Holiday Inn Evansville Airport

This hotel doesn’t look bad from the outside, and in fact the lobby looks perfectly fine but dated. However, the closer you get to the elevators the worse this place looks. But let me start at the beginning…
I frequently work in Evansville and usually my company puts me into Courtyard by Marriott. Inexplicably though this time they put me totally on the other side of town, the wrong side of the tracks, as far away from the relative civilization of Evansville as you can get. The ONLY reason I could halfway understand why anyone would choose to stay here is that it is close to the airport. Probably if you are getting on a plane to fly to a tropical paradise you can overlook the many shortcomings of this hotel.
I do occasionally stay in Holiday Inns, and they are always decent and sometimes nice. But this particular property is The Hotel That Time Forgot.
I checked in around 12:3O am, and my first clue came after the deck clerk told me I would need to drive around and park in the back. It was very dark and a 10 foot tall prison-​style fence ran along the sides and back of the hotel parking lot. Was this meant to keep the hotel guests in or the escaped prisoners out?
Entering the back door I observed that the carpet was very old and dated. On my floor, the 4^th, it reeked of mustiness. As soon as I opened the door to my room there was a strong smell of mold. A quick glance into the bathroom revealed mold on the tub and tiles. I attempted to open the window to bring in some fresh air, even just a couple of inches but it didn’t budge. So I called the front desk and inquired if I could please move to a non-​moldy room. To his credit, the desk clerk apologized and said he would send a staff member up with keys to another room.
This room turned out to be clean and mold-​free. It does smell a little musty but is still much better than the first room. Supposedly these rooms have been updated but I can’t see anything in this room that could have been facelifted since at least the 70’s. The padded gold-​ish headboards that extend up the wall toward the ceiling? The heavy gold pleated curtains? The lamps and lampshades that look like the ones in my grandmother’s basement? The brown and gold floral carpet? I was halfway expecting to see a black & white television but happily it was actually a flat screen color model. The beds have a dark brown padded frame. The sheets and pillowcases are very, very worn.
No refrigerate or microwave in the room. Sigh.
The door to my room has a huge gap and doesn’t close properly. Probably an inch of daylight between the door and frame.
The fitness center is actually very nice, and is open 24 hours. Breakfast is included and consists of scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes and typical HIE fare.
There are no close restaurants. There is a DQ about half a mile down the road and a gas station.

Old rooms with carpet stains and tired paint. The hotel has a giant lobby that all the rooms face. All noises in this area are amplified into your room, especially the nonstop music from the restaurant

For starters the staff was great and very accommodating. This place needs an update and a facelift. Although the room was comfortable, it certainly lacks some of the creature comforts you would expect out of a holiday inn. The hotel is certainly adequate and very convenient, obviously, to the airport.

Sigh…
Beautiful lobby…
Horrible attitude at the front desk. .
We checked in & immediately noticed that there were no luggage carts in the front desk area.
So …
We started to hunt every floor for one.
No luck. so we came back to the front desk & I asked her where are all the carts:
She answered. .I guess the other guests didn’t return them.
I said, Just out of curiosity, how many carts do you have? ?.she says.
2!!!
TWO EFFIN CARTS FOR 200 ROOMS??!
WHERE’S THE LOGIC IN THAT??!
I highly suggested they get a better ratio, & she walked away from the front desk area!!!
HOW EFFIN RUDE!!!
And…
The lobby REEKS of chlorine. .
Not a good sign.

If you set out to design the worst possible structure for a hotel this would be it. If you travel for business or have a job that keeps odd hours definitely seek lodging somewhere else. The building is entirely made of glass and steel and all the rooms face the pool where the kids will be screaming until 1030 pm. If the sliding glass doors were thicker to keep the noise out fine but not the case. I unfortunately drive a bus will have to start work tonight at midnight tired and irritated. Sorry HI this one is fine for kids, for anyone else not so much.

I have a Love /​Hate relationship with this hotel. I’ll be kind enough to categorize this review:
1. Front Desk: They are generally friendly and helpful.
2. The overall appearance, and cleanliness of the property: The last 3 times I’ve stayed here, the common areas are not clean. In fact, when in college, I used to work at this property when it was a Marriott, and my Manager would’ve had my ass if there were any dirty areas, while was on duty. I guess a dirty property is acceptable these days…
3. Bar /​Restaurant: This area has gone through a renovation– a good one at that. The bar /​restaurant employees are what make this property. The free breakfast buffet is one of the best out there. I actually recognized (2) of the employees from last Thanksgiving, and they were still as friendly and helpful as they were a year ago.
4. The rooms, that were supposedly renovated: This is where the Holiday Inn, in my opinion, really dropped the ball. It was a half ass remodel, in my view, and the room we received was disgusting. It had a burnt lampshade, no water pressure– in fact, no hot water, and the AC and heat did not work. To their credit, the Front Desk graciously moved us into a nicer room. On the plus column– the bed is rather comfy.
I would also like to point out that when my wife politely complained about this issue, the Sales and Catering Manager was very attentive to her on line comments, and even reimbursed some, if not all, of her IHG points. Classy move on his part.
Because the Staff at this property has always been attentive, I’ll overlook some of the cleanliness issues, and will most likely return. It’s in a convenient (airport) location, and the pricing is reasonable, in comparison to other nearby hotels.