Holiday Inn Express & Suites St. Paul

Whaaah the weather is sooo gorgeous and no outdoor hangouts except two benches. Guess that is the «EXPRESS» difference. Absolutely no hang out, out of doors and tailgating was not an option for this group. LOL!
Their breakfast is an okay spread and as expected.
Ice ma-​chine is only on every other floor. You roll the dice.
King room is the way to go if two beds aren’t needed. The couch and chairs came in very handy for the impromptu get together in our room, but the typical fridge is typical hotel offering of only 2 cubic foots.
The Kurig upgrade was the most appreciated. A stop at the Target down the road kept us in happy caffeine during our stay. We ended up hitting the cleaning lady in the hall for extra thermal cups.
No Express check out offered at this Holiday Inn Express? Isn’t that odd with an express-​ive name? Like uh?

Well like the star rating says, three is A-​OK and that’s my feelings towards the place. Don’t get me wrong I’d stay there again but simply because of access to and from 35. We were there for three nights and this place definitely fills up on the weekends for one-​night stays so plan ahead and book early. We had minor issues during our stay, and while the front desk staff was helpful with some; they were not as helpful with others. (Maybe it was a day-​staffer vs. a night-​staffer… I’m not sure).
First night in we had a plumbing problem — and I don’t mean it was because one of our kids over-​stuffed the toilet; there was a downright problem. When we called the front desk to request a plunger we were told to come down to the front desk and get it. Hmm. okay sure night-​staffer. After fixing the problem and going to bed, the next morning (day 2) it was clogged again. No way we were going to be able to use it for much of anything, so my husband requested a room change and it was granted with no problems at all. Thank you day-​staffer. The only problem we had with the new room was the extremely uncomfortable bed that was definitely old. Two people sleeping in it would roll towards the center and every single move was met with screeching and metal squeaks.
The evening of the second night was a very busy night for the hotel. People came in from everywhere and the parking lot was full. So was the pool. No towels stocked and none brought in during the course of our swim. When I called the front desk asking for towels I was told they were in the dryer. Needless to say my family walked to our room wet. Thanks night-​staffer.
On Sunday, day 3, housekeeping couldn’t keep up with all the check-​outs from the one night stays on Saturday night. We simply wanted the room to have more towels brought in and the beds made (no changing of the sheets though) and by the time we arrived back in our room around 3:00 this hadn’t been done. They hadn’t even finished the rooms across the hall from us. We went decided to go down to the pool to see if giving more time would help, it did not. While we were in the pool (still with no towels), I saw all the housekeeping staff leaving for the day. I told my husband they all must get off at 4:00, because that was about the time it was.
Check-​out day, Monday, and housekeeping woke us up at 8:15a. Granted we didn’t leave the Quiet Please sign on the door because we forgot (and it constantly fell off the door throughout the weekend) but what I found interesting when we did leave was that the same rooms across the hall from us had the doors propped open again with sheets from Saturday night and they were just getting to cleaning them first thing Monday morning. One would have thought you know the rooms that are not checking out… like us on Sunday… why wouldn’t you check to see if those rooms want anything done (or need anything done) before getting to rooms that have no visitors in them.
Overall the hotel suited our needs. Free continental breakfast was good and bountiful. Day-​staffers were great and very helpful, and it was what I expected from a IHG chain hotel.

Great stay. Clean and well maintained hotel. Friendly staff. Above average for Holiday Inn Express.

The staff is friendly and well trained. Had a great stay. Easy highway access and ample retail in area to cover all needs. Restaurant/​bar access direct from hotel.

I stayed here for a wedding last weekend and it’s everything you expect a Holiday Inn Express to be.
The front desk people were nice. The complimentary shuttles to the wedding came aaaaalmost on time. They have a free breakfast with bagels, cereal, sausage, eggs, etc. They have a surprisingly large and popular sports bar attached.
They have a pool that we were really excited about but then when we were about to use it it was covered in children. Yeesh.
I’ll keep this short because I only stayed one night, but no complaints here!

Boring, Bland, Insipid. Upon check in staff seemed unhappy to see me (NO, I haven’t stayed here before). The ugly room is spacious and clean… plus one star.