WI Madison Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites West

[mk1]

7/6-7/10/2010 $38 / night.

If I paid full price for this hotel, I'd be very disappointed. I'm learning that I don't like hotels where I have to haul my stuff up through a single entry door, lobby, carpeted hallways, elevator, down more carpeted hallways -- I like more/easier access from my car to my room. That aside -- I was usually able to find parking fairly close to the front door, each evening, despite the cars visiting the restaurant next door.

The lobby looks glamorous, but that's not my thing. Nobody mentioned the free appetizers to me, but I never got in each evening to enjoy them, anyway. My first night there, the housekeeping staff had neglected to leave me enough in-room coffee, so I went down to ask for more -- and was told they only had decaf!! But -- they did have even better coffee in the lobby each a.m., for free -- just meant I had to get dressed to have my coffee.

The room is odd -- very long and narrow, and the hi-speed wireless is barely accessible at all, and not at all accessible from the bedroom. The in-room refrigerator (thank you!) didn't have anything to hold your stuff on the shelves. The in-room safe was nice to have. The bathroom has a walk-in shower that's weird, but nice when you get used to it. The lighting about the bathroom sink needs improvement. The digital thermostat was a nice touch, but I could never figure out how to just turn it OFF, so I kept alternating between air conditioning and heating!

The a/c wasn't working in the fitness center, the first day, but they fixed it immediately when told. The television in the fitness center stinks -- no remote control, and very hard to use, without it. The equipment was really nice, though -- sturdy, quiet treadmills, and a nice weight machine (plus some other stuff I didn't use).

I like that they're trying to conserve electricity, but water conservation would've been nice, too -- the shower dripped.

If I had kids, I think I'd be disappointed in the "water park." Not having kids, I was very disappointed in the pool -- didn't use it, but it just didn't feel like a good pool for exercising, with all the "fluff" surrounding it.

Overall -- I was comfortable there for the few days I stayed. I was happy with it for the price that I paid.