It is becoming an annual event to stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Mechanicsville. While the rooms/breakfast are the typical HIE type, the staff at this hotel make your stay the best. A big shout out to Marlene as she goes out of her way to help with everything. The rest of the staff is just as helpful. A great new addition is the pancake maker for the breakfast room. While I'm not a fan, my daughter was very happy with the results. The rooms do need a bit of updating now that the hotel has been around a few years, but it is clean, comfortable and quiet and much less expensive than the hotel next door too.

Our room had a strong moldy smell. We had to keep the AC on high or else it changed to fan and the smell got worse. The smell was terrible. The room looked OK but the closer you looked the dirtier it got! There was the 2 inch wide white strip of dust around the room edges that is so common in most hotel rooms anymore. Evidently no one has attachments to take care of that. The floor looked clean but I am attaching a photo of how my white socks looked after 20 minutes walking on that floor. We didn't walk on the floor without socks and tried not to put anything of ours on the floor. I have never posted a picture before, but this was so unbelievable! The shower was very roomy, but the non skid stuff they put on the bottom of the tub was gray, the bathroom floor was literally sticky and the hair dryer had caked crud on the plug and cord and the dryer itself looked so dirty. I was glad I had brought mine from home! I am also glad we don't travel with out disinfecting wipes! Breakfast was OK. It was the first time in a long time that the reconstituted Holiday Inn eggs were not floating in water. The eating area was clean. The staff was great and helped us with a special situation we had, but it was so dirty and smelly we would not stay there again if we were in that area.

We usually stay at Hilton properties but deceided to try HIE due to availability and a recommendation by a family member. This was an overnight stay on our way to SC so we arrived late and tired from a day of driving. The lady at the front desk was very friendly and accomodating. The nearby iHOP, Ruby Tuesdays and other restaurants was very convenient and welcomed. That's where the pros end. Dirty room...telephone, spills on tables, damp rugs and sheets made for an uncomfortable stay and not much sleep. The smoke detector was hanging by a wire, the light outside the room was flickering and needed to be replaced and the wifi was very slow. The hotel was at capacity so the breakfast was very crowded and not worth the wait. Not the worst hotel we have stayed in but look elsewhere if you have a choice.

good value, clean, nice reception at check-in, good breakfast.