Holiday Inn Express & Suites Chicago West-O'Hare Arpt Area by IHG

Location! Location! Location! This spot is best for the price and proximity to downtown and surrounding area. The rooms are clean and breakfast is included. There’s all sorts of restaurants and stores in walking distance. Now the cons are the elevator is an issue and was out of order leaving one working with wait times. Several times I did take the stairs which is always a plus. I’ve heard talked to numerous hard working people who frequent this hotel and despite the few kinks they still return and so will I.

Positive: The room was nice and moderately clean. Negative: The elevator only worked part of the time. The room key kept shorting and I had to then go down 4 flights of stairs to get it replaced. Happened 5 times in less than 24 hrs. There were 2 dozen dirt bikes in the parking lot driving in circles til 3am.

This hotel was not fancy looking or in a fancy-looking area, however, it had the most comfortable bed and pillows I ever had at a hotel. I even went so far as to take the sheets and mattress cover off to see what kind of mattress it was so I could buy my own, but the entire mattress was zipped into a mattress bag and I could not lift it to unzip and discover the brand. The pillows too, were fantastic pillows. There were two marked 'firm' and two marked 'soft' and they lived up to their labels. The breakfast was quite good; in fact they have a pancake machine that churns out fresh pancakes. The only downside is that it is next to a busy road and there was some road noise, but that is not really the hotel's fault. Also, there is a walkable Panda Express and IHOP in case you want to go out.

Good: Location is near a lot of restaurants and is right off the expressway. They offer free parking. The one staff person I interacted with once was nice. Room was clean and was stocked with amenities. Meh: Bed was okay, pillows were not good imo. Bad: 10 days after checkout they still have my room incidentals deposit as a pending charge on my card and I have tried to call the front desk 12 times throughout today (a Wednesday) and every time it just rings 3 times then hangs up on you. How is anyone supposed to contact you for support or help with any issues if you do not answer your front desk phone ever? Would have been a 4 star review until the super poor customer service experience. What business doesn't answer their phone all day?

I'm staying here for business and it's a pretty central location. My room is pretty comfortable, just wish the pillows were a little firmer for me personally. Within walking distance, there's a Super Target and a bunch of places to eat. Really wish there was a hot breakfast here. I'm not a fan of continental breakfast.. Update.. I did find the hotel part of breakfast on my last day here...