The staff of the beautiful new Holiday Inn Express & Suites Alpena is eager to exceed your expectations. Our hotel features over-sized guest rooms and suites luxuriously complimented by triple sheeted pillow topped mattresses, rich furnishings and all of the amenities that you have come to expect including a microwave and refrigerator. Whether you are visiting the Alpena area for business or pleasure, Alpena provides the perfect backdrop for an array of outdoor activities and has a number of historic landmarks. Tour the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and view Lake Huron's shipwrecks without getting wet aboard Lady Michigan, Alpena Shipwreck Tours' glass-bottom boat. Spend time exploring beaches, tucked-away stores and restaurants. Build sandcastles on Starlite Beach or visit the Presque Isle Lighthouses. Visit Northern Lights Arena to watch a hockey game, or play a round of championship quality golf at the Alpena Golf Club.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Alpena - Downtown, an IHG hotel
96 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
This is a well maintained hotel. The rooms are very clean. The complimentary breakfast is good and the staff was excellent. This hotel is located downtown and is easily within walking distance of retail stores, restaurants and bars.
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Date of stay: June 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Select a riverfront room
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I were looking for a weekend get away for the fourth of July weekend. We payed for a room with a view for an extra $100 for our two night trip. The up-charge for the room with a view was not worth it, especially since getting a room with a view of the river kept us from seeing the Alpena fireworks from our room. The Alpena fireworks can be seen pretty well from the hotels front parking lot with %85 visibility. The room looks like it has been remodeled recently. Plenty of USB plugs and wall outlets. Also the room felt very spacious. The bed was comfortable and the room was clean for the most part. Minor dirt spots on the ceiling. The bathroom seemed to have some areas with rust along the shower. Disappointingly the windows outside were covered in spider webs with plenty of active spiders at night, again kind of disappointing since we paid for a room with a view. Also, the first night we got to the hotel the 4th floor hallway and our room were very hot. The AC / Heater in these rooms will not run with you outside the room as they have door switches and motion detectors in each room. That being said this would not be a nice place to stay for an extended duration because climate control could be an issue.
This hotel was nice enough that I would stay in it again. The hotel staff was also very friendly and helpful, so that always helps us to feel welcomed and at home.
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Date of stay: July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The staff was very professional and addressed our cleaning issues promptly. We stayed at 4th floor and we had to call housekeeping back three times: 1. To finish vacuuming the carpet (leftovers under the table, near the bed stand, etc.), 2. We discovered that there was food in the microwave (it was never cleaned), 3. To vacuum behind the door, there were plenty of food crumbles. Especially these times when extra precautions have to be taken, the thorough cleaning of the room is absolutely mandatory. We had room 409 by the parking lot, large, spacious window, good light-blocking blinds. You can see the hotel is newer, rooms are spacious, with lots of plugs. One complaint I would have was that the breakfast staffing was insufficient, I stayed 40 min in line to get scrambled eggs and a yogurt. There was just one person prepping up the food and serving it, he was doing a great job, but staff resources have to be better assigned during a holiday, like this one, with the hotel full to capacity. Nice outdoor seating, enjoyed eating watching the river. The trail behind the hotel is wonderful, part of the Alpena bi-path 16 mile trail. Short walk to places around int he downtown or to Marina and the pier. Very good coffee at Cabin Creek Coffee place. Overall a very pleasant stay.
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Date of stay: September 2020
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Ask for a river-view room
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We enjoyed our stay here, overlooking the river. The rooms were very comfortable and modern. We loved that we could plug our phones in right next to the bed on both sides, which is not possible at all hotels. This is right in downtown Alpena, walking distance to many things - although it was too cold for us to go out walking! The breakfast was excellent and we enjoyed eating overlooking the river. My only odd complaint was that there were permanent footprints in our bathroom on the light-colored tile. I tried wiping them since I thought it was dirt, but it wasn't - they were permanent. I would think some Softscrub and a brillo pad would take care of it, but clearly I was not equipped with those things. Anyway, great stay and will return if in the area again!
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Date of stay: December 2019
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:River view!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We hadn't been to the Alpena, MI area before and didn't know what to expect. Our stay was really terrific! The front desk staff is top notch (our thanks to Dan A.) We booked the "river view" room and it was clean, with new furniture and a comfy King bed. The view really isn't entirely of the river, but it's still overall a nice room. The breakfast buffet is fine; my preference is for the scrambled eggs instead of the packaged omelette style eggs. The choices will vary from day to day. Biscuits were made fresh and tasted good. It's basic, but well maintained and attended, which I appreciated. The walk-in shower is spacious, but it needs some sort of traction pads on the floors, which are very slippery and potentially dangerous. I did like the shampoo, conditioner and hand soap all offered in pump-style containers. Better than the tiny guest bottles (probably a new trend in the hotel industry to reduce plastic use and cut down on people hoarding the small travel size bottles.) Heat and A/C unit was outstanding, which is often rare in a hotel. We could adjust our room temp as much as we wanted and it wasn't at all noisy.
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Date of stay: October 2022
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Ask for a river view room!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Made reservation on central reservation number. Requested a handicap room. Was told one was available. Got to to the property. Asked if room was handicap accessible. Was told it was. Went to the room, saw walk in shower and thought all was well and went to dinner. Room had no grab bars or handicap toilet. We were unable to use shower. In the morning clerk said it was a hearing impaired room and would make no price adjustment. Totally unacceptable for the price of the room.
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Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from IHG Service, Owner at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Alpena - Downtown, an IHG hotel
Responded 12 Oct 2020
Hi there, Norm K! Thanks for staying and for taking the time to share your experience with us. I'm really sorry that you were not able to get a handicap room during your stay. The circumstances you have mentioned are not what I want you to experience with any of our properties. Your feedback has been taken into account and I've shared with our management. I am confident that the necessary steps will be made, in order to achieve complete guest satisfaction. I've sent you a private message to discuss things further. I truly hope that we will have a chance to make it up to you and provide you with a better experience upon your return. All the best, Peter J. Case Manager IHGService
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Well,I think you can have high expectations for a downtown hotel in a small city,charging $150 per night. The reception staff was friendly and helpful, providing forgotten toothpaste and a water bottle on request. The first floor room was well appointed and clean.There was only one regular coffee kcup, so immediately had to ask for more. No hot chocolate available. The couch had a stain. Room #123.
Breakfast was the major down . The scrambled eggs were dry. When I stuck my head in the kitchen to ask for honey to go with the biscuits, the cook rather rudely told me I could not be in the kitchen. No sign said that, the door was open. She said no honey, pretty abruptly. I turned off Fox news on the TV and was lectured about Holiday Inn policy. She offered a conference room for breakfast and seemed reluctant to take no thank you for our answer. The OJ was watery and tiny cups available. Spilled OJ when we sat at the too small table. When I asked the cook to fix the pancake machine, I got the impression she just wished I would leave her alone.
No maid room cleaning service was offered or provided for two night stay. When we checked out was not asked about the stay. Would have shared this instead of writing it.
We travel a lot and are Hilton Honors members. As said,at the rate paid we expected more.
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Date of stay: October 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great location. Fast Wi-Fi. Friendly and helpful front desk staff. Large clean room with a view of the river (not all rooms have the river view). Comfortable bed and plenty of good quality pillows. Keurig, frig, and microwave in the room. Only down side was breakfast! None of the yummy cinnamon rolls HIE is known for (one of the reasons I go to HIE to be honest). I was told by another guest they were out. I went to plan B and tried to use the pancake machine to make pancakes. It malfunctioned and there was no breakfast attendant to help out. My husband wanted oatmeal, but the oatmeal pot was empty and clean-looking as if it had never even been made. We both ended up eating a bowl of cereal. As we were leaving the breakfast area, the attendant showed up. Confirmed they had been out of cinnamon rolls since the day before and asked me if I wanted to grab one end of the pancake machine and he would grab the other and we could throw it in the river. 😱 I brought the breakfast “irregularities” to the attention of the front desk staff. She apologized and immediately took $20 off my bill which I appreciated. She tried as best she could to make the situation right. That is what a business should do!
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Ask for a river view room!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I’ve stayed at this hotel multiple times because it’s my favorite out of all of the hotels in Alpena. However this visit I was very pleased with the front desk agent. Unfortunately I don’t recall her name but I believe she had red/strawberry-blonde hair. She was extremely professional and spoke very well; not too fast or convoluted with jargon. Keep up the fantastic work and I hope to see you in future visits!
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hotel staff super friendly, hotel common areas & rooms very clean & quiet. Beds comfortable. AC stayed on all night without any issues. Breakfast delicious with several options. Staff was helpful in switching my room to one much closer to the one the placed my elderly father in so I could more easily assist him as needed. Will definitely stay here again when visiting my son nearby.
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This may be too late for you, but I just saw the question. The hotel only allows service animals, not pets. Their website indicates that there are several boarding kennels nearby.
There are more places to choose from in the Alpena area.
PRICE RANGE
RM 504 - RM 644 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
United StatesMichiganAlpena
NUMBER OF ROOMS
85
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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