Somer A.
Yelp
Do not be fooled. Calling this an "airport hotel" is a joke and you can't get to ANYTHING (even the Walmart across the street!) w/out a car. So very frustrating!!
Holiday Inn Express is my go-to "budget" hotel in any location because they are consistent, clean and offer breakfast, which is especially nice when traveling with kids. This hotel was no exception. Sure, it's a little outdated, but our room was always nice and clean. Breakfast offered several choices and was constantly restocked throughout the morning. Exactly what we needed to hold us off until lunch. The staff was friendly and did their jobs (but I wouldn't say that a single one went out of their way to help us out with anything above and beyond.) But that is where my satisfaction ends.
Let's start with the location. I've stayed at many airport hotels in my life time. They're typically located in a circle around the airport or just outside of the exit. Obviously, I expected the same from this one but that is not the case. While it's true that they are only about 10 miles away - travel time depends on traffic. Our trip from the airport to the hotel was 45 mins during rush hour.
Which brings me to the "free airport shuttle" ... A complete joke! It only runs once an hour (even if it's full and there are still people waiting to go to the airport.) And you have to call ahead and reserve your spot. When we landed, the shuttle was over booked and we ended up cramming 4 people to each row of seats, designed to sit 3. Not a big deal when we thought we were going to be in the van for a short trip down the road, but 45 mins later, I was a bit irritated. Upon arrival, I talk to the front desk about getting a shuttle back to the airport the next morning. I tell the lady we need to be there by 9AM. That's when I'm informed it only runs once an hour, so we'll need to catch the 8AM shuttle. Ok, we'll do that. But wait, there's only 1 seat available for the 8AM shuttle (I have a family of 6.) So, I tell her we'll take the 9AM shuttle instead ... only to find out that they only have 1 seat available at that time, as well. So I ask her to tell me what time they have a shuttle available that can accommodate my entire family of 6 and she tells me either at 6AM or 11AM. That's a 5 hour window! We ended up calling an Uber.
Which brings me to my second frustration ... after booking the hotel, I called and asked about whether or not I should rent a car. We were going to a convention in downtown Boston. (The last time I stayed in Boston I stayed at a "TRUE" airport hotel and was able to take the train back and forth.) The lady assured me that I could take the shuttle back and forth to the airport and then train it into town. This sounded like a good idea at the time - but given that you can NEVER get more than one seat on the shuttle, it's virtually impossible to get back to the airport. Not to mention that, given the highway location of this hotel, you can NOT get to anything on foot and the shuttle absolutely will NOT take you anywhere but the airport, so you're virtually stranded w/out a car or an Uber. We had to take an Uber to the Walmart across the street!
During the same conversation with the lady who misinformed me about the need for a vehicle, I let her know that my brother would be arriving at the hotel hours before us and would need to be able to check into our room before we arrived. I was told that he could do so, as long as she made a note on the room that he was allowed to check in and as long as he presented a CC for incidentals at check in. Because we were paying for the room, I confirmed with her that my brother's card would not be charged upon arrival and that I could switch it to my CC when I arrived later that afternoon. However, when my brother arrived at 9AM, he was told that a room was available for him, but his card would be charged $700 if he checked in before us. So instead, he sat in the lobby waiting until we arrived at 6PM!! I was furious to hear this!
In addition to the frustration with the shuttle and bad information ... out of 6 outlets (2 USB ports and 4 regular) in our room, only one worked. Which made it virtually impossible to keep any of our electronics charged. Also, as others have mentioned, the area around the hotel is 'seedy' and there was a constant smell of marijuana in the parking lot, the entire 5 days we were there. Also, the pool is the size of a postage stamp (seriously, I've seen bigger hot tubs) and as someone else mentioned, you have to walk through the parking lot to get there.
No way would we stay here again or recommend it to anyone.