Holiday Inn Express & Suites Harrisburg South - New Cumberland

The lobby smelled of air freshener, and the decor is definitely different. Breakfast is posted 6 to 9. I went down at 8:00 and most of the food trays were empty. I asked the front desk if there would be more food and was told "absolutely". At 8:25 I saw a lady in the kitchen and asked her if there would be more available, and was told "yes, soon". At 8:40 I finally was able to eat, although I was told there would be cinnamon rolls and those never appeared. And the pool was open, but was so cold it was unusable. Definitely not the best stay for an IHG.

Frankly I was surprised at how low their price was compared to other Holiday Inn Express hotels in the area. I was concerned that it might be a bit of a dump. However, they did a very good job of remodeling and it is a clean attractive looking Hotel. I stay in a lot of hotels during the year and I was a bit surprised that this one was as nice for the price. One of my biggest complaints about most hotels is they are not bright enough inside, this one had plenty of lighting which made me feel comfortable. I was disappointed that they have no USB ports, at least there were none in my room. It would be an easy thing for them to buy new lamps with all of the outlets and USB connections. The area felt safe enough to me. There were not a whole lot of other amenities within walking distance, but a 5-minute Drive gets you to a very good area with lots of different restaurants, etcetera.

do yourself a favor and drive to another hotel! the lobby is lovely to look at. but the smell….. oh my! it was absolutely overrun with either glade plug in or febreze. fake clean smell . our room smelled SO INCREDIBLY BAD that we asked to switch rooms because it gave be an instant headache. what did it smell like you ask? you know when you really don’t want to clean so you just febreze the funk out? that. times 3. i immediately got a headache. our new room smelled like someone cooked curry on high for 125 minutes. the rooms were okay-but dirty. our remote didn’t work. stink bugs in our room. unknown brown substance all over the curtains. burn marks in the carpet. refrigerator needs thrown out. the contention breakfast was gross- watery eggs, greasy fake bacon. i was super duper excited about the pancake maker, it was my last hope!!! but they tasted like chewy rubber. bed was nice, pillows were plentiful, but all were the same fluff(they are marked soft and firm) . wasn’t worth the price $138 for one night.

On a scale of HIE hotels, this lands directly in the middle. I've stayed at lots across the country, nothing special about this one. nothing bad either. The hotel is nice. I didn't use it but the pool looks great. Layout is a little strange, but aren't they all? Decor is odd but not laughable. Breakfast is midtier, okay options, okay quality. Overall just straight up mediocre. Things I DIDN'T like about the room: Small amount of stains in carpet, scuffs on walls and furniture, some chipping paint etc. in bathroom, pictured is some plastic baggies that were found upon arrival in a bathroom drawer from previous guest that didn't get cleaned by housekeeping. Things I DID like about the room: Smelled clean, adequate space, well made beds, actually had an iron and board, Dove soap and lotion in bathroom, good light blocking curtains on window, good climate control. Things of note about the room: none Oh also, I know the hotel can't just move their building, but one of Harrisburg's waste water treatment facilities is directly behind the hotel. so if you find that gross, don't stay here. You can't hear or smell it or anything.

I get there at about 1:15 which is kinda early but not by much. Usually if you're nice, your typical receptionist will at least check to see if a room has finished being cleaned for you. I've been to numerous hotels where they let me check in at 11 or 12 with no issues. So yeah, I get here at about 1:15pm and the receptionist greets me, I joke with her for a minute and tell her I'm checking in. Without skipping a beat or even glancing at the computer, she says, "We don't have any rooms available right now because check in is at 3pm." So I said, "That's okay, would you mind if I hang out here in the lobby untill my room is ready?" She responds, "Sure! I'll let you know as soon as a room is available for you." So I thanked her and sat down. I played some games on my laptop until 2:45, looking over occasionally and she was just kicking back watching videos and occasionally snacking. Not once did she call over to me or say anything. I finally decided at 2:45 to put my laptop up and go check if my room was ready. As I'm packing it up, two more people come in and she tells them the same thing. Next thing you know there's a line of people standing at the front desk waiting to check in. I stood at the back of the line and watched her make a phone call to her bestie for like 10 minutes, then at about 3:00 she finally hangs up and addresses the first guy. He checks in and she proceeds to hold him up for another 5 minutes telling him about the restaurants in the area, how to work the shower, what time breakfast was (she told him this post like 3 times which is why I bring it up). He finally gets away from her and the second guy in line was pretty irritated having had to wait 20 minutes standing in line, he gets to her and she finally lets him check in and get a room (I've been waiting for 2 hours at this point but I didn't want to make the situation any worse for the old timer). Finally it's my turn, I step up to the counter, bags in hand, and said "👋 hey". She proceeds to stare at me for 2 whole minutes before she says, "How can I help you sir?" So I said, "Id like to check in please" she gives me a look of doubt and asks me for my ID. She didn't ask the two people before me, just for the incidentals payment. She spent another 3 minutes typing into the computer and looking confused, without looking up she says, "The card we have on file ends in ****" I said that was correct and she finally gives me a room. I get to my room and finally crash for the night. The next morning I go to check out, I grab all my stuff and had to the front desk. Nobody there. I look around and coughed a few times, even going so far after 10 minutes to loudly say, "anybody back there?" Nothing. So I stood there waiting for another 10 minutes or so when finally that same lady (Ella) from the night before was approaching me from across the lobby. She says, "what can I help you with sir?" I said, "I'm checking out" (at this point I'm about 20 minutes late for work) if I didn't need that receipt I wouldn't have waited at all and just checked out through the app. She didn't respond and just turned around, moved her bookbag to behind the wall, put her hair up, checked her phone notifications and finally gets to the computer. That took her like 5 minutes. She types some stuff and then looks up at me, "Are you checking out?" So I said, "yeah I sure am" and she says okay what room were you in. I tell her and she goes "okay, hmmm" she sounds another 5 minutes hammering away at the keyboard before she asks me, "do you want a copy of your receipt?" So I said "yeah" she then switches to the other computer. She hammers away on that keyboard for a few minutes before finally smacking the monitor a couple times, getting irritated and then finally printing my receipt. The absolute worst customer service I've ever dealt with. I don't know if she was high or just really stupid but I'll never be coming back. The decor in the lobby is really odd to boot, very off-putting