Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sylva - Western Carolina Area, an IHG Hotel

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  Jim McNab
2 months ago
I needed a hotel room for a night and this Holiday Inn Express was conveniently located for my purposes. I knew there was construction ongoing at the hotel, but that did not matter to me. I also knew that there was a used RV dealership basically in vacant land right in front of the hotel parking lot (there's nothing the hotel can do about this and they have no association with this entity). Really what I needed was a comfortable place to sleep for the night. My wife booked a suite for me and it was everything I needed. The room was fairly large and while I enjoyed having the couch and other extras, I found it wasn't really anything I needed or used as the TV was completely obscured by the furniture if sitting on the couch. The room was clean, comfortable and there was really no issue for me with the construction. There was not ever a time when construction noise intruded in my room. The front desk staff were all extremely friendly and accommodating, especially when my plans changed and I needed to extend my stay another night. They were able to extend my stay without any hassle at all. In fact, they further accommodated me by giving me a late 2pm check out. One thing I will say about my room that I was happy to report was the comfort level of the bed and pillows. The mattresses and pillows were extremely comfortable and I got a great night's sleep at this Holiday Inn. Should I need to stay again, I will, without hesitation, book a room here.

  Shannon Conners
2 weeks ago
We stayed this weekend while visiting our freshman at Western. We had stayed there a year ago or so and have since tried other hotels in the area, but this is the best one by far and we will book there from now on. The rooms were freshly renovated and excellent. Also the lobby and breakfast area was all new. The breakfast was great and so was the coffee. All the front desk staff and the manager that I interacted with were helpful and friendly. Definitely recommend this one, especially with the wcuhotels discount!

  Victor Prince
4 weeks ago
I have mixed review of this place. The good is the place is very clean, and the breakfast very good. The bad the place is recently been remodeled and tubs made of cast iron were installed with no handrails and no skids on the tub the tub when slightly wet is like stepping on ice! I injured my leg as I stepped in the tub to take a shower. I took a photo of the tub in the front of my leg and reported it to the manager right away and she suggested getting me another room. I told her since I had already took a shower that we could just take care of it the next day. The next morning I spoke with the person on duty at the desk and she said she knew nothing about this, and that they did not have any rooms and dismissed it. I was shocked by the like of concerned over my situation. I called Holiday Inn customer service and reported it told them the whole story and they said they would look into it but I have not heard anything else about it. It was 5 days ago.Safety: Showers facilities unsafe no handrails or skids.

  Robert Martin
6 days ago
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  Sharon Keeter
a month ago
Room was very clean and comfortable. Like having a makeup towel, I have those at home and would rather use that black towel to remove makeup than a white washcloth. Also, the was 2 makeup remover towelette in the bathroom that I really appreciated, as I forgot my personal cleanser. The shower head was great, although, the water in the sink was much hotter than the shower water. There were lots of towels. The bed was very comfortable. The tv was large and worked well. There were lots of channels to choose from. The chase lounge in my room was great! It was comfortable and I sat in it to watch tv. The breakfast they provide in the lobby had a lot of choices. It was well maintained throughout the morning. The evening desk person (the only one I had interactions with) was very helpful and pleasant. I would recommend and stay there again.

  KimmyJ1992
3 months ago
Overall a 5.1. Room was a little dated but to be expected for the area and price. Still pretty nice.2. Clean room.3. AC and heater worked great.4. Friendly staff.5. Very quiet as almost no one was staying there while I visited.6. Great view of mountains.7. Pretty close to food and shopping.

  Tammy McCray
5 months ago
Hotel first floor was being renovated which wasn't even mentioned on website. Our room was great, as was all the staff. Breakfast this morning wasn't hot at all. You could barely call it room temperature. The biscuits were cold and hard. The muffins were stale. Wasn't very appealing at all. We only ate a few bites and ended up throwing it away.Rooms: Great rooms, comfy

  steven hissa
5 months ago
Front end staff...evenings are wonderful. I had ices that needed frozen due to meds. They were kind enough to put in employees freezer. Under renovations...but didn't hear any noises. We're on the second floor newly decorated.Sorry didn't get young lady name on front desk...she dressed up as a police officer on Halloween.Breakfast was decent. The young man working on 10/31 was extremely friendly. Breakfast area very clean.Rooms: Newly decoratedNearby activities: Mountains...

  Taylor Panfil
3 months ago
Very very poor communication and customer service. It took us 2 hours to get someone to answer the front desk phone. Corporate even tried reaching out to try and assist, but yet they were also unable to get in contact with them. I understand renovations are being made, however that should not affect professionalism, timeliness or communication. It was a real bummer, because up until this we were pleased with the spacious room and location to the casino.

  Janet Zimmermann
4 months ago
DO NOT STAY HERE! I had read there were renovations going on. When there wasn t a coffee pot in my room, I thought it just hadn t been replaced yet. Not the case! I was charged for stealing it! I called the hotel at least 50 times, and the phone was answered twice. Once to say I needed to speak with manager and once when the manager basically said I stole it. She never followed up to tell me. I called corporate to see if they would resolve it and they stools by the manager. I will never support IHG again!

  Kathy Spitz
4 weeks ago
The young lady at the front desk was in a tough position with work demands, which didn't help her professional attitude.She was trying.IDEAS:So, how about the manager(s) coming back / extending / modifying their duty hours to address the obvious STAFF SHORTAGES.Repeating the same behaviors will absolutely not improve your staff situation.Wishing you luck in pursuing new methods & modification in developing superior staff to remain operational & appealing to potential additional new staff & guests.KMS

  Johnson Tang
4 months ago
The hotel is going through renovation but the renovated rooms are beyond my expectation. I paid approx. $100 per night for the Thanksgiving holiday and it is definitely worth the price. The rooms feel like 3 or 4-star hotels, and they are quiet, even though we got two rooms on the groud floor. The breakfast lacks in variety and quantity though, probably because they are going through the renovation.

  Jamie Cook
4 months ago
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  Mark Williams
4 months ago
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  James Anderson
6 months ago
Do not recommend staying here. Staff had a terrible attitude, breakfast items were not refilled, there is an RV junkyard adjacent to the property, and over 2 weeks post stay, the hotel has not released the hold on my credit card for the incidentals deposit. Brandy the GM has been no help when I reached out for an update on why the hold has not been released. I will not consider this location again for return trips to see family in Cullowhee. I chose this hotel based on the standards of the IHG Brand and 99% of the time Holiday Inn Expresses are a safe bet for customer service and clean/comfortable rooms. This one fell well short of expectations and diminished my opinion of the IHG brand. Edit to respond to Owner comment: the last email reply did not come until after posting this comment. I fully understand how holds work. Per my card issuer the hotel did not release the hold. Your responses to my inquiries left the impression you either lack reading comprehension skills or just don t care about losing customers. Again very different than IHG standards.

  Zach Woodard
10 months ago
We have stayed here many times while hiking. Rooms were remodeled recently, however, the contractor cut some corners. Shower spigot was loose and came off in hand, lights between beds and outlets on nightstand were wired to entry light switch so you either had a light on all night or no outlet by bed. But front desk was quick to help resolve. Booking goes through 3rd party call center which took a while to get booked. But the hotel has a great breakfast and front desk staff. Rooms are very nice overall. I would recommend and will likely be back soon.

  Brittny Anderson
6 months ago
My husband and I are both WCU alumni and we stayed at this hotel for two nights so we could attend WCU's first football game of the season. The area doesn't have many hotels to choose from, and we've had good experiences with IHG hotels in the past. Not this time. The first floor was under construction as they were still remodeling and the fitness center wasn't available. We got on the one elevator in the building and there was a sign taped inside the elevator door asking people to not use a box cutter on the doors and said something to the effect "I have already had to replace...." overall it just was tacky and unprofessional. Our room was supposedly remodeled 3 months prior to our stay and appeared decent except for mold on either side of the window, which can be expected with the age of the building but an issue to address nonetheless. Make sure you have unlimited data on your cell phone because you'll need it. We had to use my husband's phone as a hotspot so we could watch tv when it was raining (satellite) and the wifi strength was so weak it was impossible to use. We left our room at approximately 7 am for the complimentary breakfast, which was a complete disappointment. There was one female employee checking people in and out of rooms, and setting up breakfast. There wasn't anything hot ready for breakfast, but you still had muffins/bagels/cereal to choose from. They burnt the bacon and we could hear someone in the back complaining that it was burnt "again" and that "most of it needs to be tossed." Once it did come out, the biscuits were burnt, most of the bacon was burnt, and the sausage was spongy/rubbery like when you over-microwave the pre cooked patties. Needless to say, I'm thankful I packed some protein shakes. After leaving the room for breakfast, we had taken in our do not disturb sign so our room could be serviced and we left for the day. Upon arrival back to the hotel, it was raining and we went to our room which hadn't been touched. The bed was still unmade, no towels, complete disappointment. Even a 2-star hotel should be able to service a room while the guests are away. My husband went downstairs and asked the employee for some towels since our room wasn't serviced and the female only replied "sorry about that" and informed him that housekeeping had already left for the day. If I'm getting up early enough to take in the sign so the room can be freshened up, and it still isn't done by 7PM there is a huge issue. There's simply no excuse to not even clean a room. We got fresh towels, and my husband made our bed so I would feel a little better about the room, which I didn't. Upon checking out of the hotel, my husband returned the keys and asked for a receipt. The front desk employee rudely told him that they don't provide receipts. Since when is this an acceptable business practice? We were only requesting a receipt showing a $0.00 balance due to no incidentals. Again, she said they don't provide receipts and couldn't give us one anyway since we booked through a third-party. Well, the IHG site is a third party too, so it wouldn't matter who you booked through, this hotel can't print a receipt. This sounds like an intelligence issue more than anything. Maybe management could contact the Holiday Inn Express in Havelock, NC and Wilmington, NC and get some training on how to provide a receipt to their guests because every single Holiday Inn Express we'e stayed at before has been able to fulfill such a small request. My husband then asked when the hold on his credit card would be cleared off and the front desk staff member abruptly said "when I take you out of the system" when he replied "aren't you doing that now?" she rudely said "FINE" and proceeded to complete the checkout process. Maybe my standards are a bit too high. Oh, and let's not forget about the beautiful landscaping around the building! You will be parking adjacent to a junkyard. I m sure the owner will be defensive and offer an excuses for everything like on the other reviews. That speaks volumes.

  Reshakae
5 months ago
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  Susanne Garland
3 months ago
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  P B
10 months ago
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  Annie Ruth
3 months ago
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  Robert Maxwell
a year ago
My wife and I stayed at this Holiday Inn Express to see Dancing with the Stars at the Cherokee Resort Center. The room was pretty good, some towels had some weird stains, and there was water damage in the walls and ceilings in the bathroom. Beds were comfortable though! There was some renovating going on while we were there which didn't bother us, but the sliding doors to the lobby had to be opened and shut by those coming in, which made for an interesting first impression. The hotel was also surrounded by old campers and even a gutted out mini helicopter, which was interesting, to say at least. The hotel can't really control that I understand but made an interesting atmosphere.

  Adrienne Green
a month ago
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  Sarah Lynn Milone
2 months ago
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  Juliana Singer
a year ago
A little bit disappointed of the cleanliness of our room. When we pulled out the sofa bed, it was full of crumbs! Pretty gross! I asked the receptionist lady if they had a hand vacuum or something I could clean with and the answer was, sorry we dont. Then I asked for a bedding set for the sofa bed, and if they had a mattress cover, as the mattress was not the cleanest either, and no they didn t. So I had to cover the dirty mattress with only a thin sheet.Bathroom wasn t the cleanest either. See picture below. Gross This morning, one of my son s toy fell under the bed, and when I reached to grab it, found a plate of food that had fell between the night stand and the bed (picture below) so gross! How long has that been there for?!Giving 3 starts as their amenities are good, and good location.Management, cleaning staff needs to do a better job cleaning the room.Thanks

  Lee Scott
6 months ago
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  Stephanie Haas
a year ago
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  David Kooyman
a year ago
Came here for a visit as we were dropping off our son to Western Carolina University. We wanted to love this place, but it was OK.Pros: The beds were comfortable.Hot breakfast was good. The biscuits and gravy were really good.Cons: The room had a very moldy and wet smell to it. The staff did try to clean it up, but our clothes were damp in the morning. Also, the shower area was really dirty.

  Sharon McElrath
a year ago
The two stars should have given it away but when traveling at night and poor planning on my part, we decided to give it a try. The gentleman answering my questions on the phone was extremely helpful but quoted me the wrong price. The morning staff super friendly. But the night clerk threw such attitude when questioned why so much more that quoted. It's the weekend and we can, she said. Side note, please tell her compassion and actually standing while in conversation with guests goes a long way. My first floor room smelled moldy and the bathroom had a peeling ceiling. AC was a 3 out of 10. Despite the area being beautiful, keep driving - this may be the only hotel on the block, but not the best one in the area. I travel frequently and stay in one of three brands. This one can do better.

  Christina Rosser
2 years ago
Clean, friendly, nice breakfast every morning.Didn't use but a clean pool and jacuzzi. This hotel is a couple miles out of the downtown but quiet and was great for because we towed the motorcycle up and plenty of parking for all 3, trailer, motorcycle and truck. Nothing to complain about at all we stayed in the king suite with plenty of room, oh water pressure was fantastic..