Holiday Inn at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Written: Jul 09 '04 (Updated Jul 09 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Comfortable room.
Cons: Less than helpful staff.
The Bottom Line: The room was nicely sized but double check on your reservation.
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| Staceys1's Full Review: Holiday Inn Chapel Hill |
When we took a family road trip from New York to Florida, we decided that on the drive back up North we would visit my brother, who lives in North Carolina. Weeks before our intended stay at the Holiday Inn at Chapel Hill, we made reservations via the internet and received a confirmation number.
As we were in the midst of our ten plus hour drive toward Chapel Hill, I decided to call the hotel from our cell phone to both confirm our reservation for that evening, and to let them know that we would be arriving quite late. After giving my name and reason for calling to the gentleman who answered the phone, I was transfered to a woman who could not find any reservation for me. I suspect that I was only transfered to the woman, after the first person could not find the reservation. After spelling my name repeatedly, and giving her additional information, she was still unable to locate the reservation. She then asked if the reservation had been made on the internet, and when I replied that it had been, she responded that they do not always get those confirmations at the front desk. Isn't that a nice thing to find out when you are miles from home with cranky children in the back seat?
Since I had not planned ahead in making this telephone call at this time, my confirmation number and other reservation information was in a bag in the back of the car, causing us to have to exit the highway so we could pull over and retrieve it. Once I had the confirmation number in front of me, I called back and spoke with the same woman. I read her the number and she found the reservation immediately. I stated that we would be getting in very late, and was told that since we had put a deposit down with a credit card, the room would be held until 2 a.m. She never really gave me an answer as to why she could not find the reservation under my last name.
Many hours later, at about 12:30 a.m. we pulled into the parking lot at the Holiday Inn at Chapel Hill and while my children and I talked with my brother who graciously stayed up late to meet us, my husband went inside to check us in. After he did not come out for about 10 minutes, we began to wonder what the problem was. Eventually he did come out with room keys and said that they could not find the reservation right away since they had it listed for the following night instead, with no explanation how that could be since I spoke with somebody in their hotel earlier that day. Since it was so late and they did have a room for us, we found little reason to argue this point with the hotel personnel.
This hotel is a two story "outdoor" hotel, as my brother and I used to refer to those which did not have an indoor corridor between the rooms. There was ample parking, but we did have to climb a set of metal, open back steps to get to our room on the second floor. The area was well lit, and thankfully so since we were herding two sleepy children plus our bags at around one in the morning. The outdoor areas where the ice and soda machines were located were also well lit.
Our room contained two double beds, a small table with two chairs, a television, and two dressers. Through a doorway was a long counter with a sink and a large mirror, and through a door adjacent to this small room was the toilet, tub and another sink. The room was spacious and comfortable, even though we were in it for less than twelve hours before departing.
Since we arrived so late, and had to head home early the next day, we did not have a chance to swim in the pool. It looked clean and there were quite a few beach chairs around its perimeter. The pool area is fenced in, with grass surrounding the fence, but next to the grass is one of the parking lots. The pool is to the side of the hotel office, and though it is set back a bit, it still faces a busy highway, so that I would venture to guess it is a noisy area during the day.
Since we were meeting at my brother's home for breakfast, we did not eat in Teddy's Restaurant, which is is open for breakfast and dinner each day. Before we left the hotel though I did make myself a cup of coffee in the coffee maker provided in the room. Across the street from the hotel is a small store in which we could purchase snacks for our trip home.
There are 135 rooms at this hotel and the ballroom can hold up to 275 people for meetings or weddings. The Holiday Inn at Chapel Hill offers various getaway packages starting at $59.95, and our room for one night was $81. Since this hotel is close to both Duke University and the University of North Carolina campuses, getting a reservation here during peak times (the beginning of the school year and graduation) might be a bit difficult and more expensive.
Our route for going to and from Florida was basically driving along Route 95. Visiting my brother took us two hours off of that route to stay at the Holiday Inn at Chapel Hill North Carolina. The hotel itself was clean and the room had everything we needed, though we did have problems with the staff locating, and caring about, our reservation. If you are visiting the Chapel Hill area, this reasonably priced hotel would be a good one to stay at, but be sure to double check your reservations.
Recommended:
Yes
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