Holiday Inn Express & Suites Austin Downtown - University by IHG

Jenna Wyson 3 weeks ago

Went to a concert at the Moody Center & picked this hotel because of the location. Less than a mile walk (or scooter ride -which was fun) I thought it would be a good idea rather than driving & having to pay parking at the concert. This was NOT the case. They charge $50 to park at the hotel even though we were staying that! Absolutely insane. Would have been worth it to stay at a hotel further away & pay the $18 parking at the venue. Also - the weird air conditioner is SO LOUD. It kept waking me up all night. Last note is that this hotel has a weird set up being split with hotel indigo, so it’s hard to navigate. We would not recommend this hotel to anyone. Breakfast tasted weird also -fake eggs or something. We usually love Holliday inn express….bummer. Pic of the annoying loud unit that turns on and off through the night right next to the bed. Also the toilet didn’t flush right.

Michael Cobb 4 months ago

From the time we arrived, it was an uncomfortable stay. I was on a trip to Austin with my friend and we were looking for an affordable hotel stay in the downtown area. The location is okay, and close to a lot of bars, but the homeless in the area is highly noticeable. We didn’t have any issues with them, but there were certain situations where we felt it’s not as walkable around the hotel, especially with younger children. When we arrived to the hotel, the lobby was empty with lots of signage asking us to walk to the other side of the building to check in. We realized once we followed the signs that the hotel we booked must have been purchased by another hotel and that other hotel, Hotel Indigo, is now managing both hotels. The check-in process went fine. That night, one of us had clogged our room’s toilet and called down to get a plunger sent up to our room. We were told that we’d have to wait until 7 AM for one even though it was midnight. My friend went to someone he found working in the halls and they said they could come take care of the toilet for us. One of the nights of our stay, I ended up having a very scary situation happen. I used to sleep walk as a kid, but hadn’t for about twenty years. I guess due to the lack of sleep and excitement, I had left our room, and began walking up the stairs to the top floor. When I woke up, and realized what was happening, I went to the elevator to go back down to the second floor to go back to my room. The elevator locked me inside and would not open back up. I couldn’t go to my floor because I didn’t have my room card to scan (they require you to scan your room card to use the elevator). I also couldn’t open the door to get out. After trying some things, I ended up yelling help because the alarm button didn’t even seem to be working. Someone on staff did hear me and ended up calling the fire department to get me out. They couldn’t get the doors open and I ended up having to climb a ladder out of one elevator and then climb over and then through to get into the other elevator next to it to get back out into the hotel. I would not book this hotel again. It also seems like Hotel Indigo is a nicer hotel with a much nicer lobby. The lobby even has a nice bar.

Michael Friesen a month ago

I had a good enough stay, but I also feel I should detail some things for future visitors to this hotel. None of the things you do Google stars for on a review were really my problem with this hotel. The staff were super nice. In particular, the maid service was really good. The room was clean and the bed was really comfortable. Also, there is a continental breakfast and it was really good. So here's are the problems. The main one is that they have closed the main desk, so they have pushed all front desk tasks to the front desk of Hotel Indigo. The front door to the Holiday Inn is always locked. That means that to get out of the building and go to the Mexican resturant next door, I had to go down 3 floors on an elevator, walk down a hallway all the way across the building to a different elevator, and then ride that down another floor to get out. It's awkward, and the signs are not clear enough so I got lost the first time I tried to escape. Second problem is parking. It's very expensive (at the time of my stay it was $45 a day for self parking and $60 for valet), so at the time of checking in, I got an extra $192 fee I wasn't expecting, but I also understand that a lot of Austin hotels charge for parking. This leads to the third problem. To get in from the self parking lot, you have to ride an elevator up 3 floors from the garage, walk through the lobby, and then ride 3 more floors up to the room. Very awkward. This all leads me to the biggest problem. The last night of my stay, the garage elevator was broken. No additional help was offered and no instructions were given, so I just got a sign saying that I couldn't use the only way I had been given to go to my room. I had to wander until I found the Hotel Indigo garage elevator and I took that down a floor to that lobby, then up a floor to the lobby of the Holiday Inn, then across the building, then up three floors. That is insane. It was already insane, this just made it worse. No part of that elevator swap was sign posted. This is all ignoring an air conditioner that my wife described accurately as sounds like "someone dying on a breathing machine". It wheeled every 10-30 seconds or so the entire time. Fortunately, the room came with earplugs. I didn't have a terrible stay, but I think the crazy inconvenience created by management decisions and the general design of the hotel, along withsome maintenance issues means it was alright at best.

Selena H 5 months ago

The last time I was here in November this hotel was very nice and the breakfast was very good. Unfortunately I cannot say the same this time. The pancakes were good but the eggs and turkey sausage just tasted funny. The room was very nice but there was some mold in the shower. Outside of this I do like this location. They have moved the check in to the lower level.at the front of the hotel.

Tasha Pack a month ago

My husband I travel a lot so we’ve stayed in many hotels over the years and this hotel was one of the worst! The check in is in an adjoining hotel, so no desk service at all. There was no hotel store, only vending and after purchase we discovered items were out of date! Parking isn’t free, we’re diamond members and still had to pay $30 a day! Unfortunately this area has a high rate in homeless people, while I hate that this is reality for some and generally try to help people, this was extreme. Every single time we stepped out of the hotel, someone was begging for money. I absolutely dreaded walking out or coming back to the hotel. Overall, the room was ok and clean but accommodations are horrible and honestly the hotel is NOT worth the inconvenience! Oh but they do provide you with ear plugs because the clubs next door are extremely loud! 🙄