Holiday Inn Express & Suites Victoria - Colwood, an IHG Hotel

It was the worst choice.
I made a reservation for 2 nights and was told I couldn't cancel, so I lost $200 and gave up on 1 night.

The room looked clean, but there was an unidentifiable musty smell that made it difficult to sleep.
A disgusting smell that resembles female odor or the smell of a homeless person.

It's taken me some time to write this, but be careful when booking at this hotel.

I booked a room for my family to stay for a wedding in July.

I originally booked for 2 rooms and had to cancel and rebook to one room. This was done in advance of the stay. *Know This*: Doesn't matter if you have a confirmation number for the room. The staff will not use the contact info from the reservation to confirm details, just rely in the guests.

I have tried working with this Holiday Inn to dispute my situation and was met with courtesy but no explanation as to WHY I had more than one booking. There shouldn't have been 2 bookings but just *one* under my name.

Confirmation numbers/codes at this location are a throwaway and do not carry any weight with the reservations.

Expecting a better hotel because it's Holiday Inn, even though they are express suites, they should have complimentary slippers, disposable toothbrush, and 2 mineral water.

Should have earlier and later times for the pool area as that is what kids like to do. Breakfast was good and overall location is perfect for mostly everything.

Worst hotel I’ve ever stayed. 1st room was smelly of sweat. Same smell even after transferring to a new room. I doubt if they wash bed cloths or quilt.

Found hairs on the bed from previous customers.

The beds smelled like sweaty socks. Got a few rashes after getting up in the morning. Is the government doing their job on enforcing some minimum requirements for public health?

Waited more than 7 minutes to get on the elevator, the only elevator in the whole building.

Worst breakfast ever, better to not provide it at all to not ruin the brand of IHG or Holiday Inn Express.

Laundry was not available until 12am either because someone occupied it with heavy load and there’s only one laundry room.

If I see another IHG / Holiday Inn Express hotel as bad as this I’ll not stay in any IHG brand or its partners in the rest of my life.

The check in person was great. Room was very clean, bed was sooo comfortable. Lots to choose from at breakfast.food was good and dinning area was very tidy. Check out person was also very helpful… indoor pool was a welcomed treat early in the morning Thank you for a great experience.definitely recommend

We stayed 2 nights this past week January 26th-28th our first night was very good quite and relaxing although the tv selection sucked. The second night was Absolutely horrible, at least 50-75 kids checked in they ran up and down the hallways screaming slamming doors jumping around thumping on the walls, we tried to phone down stairs to the hotel and the phone didn't work. I went down stairs to complain the man at the counter was very nice and said he would call up and get everything fixed, not sure if he did or not but it did not work because the noise continued until 1: 30am and we even tried to talk to one of the parents of the children and was brushed off in a very rude way. The next morning was even worse the continental breakfast was almost impossible to eat because there was no where to sit because of all of the kids and no respect tried to get in line and kids just kept cutting in front of us screaming and yelling and no one said anything. We ended up only having some toast and checking out. We talked to the very nice woman at the counter about the problems we had and even though she was very nice and understanding, we didn't get any discount on our room or anything complimentary which would have been nice when we spent ALOT on our room and travelled a very long way for a very bad sleep and breakfast. Someone should have said that there was a bunch of children checking in when we checked in so we could have made the decision to leave, because we would have left early it was terrible!

The front desk lady was so friendly. For some reason, my key card would deactivate a lot and I’d have to get it deactivated but the staff was so gracious about it. Moreover, the room was clean and super spacious.

There is free parking and the gas station, restaurants and groceries within a couple minute drive.

Would stay here again if I ever visit the area again!

Spacious room/suite for 4 of us. Free covered parking. Plenty of restaurants around the property. Courteous staff. Enjoy very much.

This hotel is right on the side of a busy street and is VERY Noisy! If you are even a slightly lite sleeper good luck sleeping well. The cleanliness was at some question, the microwave was disgusting, the elevator floor was so sticky your feet got stuck to it and the vacuuming in the room was less than thorough.
When we checked in we were given our room on the fourth floor however neither of the key cards would open the door, so a trip back to the desk and the key cards were re-programmed. About an hour or so after we had settled into our room the entry door swings open and in walks another fellow who had been given the same room. A few phone calls later we were told we would need to change rooms as we were given the wrong room so would we please pick back up and get ready to move to another room. Needless to say we were not impressed, we were however offered a $25 room credit to offset our inconvenience. Great hotel? Not so much.

I was at the holiday Inn for work
For a few weeks. The staff / particularly Crystal and and the young man on the evening shift (sorry can’t remember how to spell his name- but went above and beyond for me several times). It’s fairly out of the way if your working/ visiting in Victoria and the traffic is brutal. The basic amenities are close- thriftys/ liquor store and a lovely rec centre across the highway.

Poorly managed. Has only one extremly slow elevator that is not enough during busy times.
Showed up for breakfast at 7: 45, almost everything ran out. No cleaning or sanitizing after guests used the tables.

Excellent customer service - especially Quinn at the front desk!

- Quinn called and emailed to ensure the credit card I had on file was current so I did not lose my room.

- Later in the day, after confirming my credit card and checking in online, I was unable to stay. Late int he afternoon, I called to request a cancellation. Again, Quin was very helpful and got my cancellation approved by the manager.

I really appreciate the help and look forward to staying at the Holiday Inn Express Colwood on a future trip.

Very clean room.service providers are all nice. Definitely good for a simple trip. There are not many restaurants around other than the chain fast food ones

First time to stay here and it was fantastic! Very clean and cozy! They have only one elevator and had to wait a little bit, but over all we had a great stay! The breakfast was not that bad. Will definitely come back.

So I am not sure where to start but lets start with the good. The room we had was a double queen which was nice and clean, we asked for early check in but unfortunately it wasn't available. The breakfast in the morning was pretty standard but there was lots of what was offered and it seemed pretty fresh (I have experienced stale bread and rotting fruit at other hotels). The staff were helpful and friendly and I feel for them because they seem a bit stressed and overworked (understaffed).

On the not so great items, the pool was standard for these hotels (great for kids) but the floor around the pool was pretty gross and I would question when the last time it was cleaned (bring your flip flops). Some of the Covid policies are still being followed, but that feels like it is more for the benefit of the hotel not safety of guests. No housekeeping services.at the price we paid? The pool times need to be booked, but when we went by there was often no one in the pool. I put things like this one the ownership of the hotel and feel bad for the staff there who have to deal with the upset guests. The last thing is a design flaw.the elevator is insanely slow and very busy at the obvious times.you may want to ask for a lower floor to take the stairs if you are able.

This hotel suited our needs and was in the location we wanted but I would probably try another of the nearby hotels next time especially considering the cost. This is why I have given 3 stars.

Single elevator that's super slow, and there is no hot tub

Breakfast was okay, but I ended up running to Tim's across the street after the first day

Nice and quaint. Staff have been extremely polite and helpful throughout the stay. Gym is quite underwhelming with only dumbbells, a treadmill, elliptical, and a stationary bike. Breakfast is decent. Location is nice as well, lots of things to do and places to eat nearby.

Water was just warm while turning the handle to hot all the way.
No manintenance service at night. Hopefully nothing happens and if it did, good luck!

Excellent rooms, and friendly staff. Free parking and the breakfast buffet.two thumbs up
Huge shout out to COURTNEY! She was so professional and kind. I found her in the hallway cleaning rooms and I interrupted her twice for room refills.
I appreciate her hard work

Stayed in the room that is meant for 6 people, there was only one bathroom, and the sofa bed was the most uncomfortable thing i’ve slept on. The spring from the bed was poking my back all night. Staff didn’t do anything about it. Literally had to sleep on the floor because of that. Wouldn’t recommend if booking the big room for 6 people.

Amazing. Lovely location. Friendly staff and nice breakfast. Only hitch was when I tried to change my room, I didn't line the way it as handled. But overall, great experience.

Clean Hotel. Rooms are bigger than the usual Holiday Inn Express rooms. Prices were a bit in the high side. Breakfast is ok, but if you come towards the end of the breakfast hour eggs are cold and not everything is available anymore. Also a lot of one way packages, cutlery etc. Not very environmentally friendly

Paris, Carolina, Arida & Manny were each professional, friendly, helpful, caring & very Civil.
I had spoken to each of them individually. Paris was very supportive when I was distressed over a family matter, we spoke about life, death, dreams, goals, & educational goals. Arinda, (spelling is probably incorrect. Arina (?) Kindly packed up my Ipad & other items I left behind in our room, due to leaving in a rush. We thought check out was at 11 not 10. Arina carefully packed my belongings in a box & marked fragile on it. Manny allowed me to have his name on the package for the UPS driver. Each of the employees went above & beyond to help me through a loss & they kindly did extra. The first time we spent our time at the Holiday Inn Express was over 4 years ago. It was a good experience then too.

Everything has been excellent. Check in excellent room is excellent. We would highly recommend this hotel

The shower doesn't work properly. The water either too hot or too cold. But the worst is how they are handling the breakfast. There is only one hand sanitizer at the entrance of the breakfasts area and everyone has to share utensils to serve the food, not enough tables or chairs for the guests, no proper social distancing, there is no one cleaning the tables when the guests leave, etc.

The young lady that worked the breakfast area was awesomeThanks Marine from Frank Adam Jason Allisa

Very clean hotel. This was our 3rd stay in this hotel. The service was great. Breakfast was really good. We will stay here again.:)

The place is nice. Not in downtown, but not too far away. There's Free parking on the basement and complimentary breakfast and a swimming pool too. We took a room with 2 double beds. There isn't room service available coz of covid, so if u needed items u had to leave a form at the reception. Room size was good. Bathroom size was also good with a bathtub. There's 5 floors in the hotel, we were given the 4th. Swimming pool is near the meals area on level 1.the pool is small indoor pool, the water is warm and it has a few large glass windows so it's visible from outside. It's comfortable, but because of covid u have to book your time slot, a max of 8 to 10 ppl are allowed at one time, bookings are hourly. It's indoor soccer it's echos alot in there. The shallow end is 3ft and deepens is 4.5ft. To get to the pool u need to go to the reception and get a tap key to enter the pool and u can also get swimming towels at the reception. Most of the staff are very friendly. Got one that not very friendly who was serving breakfast on the second day, maybe it was too early start for her. Lol. We had breakfasts in the hotel and because of covid its not Buffet system, it's take away then u can either sit innthe seating area or take it to your room. It's the same menu everyday, so abit boring. U get cheese and egg sandwich in a muffin with or without sausage. Or hot oatmeal. Then either orange or banana.then u can have either nutrigrain bar or cereal box. Then either yogurt or milk. Then either tea coffee or water, but there was small boxed juices too also if u asked they had sachets of hot choc. The second breakfast, the oatmeal was finished the fruits were finished, and no refill, and we had gone half hour before closing time.
The elevator is TOO SLOWWW.please use the fire exit stairs to get around. (forgot to the take pics of the room on the first day as we entered)

Why the extra charge for a 3rd person? Website says up to 4 for a double queen room. It's no one's business how old my dependents are.

Nice hotel, not close to downtown not sure why it's called Victoria Colwood?
The elevator was horrible, one elevator for 4 floors and sometimes waits close to 30 minutes is crazy.
Sign says use stairs.not everyone can climb 4 to 5 flights of stairs.

Breakfast is terrible, the breakfast sandwich sits on a heat tray or something you could probably break a window with it.

Stay at Holiday Inns most times if their available this one was disappointing.

Friendly staff, pool, gym, clean and modern rooms and SUPER comfy beds. The shower was amazing & they had JR Watkins toiletries which was a nice touch. Great location, tons of restaurants nearby and free parking. Complimentary breakfast had lots of options to choose from and free tea and coffee. Definitely would stay here again.

Everything was perfect except the breakfast wasn't as good as in Vancouver even if there us pandemic l thought should be same

My boyfriend and I stayed here last night. We loved chatting with the night front desk guy (night shift). I don't remember his name but him and Harry Styles have matching tattoos (LMAO!). He was funny and made our stay that much more enjoyable. Despite the fact that the second we unpacked our stuff, the fire alarm went off and we were all evacuated. So we packed up again and left cause it was so loud. BUT front desk guy, AWESOME.

I booked hotel at the last minute. I am glad that I chose this hotel as the staff was very nice, friendly and caring. Excellent customer service. Would definitely go back whenever I will go back to Victoria.

Clean rooms, great customer service, good location. Groceries and restaurants are a walk distance which is very convenient. The only downside is that the hotel does not have rooms with kitchen in case you are here for a long term.

My stay was awesome. Always had clean sheets and clean towels. The staff were friendly and so inviting. Gave great advice on must see places. I will be back!

Tv wasn’t mounted to the wall properly and almost fell off on me, when I told the front desk the guy told me just don’t go near that part of the room! The middle of my hotel room!

So clean and staff friendly! The front desk are so helpful and kind. The location is in the middle of downtown Victoria and sooke area. They let 10 people in the pool every hour. Great stay!

This is the best place for anyone to stay while visiting Victoria. I got all amenities I was looking for (excellent quality), at a much fair price as compared to other locations in the city and the hotel wasn't far to any of the tourist locations I wanted to go! This place is a class example of places one should stay when you go travel to a new city.

Great Service from all staff! Stayed there over a month and they helped me with every issue i had! Heated pool and gym were nice too even though i found the seat on the bike to be uncomfortable. Thanks again!

Loving the Holiday Inn.
They have comfortable beds and modern clean rooms. Staff is very friendly. Complimentary breakfast is a grand feast with my favourite machine in the whole world. AUTOMATIC PANCAKE MAKER!
They are located within walking distance of all you need including all the best coffee selections and a grocery store.
Haven't yet tried the salt water swimming pool but looks very inviting.
Will be back.

Rooms are not being cleaned properly I saw the maid and personally asked her to change all bedding and got a stained blanket. They did not pick up our garbage around the room or wipe anything down. The coffee station was not refilled or wiped at all. Nothing was refilled in the bathroom our whole stay. Ice bucket had water at the bottom from previous guests! Yuck!