Holiday Inn St. Petersburg West, an IHG Hotel

I stayed at this hotel just a day ago. Woke up to bed bugs crawling everywhere. On the couch, bed, and night stand. So disgusting. Very disappointed. The hotel had a very nice pool and rooms looked nice. Never expected to be bitten by bed bugs. Another person from my group also had bed bugs. Bed bugs come from filth. Are they not cleaning the rooms? I am so disgusted. Do better. I should not be afraid to sleep at a hotel especially one this is so called three stars. Once I got home, I had to take all my stuff off outside. Just one bed bug can cause an infestation. Only god knows if my group took one home. This all happened in room 405. I do not remember the room number for my other group member. I was apart of the marching band from January 19-20.

The guy at the front desk when we checked in was super friendly and helpful, even offered to change our room if it wasn't suited to us. He was also offering alternative options to another guest attempting to check in to make it easier for him. My kids and I ate breakfast at the restaurant on site, super affordable and delicious. The server Angelica (?) was very nice and patient with my two toddlers. There were a number of areas closed off, due to storm damage I assume but the pool area was very nice and well maintained.

We stayed Thursday and Friday night. I was in the room much of the day on Friday catching up on emails while my wife attended a conference. It was reasonably quiet the whole time. We did have someone knock on our door at 7:00 AM on Friday asking us to be quiet… I guess not everyone gets up that early on weekdays? We were all the way at the back of the hotel, and woke up to a garbage truck at 6:30 AM on the Friday. We had breakfast in the cafe. My scrambled eggs and sausage were good. The hash browns came out of a package and were… okay. My wife’s omelette was good. The service was good. Note: It isn’t a buffet! I did notice that the shower head was loose. Not a big deal, but a bit annoying. The elevator at the back of the building was a bit slow… but didn’t make any of those disconcerting noises you sometimes hear. The WiFi is unsecured. I don’t recall the last time I saw unsecured WiFi. I thought it was odd, because there was a password printed in the keycard folder. Fortunately the cell service was sufficient for my hotspot. Also, I had a difficult time finding an appropriate place to secure my laptop. (You do secure your laptop when you travel, right?) I ended up running the cable lock through the roll-around work table. Someone could have rolled it right out the door… but better than nothing.

I booked through IHG app and somehow the wrong Saturday booked one weekend before I needed The room. The hotel charged my card and used my points even though I never checked in. IHG was very gracious in trying to get my points back and offer me the room for the correct Saturday. IHG called the hotel to confirm and the hotel LIED TO THEM and said the stay was completed. Checked in and checked out!!! LIARS! I was in another town hosting an event for my business! When IHG asked for proof, such as my check in papers with my signature, they had nothing and also told IHG the manager was unavailable! I have been a platinum member for many years, using Holiday Inn mostly. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE! BAD BUSINESS PRACTICE! I can prove where I was and it was not in that hotel!

Room was overall fairly clean, the conditioner/shampoo/body wash was out upon arrival. Found out mid shower. Also the neighborhood is a rough area, lots of drugs and homeless! Within the hotel it stunk of smoke from I would assume various drugs. Back door had a rock wedged in it allowing outside non paying partisans to enter. Breakfast was not free and included in the room price, you must pay extra to order from a morning menu. We choose holidays for the continental breakfast so that was very disappointing. Overall I would not recommend staying here. Far nicer holiday inns within the area with much nicer amenities.