Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sanford- Lake Mary By Ihg

“Comfy bed, good coffee, can walk to restaurants.”

IHG's are starting to become a "go to" for me on trips. I've been happy with the consistency they offer in the overall experience. They have all gotten these coffee machines that are available whenever and actually make good coffee. Their bed was supportive, but still comfy and great pillows. Plent… more

IHG's are starting to become a "go to" for me on trips. I've been happy with the consistency they offer in the overall experience. They have all gotten these coffee machines that are available whenever and actually make good coffee. Their bed was supportive, but still comfy and great pillows. Plenty of parking. We found it very convenient to be able to check in and just walk over to Outback (they share a parking area). There were other dining options as well within a walk away. The only "issue," we had was for some reason their system canceled my reservation due to "not having a credit card on file." Considering their online system doesn't allow one to make a reservation WITHOUT a credit card I found this strange. Fortunately, I had a copy of my reservation with me and they were able to provide the bed size I had requested at the price promised. I am still a little concerned about what exactly happened regarding my reservation and where my credit card information went.

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“Unfortunate Road Noise.”

Lots to review.. No way to provide hot water in the room, I asked the concierge for a kettle. “A Kettle?” The Concierge on duty at lunchtime said he does not know what a kettle is; I showed him a picture- he got it, but apparently, IHG don’t use room kettles anymore. Apart from the IHG in NYC we … more

Lots to review.. No way to provide hot water in the room, I asked the concierge for a kettle. “A Kettle?” The Concierge on duty at lunchtime said he does not know what a kettle is; I showed him a picture- he got it, but apparently, IHG don’t use room kettles anymore. Apart from the IHG in NYC we were in yesterday / last week. That did have kettles. Hmmm. I managed to negotiate a coffee machine, but it was a challenge. Alas- the only hot water source is in the foyer- up and down in the lifts it is the. No kettles in Sanford (Florida?) for IHG. Shrugs. The TV is massive, modern, and locked-down; no movie casting here, viewers! We spoke to the early evening receptionist, who insisted it was NOT a smart TV, but you can cast Bluetooth music to it…receptionist was adamant it wasn’t a smart TV to the point of eye-rolling at us; she said TVs before 2020 weren’t smart TVs, and this is an old TV according to her. BTW, the TV is a LG 55ut670h0ua. A commercial smart TV for hospitality / hotel use. What’s happened is that IHG have locked it down- at least in this room, and changed the remotes to prevent guests unlocking it via the (hidden) settings. Poor, apathetic and rude service on this occasion. Room clock- one of those “Intertek” hotel room devices- displays the wrong time, can’t be changed, can’t even google instructions due to myriad different clock types. So turned the clock to face the wall. Should I report it or would reception staff say “it’s correct for at least one time zone”. Wall socket hidden so couldn’t unplug it to reset it. No space on right hand side of 1st bed…weird, as room is pretty big. Strange setup TBH. Cant move the bed due to room structures. Air con works, but it’s musty smelling; mentioned to 1st reception guy…showed us another room, that was musty smelling too. Maybe air con units throughout the hotel need a deep clean. Shrugs. Rooms on the west side of the hotel are noisy; that side is adjacent to the highway (I4W) and it’s busy near enough 24h. I’m surprised by the number of poorly maintained vehicles (?!) and how many have “performance exhausts”. It’s right next to the on-ramp, too, so drivers accelerate to join the highway…noisy..! Ask for a room on the east / carpark side as it’s quieter. Bathroom is a holiday inn standard, nothing flashy but it’s clean and it works. In this room, the toilet flush lever doesn’t self-return so you need to pull the lever up. The Man who runs the breakfast bar is courteous and professional, it’s a budget breakfast but there’s lots of FRESH choice. The pancake making machine is brilliant. He does a great job. Salute to you, Sir.

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“Move on.”

Pros: location, large room, no issue with parking Cons: highway noise is LOUD, very “surface level” clean (chips under the bed and appears the floor only vacuumed up to the bed skirt because it was very visibly dirty. Black out curtain would not close all of the way, making it very bright at nig… more

Pros: location, large room, no issue with parking Cons: highway noise is LOUD, very “surface level” clean (chips under the bed and appears the floor only vacuumed up to the bed skirt because it was very visibly dirty. Black out curtain would not close all of the way, making it very bright at night from the hotel sign outside of the window. It was also disgusting behind the curtain when we were trying to make it close. Curtain in shower, not glass door as pictured, tub spout was hanging off loosely by an ungodly amount of caulking, bed soooo soft. Orange substance on one of our towels. Would not stay here again, you probably shouldn’t either!

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