The property seems to be newly renovated, which is great! Although the work done to give the hotel a Face Lift was not the most professional but even so it is nothing that concerned me, simply an observation.

The staff there is very polite and helpful. I did not see them on their phones and were always ready to help.

The location is next to a Cheddars restaurant and in an ok location. I felt safe the whole time.

Breakfast was fairly typical of a hotel continental breakfast: omelets, biscuits and gravy (savory), pork and turkey sausage, pancakes, yogurt, bagels, bread, and bananas. They also had coffee and tea available.

The fitness room is small but clean. The pool and hot tub were closed. This was not advertised on their website. Not major but it would be nice to know.

The room itself is very spacious and clean. I had no problem with noise and was located on the third floor. The bed was comfortable and the bathroom was clean.

The price you pay for what you get was great! It was just not as "new" as most Expresses I stay at. I give it an average rating only because of the strange smell on the first floor hallway and in the elevator and because the renovations seemed more like a coverup than an improvement. (purely aesthetic)

I would recommend it if you are looking for a more affordable hotel that is both clean and safe.

We booked this last minute through Expedia.com after our flight was delayed getting in to Dallas. The booking went very easy. We arrived about 10pm on a Friday night. The first thing we saw when entering was the blatant show of an armored security guard at the desk was a bit disconcerting. It portrayed fear for the safety of the guests instead of insuring it as he was quite imposing and intruded into personal space.

Otherwise, check-in was very quick and the clerk directed us to our room. Upon looking around the property seemed to be in need of some TLC, but it was not in a poor state. We were tired, so we went on to our room.

The room itself was on the 4th floor, right off the elevator. It was spartan, but appeared clean. There was a seating area with a tiny kitchenette-style area and a small LCD TV. The TV "Guide" channel also did not display any data, so we had to resort to channel surfing. The batteries in the remote were very low, so it was difficult to change channels.

Upon entering the bedroom, we encountered a king-sized bed which barely fit in the space. There was only one outlet next to the bed which worked, and one of the reading lights was non-functional. We inspected the linens and found them clean and the pillows did not immediately crush.

Upon looking at the window, we had a great view of the side of an event center. And the lock on the window which was supposed to keep it secure had been broken off (part of it was laying in the window sill).

Moving to the bathroom, we found a nice sized bathroom with a huge Jacuzzi tub. My girlfriend set about to fill it and take a bath. It took quite a long time to do so as the water pressure was not good. Also, the temperature of the water was either ice-cold or scalding hot. There seemed no way to get it to be even a bit "warm". The sink was cracked, but did not seem to leak. The exhaust fan ran, but did nothing to clear steam from the room.

We slept well in spite of the sirens along the streets and then went down to try the breakfast. It was very typical of this chain and included the typical cereals, powdered eggs, bacon, turkey sausage, and pre-made biscuits with canned gravy. Nothing special, but about what I would expect.

Checkout was easy, as we had paid via Expedia.

Some things I learned the day after, though, were a bit alarming. So, some advice to the hotel:

When checking in, it would be nice for the front-desk clerk to inform the guest that they will be automatically enrolled in the IGH rewards program. It would also be nice if they informed the guest that there will be an additional charge to their credit card "as a deposit" before the charge occurs. While this was supposed to have been reversed at checkout, it has not yet been reversed at my bank. These two things indicate poor business practices.

Overall, it was about average for what I have come to expect from a Holiday Inn Express anywhere in the country. So, 3 stars.