My wife and I just finished relocating from our home in Savannah to Oklahoma City. As part of this trip out here, we knew we would need to stop for a night, as the drive was too long for us (and the dog). We were cruising along Interstate 22 when it started to rain, then really rain, then rain in a way I've never seen in my 38 years. Luckily this all occurred about 1 mile from the Guin, Alabama exit. As we crawled off the interstate, my wife said "Oh look a Holiday Inn!". My memories of Holiday Inns in the past were not positive. They were older run down facilities.
This hotel completely reset my opinion of Holiday Inn. The building was new and fresh looking. We pulled up and I hoped a dog-friendly room remained available. Luckily, it did, and the fee was only 30 dollars. I'm typically a Marriott person on business travel, and I know they charge over $100 for a small dog, so this was a relief. The rate was very reasonable, considering the circumstances of a insane storm in an area with no hotels for miles.
The power went out right when we were pulling up, but that didn't affect the staffs extremely friendly attitude. I've stayed in 5-star resorts in Hawaii and Europe, and never seen such a positive attitude anywhere. The room charges were taken on paper, and everyone seemed glad we made it safely.
Here's the bottom line. I doubt my travels will ever take me to Guin, Alabama again. But if I'm just passing by, I'm going to stop in and thank the workers at this fine establishment. This experience completely changed my opinion of the chain, and we're currently in a Holiday Inn in Oklahoma City while we wait for our house to close. I cancelled the Marriott we had reservation yesterday. It's exactly what we needed. A warm bed with a roof over our head when things weren't going well. I hope IHG corporate sees this review, but I'm also going to send it to them directly. The crew in Guin really saved the day.
Joe Rafalowski
