Holiday Inn Express & Suites Pasadena - Los Angeles

I had a decent short stay at this Holiday Inn Express for work travel. I always stay at Holiday Inn Express as a IHG Platinum member. I get early check in and free room upgrades. Service was great, I was recognized for my IHG reward level and given my 500 points on check in.

The room was fine, everything worked, most important was the WiFi which was a decent speed. Bathroom was clean and no weird stray hairs that weren't my color. Bed was fine and pillows plenty on the king bed.

Breakfast was the usual Holiday Inn breakfast of egg omeletty thingies, potatoes, and toast and the wonderful cinnamon rolls! Not big on the biscuits and gravy.

This was a rather uneventful stay which is a good thing in my book, just lemme do my work and get some sleep and feed me in the morning and I'm good!

Staff at the hotel was very friendly!! This is a great plus on their side. I also enjoyed that breakfast on the weekends is until 10:30 AM which is great. We stayed on one of their busiest times as we were going to a concert at the Rose Bowl. So staff was great on getting us checked in promptly.

Their parking space is very tight so this was a con for their part and there is also very little parking that offers shade. Parking fee is $10 which is lower compared to other hotels. For breakfast they offer cereal, oatmeal, eggs, and pancakes. The pancake batter does run out so try and get their early. All the chairs do need to get replaced though as each chair had tears on them.

We stayed in a king sized room, but in order to get there you do have to make your way outside and then reach that hallway. The room was a great size though and had a mini fridge and microwave. They also have a nice desk area. Our room did have some stains on the walls that looked like they had not been cleaned in a while.

I really can't think of anything substantive enough to dock a star from my review of this hotel. The daily $10 parking fee seemed a bit overreaching for being several miles from Old Town, but I was aware ahead of reserving and I chose to stay here anyway because I know what to expect from the brand. This property met all of my Holiday Inn Express expectations, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

First, being able to check-in early was fantastic! We weren't even in our rental car yet when I received the email (a little before noon local time) that our room was ready. This property offered online check-in the day prior, which I utilized since I hadn't prepaid and there was a music festival that weekend so I knew rooms were in-demand. My physical check-in was easy & quick.

The beds in our room were comfortable with plenty of pillows. We also had a microwave and HUGE mini fridge. Though we used every towel, we had enough that we didn't need to ask for more. The bathroom was a good size, but the lighting was terrible. I like the trend to dispensers for toiletries, and the products provided were good for our stay. This Florida girl liked having a lot of lotion on my first two days of acclimating to the dry California weather.

Hubs went downstairs for breakfast each morning; it seemed like the selection was limited but differed between the two mornings. Enough was served to fill him up until lunchtime. And he was able to bring me coffee, yogurt & fruit while I slept in.

One note, the parking garage is tight, but I assume that's out of management's control. Our rental car was a pick-up truck (long story; not my choice) which was not easy to maneuver in the garage. We tried to park in the few hotel-marked spaces outside of the garage whenever possible.

We (I mean me) very much appreciated the later check-out given when I called the front desk to ask. Those extra 90 minutes made a huge difference! Overall, this was a fantastic stay & this property is on my short list if we return for next year's Cruel World festival.

The lobby and room were clean. The beds (2 Queens) get a B- for comfort. A little hard and one seemed lumpy. Rate was high considering all things. There should not be a parking fee because not a walkable shopping area, no nice restaurants etc. Also it's not a secured parking garage. The view out back windows on third story showed pretty bad area behind so we left nothing in the car. We like their complimentary breakfast. Didn't know Saturdays open at 7 so missed out. Had to leave at that time.

Go to Holiday in El Monte on valley blvd instead! Much better service! And staff is extremely ontop of everything.
This Place in Pasadena is clean. Rooms are upgraded. Overall nice hotel. I stay here quite often but, I noticed since about a year ago, I don't know if management changed or what, but housekeeping will come banging at ur door BEFORE check out. They spoke Spanish and said "what time is she leaving" not knowing I spoke Spanish lol . Pretty disturbing. This didn't happen before. Now, It's happened to me atleast 5x already. So I won't be staying here anymore.

I was not happy with this location at all! They charge you a $150 cleaning deposit when you check in but it doesn't state this when you book so just be prepared. The location is in a not so good area either... I would not go outside after it was dark. And, the setup of the hotel is so odd. We were on the 2nd floor but you have to go up the elevator, down the hall, turn left, out a door to the roof to another building and that's where our room was. So Odd!

There is zero... and I mean zero water pressure. So it took me forever to get the shampoo out of my hair. Only three towels total in our room, when we called and asked for more they said we had to come get them ourselves... are you serious!!!!!

Also, heads up if you choose to stay here, do not and I mean do not park your car anywhere near the fence with the bushes. We woke up to our car inside and out covered in ants!!!!!! We slapped ants off us all the way to Arizona.

I wish I could just get my money back, that's how upset I am over this stay.

In the sea of generic chain hotels, what makes this Holiday Inn Express stand out above the rest is their staff. Special thanks to the Assistant GM, Irene G. who listened to our concerns about a problem we encountered during our check in and immediately worked to resolve them. More importantly, we felt heard and felt that she genuinely cared about her guests - truly a master class in running a hospitality establishment.

The hotel is in an excellent shape. The rooms are very clean, and all the facilities, including the gym and the pool is in a tip top shape. The breakfast, as the previous reviewers have mentioned, is minimal. But it's LA, and there are plenty of great food options around the hotel and in the city.

The location didn't bother us, as after all, we know the area well and knew that the hotel was not in the center of LA, but it is only 20 minutes from the downtown and close enough to a lot of the shops and attractions.

The only thing I would recommend is that the hotel put up a coded gate for their garage, especially if they're going to charge $10 parking fee, which might make their guests feel a bit safer. Other than that, it truly was a great stay!

This is my second time staying here. I would give them more stars if I could. I'm not sure if it's the manager but there is an older gentleman at the front desk who is the kindest human and made me and my mom feel so much more glad with our stay because of his hospitality. The other staff members are also incredibly sweet and attentive.
You get a free breakfast, it might not be the best but hey- it's free. Plus they have so many options.

The pool and jacuzzi area are clean.

They also have a gym and a printer for those of us out here for work purposes.

Rooms are clean, big comfy beds and a mini fridge and microwave. Fantastic hotel. The staff here deserves a raise.

Cockroaches everywhere. I could not shower without stepping on a roach. Young man working front desk was completely unprofessional. Picked his nose right in front of me. Will never be staying here again

Solid hotel. Decor is outdated but everything is clean. Extra blanket is very cozy. They have extra toiletries if you forget anything. Staff is nice. Late checkout until noon. Free breakfast is hot - egg omelettes, scrambled eggs, sausage, breakfast patties, Chobani yogurt, etc. Bagels, bread, pancake maker. But no hash browns or any potatoes!