Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bellevue -Omaha Area- by IHG

Clean, great breakfast

Hot in lobby and pool area. Swim pool to warm

Room was good but the service was less energetic than slugs. Had to have our key cards reprogrammed every time we left the room. The complaintary cookies in the lobby were non-existent except the one time we saw a single cookie with a big bite out of it. There was one of the staff that told my wife, "don't get in the hot tub, it's not supposed to look like that", after seeing him working on the pump room equipment and announcing to everyone in the pool, "I don't know what I'm doing!"

Room was good. The front desk didn't impress at all. We had pro legs with our keys and had to have them reprogrammed multiple times. The people manning the desk had the energy of slugs. They have a self serve cookie box out in the lobby but the one time we saw a cookie in the box it had a bite out of it. My wife was told, "don't get in the hot tub, it's not supposed to look like that" by someone trying to work on it.

Great rooms, plenty of pillows. This was myself and my wife's second stay here. This time we drove her by ourselves. We just realized that you had very nice restaurants close by like (1) Applebee's (2) buffalo wild wings (3) Outback steakhouse (4) fazzzolies. Plus you had a Walmart as well

The hot tub - The jets were not working. The last time we were there on May 5th, 2025. The hot tub wasn't working that night as well. We would have given you a better rating if the hot tub was working last night June 25th, 2025. As well as back in May

Good

This would have been a perfect score but management clearly are trying to nickel and dime everyone and everything. Even though it was 85F outside, they had no air conditioning on in the hotel, so the lobby and hallways were boiling hot. You could turn your in-room unit to whatever temperature you liked, so we had ours as low as possible, just to ensure our comfort since hotel management had switched all of the hallway and other units off. Staff were sweltering, with only a box fan, and the outdoors was actually cooler than it was inside! I also noted there were a dozen signs for staff right at the check-in area, showing they did not trust their staff and making the space look very unprofessional for guests. They were literally standing over the front desk staff as they tried to check us in, and at various points during our stay as we left the hotel we saw that this was the case for multiple members of staff. Front desk staff were perfectly pleasant and competent, but clearly management has no trust. Their time would have been better spent turning the air conditioning on around the building and fixing broken keycard access points for the exterior (could not get in from the back door at night, had to use a side entrance, since the access point was broken), rather than hovering over front desk staff. Apart from that, the building was clean, our room was comfortable and well appointed and met the HIX brand expectations.

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Location

A lot of little things like the TV did not work, floors were not level, door key entry was dated and other amenities did not function during my stay

My stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bellevue (Omaha Area) from May 2nd to May 4th, during the peak Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting weekend, was exceptionally problematic. Understanding the high demand, I proactively called the hotel around 8 pm on May 2nd to confirm my reservation and my late arrival, specifically to ensure my room wouldn't be given away. I was assured it would be held. Upon arriving a little after midnight, I encountered a chaotic lobby. It was clear I wasn't the only one with issues; I witnessed at least 7 other rooms worth of people, including an elderly couple and several groups who appeared to be in town for a dance competition, all anxiously trying to secure rooms. I was then informed by the front desk that due to a "housekeeping issue," they had no available rooms for me. I want to explicitly state that the front desk agent working that night (May 2nd) at the Holiday Inn Express was doing an absolutely commendable job under immense pressure. He was professional, courteous, and was clearly trying his utmost to manage an overwhelming situation that was not of his making, dealing with multiple distressed guests simultaneously. Despite his efforts, the hotel's failure meant I was told I'd be accommodated at their sister property, a Candlewood Suites in the parking lot (a notable step down in brand tier). Given it was now approaching 1 am and I had a 4:30 am wake-up for the meeting, I felt I had little choice but to accept. At the Candlewood, I then had a further frustrating, brief confrontation when asked for a credit card for the room charge, as I had to explain that my discussions with the Holiday Inn Express employee included that under IHG's own "walk policy," the first night should have been covered by the Holiday Inn Express. I finally got into a room around 1 am. The next day, I returned to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bellevue and checked into my room for the second night without any procedural issue. However, what was absent was any form of apology, acknowledgment of the significant inconvenience and stress caused, or any offer of service recovery from any staff member or, more importantly, hotel management. As an IHG Gold Elite member, this entire experience was profoundly disappointing. To be "walked" after taking the precaution of calling ahead, and then to receive no apology or gesture of goodwill (such as points compensation for the considerable trouble, lost sleep, and downgrade) from the hotel management during my actual stay at the Holiday Inn Express is unacceptable. The lack of customer care and recognition of loyalty from the management level was stark, especially when contrasted with the efforts of their frontline staff member who was left to handle the fallout. While my one credited night at the Holiday Inn Express itself was standard, the initial ordeal and the complete absence of any management follow-up or apology make it impossible for me to recommend this property. This experience reflects poorly on the hotel's operational management and has unfortunately impacted my view of their commitment to IHG loyal members.