MO Kansas City Holiday Inn Express Country Club Plaza

[gruntlumber]

Right off the bat I was a little disappointed to get this hotel since I was aiming for something on the Plaza. Hotwire's Plaza zone extends up to 39th Street, so Westport is game for this area too. The area is not upscale like the Plaza, but it has a ton of restaurants, bars, and random shops. The younger college crowd is all about Westport. The Holiday Inn shares the parking lot with The Westport Flea Market Bar and Grill, which is a great dive and a KC staple.

As far as the hotel, it's a nice 2.5* place. It recently has undergone a major renovation (fall 2006 I believe) so everything is really new. The lobby is bright and new, and the breakfast area is great; plenty of seating with free newspapers and a big plasma to watch the latest death and destruction taking place on CNN. The free breakfast has waffles, bagels, cereal, yogurt, pastries, rolls, OJ, fruit, hard boiled eggs, and some other stuff I'm forgetting. Good spread.

We stayed in a King smoking room on the 6th floor. The room well appointed and very new, although a little small. They obviously forgot to clean the bathroom floor, which I wiped up immediately because it was sick, but that was the only major complaint. Everything else was spotless. Free wireless internet was another bonus which was well-used. No nickle-and-diming at this place, everything is included.

Good place overall, and since we paid about half the normal rates thru Hotwire, it earned a thumbs up.