We stayed at the Holiday Inn near the cruise port. This five-story hotel was undergoing renovations at the time, so I hope by now it has become a more presentable place than it was when we stayed here before.
Billing itself as a superior tourist hotel is exaggerating, to say the least. The original rate on this would have been $159 per night, but as travel agents we got it at $35 per night. It was hardly worth the $35. They had secure parking, which you had to pay for. When you walk into the lobby, it looks horrible. The furniture looks as if it was purchased at a thrift shop. The carpet looks as if it hasn’t been cleaned in the last century. And the place has a musty smell to it. I suffer terribly from allergies to mold and dust, so I was miserable the whole time.
Our room would garner an okay rating. My friend and Tammy and I were sharing a room. We had two queen-sized beds. The covers on the beds smelled musty. If I could have gotten the CSI crime lab over to run one of their gizmos in the place, I would probably have been running for the hills! The carpet in here was also dirty-looking, as was the carpet outside on the way to the rooms. There was a TV anchored on a chest of drawers which wouldn’t move or swivel. The bathrooms were clean, though, and were quite sizeable. There was a table and two chairs, which again looked like thrift finds. They had a balcony outside, which was nice. The view, though, was less than inspiring. It looked out over a derelict-looking part of town. On our first night, Tammy and I came out to sit on the balcony, but it was so noisy that we retreated back inside. And the A/C unit was very noisy.
They had a restaurant on the premises, and breakfast was included. Breakfast was buffet-style. Again, there were dirty carpets in the restaurant. The booths had rips in them. The food and service were less than desirable. The eggs were runny, and the gravy for the biscuits was watery. On the last morning, we ate breakfast elsewhere. Of course, this being Florida, the OJ was good. Despite the fact that they claim to have a bilingual staff, the housekeeping staff could not speak a word of English. The front desk staff spoke what we now call Spanglish and were not the least bit of help.
Unless they have made vast improvements or you can garner a travel agent rate, I would skip this and book a hotel elsewhere. If you are interested, though, their website is www.hiexpress.com.