom, the two rooms were nicely separated by a wall with an opening not much bigger than a door between them. The bedroom contained a king size bed, second flatscreen TV, nightstands with lights, a telephone, a built in suitcase bench, and a standing closet with hangers. The bedsheets and pillows were good quality, and the room was well soundproofed. A separate wall mounted HVAC unit was located in the bedroom and in the living room.
I was glad I had disinfectant with me to clean high-touch surfaces in the guestroom, because it did not feel like it had been given the, "IHG way of clean/clean promise" attention. Both TV remotes were on top of plastic bags, which looked like bags they should have been placed into after being sanitized, and switches in the room did not look sanitized (they were definitely cleaner after I wiped them). Some residue came off the tub when I cleaned that, although I think this was mostly from the iron colored water around the jets.
Holiday Inn Express breakfast and misc.
Breakfast the next morning included the usual foods: egg white omelets, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, cinnamon rolls, and beverages. The attendant wore gloves, although she did not wear a mask over her nose or mouth (it was under her chin). She also did not follow the posted signs for placing and serving orders from the designated areas.
There were several wall mounted hand sanitizer dispensers on the first floor. We did not go to any of the other floors in this hotel. Overall, this was a comfortable stay, although there did appear to be areas that could use improvement.
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| Good Fella sandwich and End of the Day IPA at Dark Horse Brewing Company. |
Local breweries and Marshall Riverwalk
Our favorite brewery in this area was Dark Horse Brewing Company where we had lunch and a beer. The beer, food, and service were all excellent. I thought it was great that the server brought our sandwich on two plates after we had told her we were sharing the sandwich. We had the Good Fella (Italian sandwich) with slaw; everything was delicious!
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| One area of outside seating visible through the window at Dark Horse Brewing Company. |
We sat inside, as it was not very full when we arrived. Dark Horse Brewing also has outside seating with heaters, and an outside barn. This location is easily accessible from the North Country Trail where is runs alongside Marshall Riverwalk.
We visited Grand River Brewery in downtown Marshall the previous afternoon. It was Happy Hour when we were there, and beers were half price. We did not dislike the beers at this location, although we thought the beers we had had at the Jackson location a few weeks prior were better tasting. The host told us when she seated us, that each location brews their own beers.
Both of these locations are in the HopPassport and Reel Craft Pass.
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| Marshall Riverwalk Trail |
Marshall Riverwalk is a beautiful walk, although we wished it had been a longer distance. North Country Trail runs alongside the riverwalk trail a short distance, and they run together for a short distance at the west end. Both trails are well marked along the way, and on the posted maps. You can see Dark Horse Brewing on the map above, if you click on it to enlarge it.
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Photos from Marshall Riverewalk |
Marshall Riverwalk is a well maintained boardwalk with several platforms along the trail next to Kalamazoo River and Rice Creek. We observed people fishing near the dam east of Marshall Ave, and at Stuart's Landing. A few people had several small fish in buckets.
Let me know if you have any questions or info to share. Feel free to share this post for others!
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