Holiday Inn Express & Suites Austin Downtown - University by IHG

Reviews

• DB

  Dan Bradley

  Feb 28, 2026
  1.0
  The room is pretty beaten up and not clean- lots of wear and paint issues, rusty fixtures, a dirty brown spot on the light switch, and mold in the shower. These issues would only cost a few dollars to fix. The neighborhood is pretty rough, though there are some decent restaurants within walking distance. Room access is pretty annoying. You have to use Indigo's desk to check in, take one elevator up, walk down a hallway, through another lobby, and then take a second elevator to the rooms. Don't stay here unless you're planning on partying late at night. The surrounding bars blast music and hold live events late into the night. Getting sleep will be an issue unless you're passing out drunk Obviously no pride in the workplace here. I've generally had good experiences with Holiday Inn Express, but this one stands out as particularly bad. Insult to injury- their license to serve food was a month expired. Picture taken 2/28/26. Management at this location should be replaced. They are failing at their basic duties. Changed review to 1 star.
• MC

  Michael Cobb

  Feb 24, 2026
  2.0
  From the time we arrived, it was an uncomfortable stay. I was on a trip to Austin with my friend and we were looking for an affordable hotel stay in the downtown area. The location is okay, and close to a lot of bars, but the homeless in the area is highly noticeable. We didn’t have any issues with them, but there were certain situations where we felt it’s not as walkable around the hotel, especially with younger children. When we arrived to the hotel, the lobby was empty with lots of signage asking us to walk to the other side of the building to check in. We realized once we followed the signs that the hotel we booked must have been purchased by another hotel and that other hotel, Hotel Indigo, is now managing both hotels. The check-in process went fine. That night, one of us had clogged our room’s toilet and called down to get a plunger sent up to our room. We were told that we’d have to wait until 7 AM for one even though it was midnight. My friend went to someone he found working in the halls and they said they could come take care of the toilet for us. One of the nights of our stay, I ended up having a very scary situation happen. I used to sleep walk as a kid, but hadn’t for about twenty years. I guess due to the lack of sleep and excitement, I had left our room, and began walking up the stairs to the top floor. When I woke up, and realized what was happening, I went to the elevator to go back down to the second floor to go back to my room. The elevator locked me inside and would not open back up. I couldn’t go to my floor because I didn’t have my room card to scan (they require you to scan your room card to use the elevator). I also couldn’t open the door to get out. After trying some things, I ended up yelling help because the alarm button didn’t even seem to be working. Someone on staff did hear me and ended up calling the fire department to get me out. They couldn’t get the doors open and I ended up having to climb a ladder out of one elevator and then climb over and then through to get into the other elevator next to it to get back out into the hotel. I would not book this hotel again. It also seems like Hotel Indigo is a nicer hotel with a much nicer lobby. The lobby even has a nice bar.
• CC

  Carlos Caldera

  Feb 23, 2026
  3.0
  No one at the front desk of the holiday inn, you need to seek assistance from the desk at hotel indigo, which is in the same building. Not a big deal, really. The problem we ran into was when we attempted to order room service from the restaurant, Urban Pour. They had special events going Fri/Sat, so there was no dining in, however, when we scanned the QR code from the room to place our order for room service, we received a message that the order could not be processed. So, tried to call the restaurant, no answer. Called the front desk, no answer. We called every number we could find...no answer. Could we have walked down to find out what was going on, yes. But, what is the point of room service, if I have to go down to get it. This was the night before the Austin Half Marathon, and all I wanted was some food so I could go to sleep by 9pm. Never happened, and I was too pissed to go anywhere, so, I went to bed hungry. Judging by the other reviews, I thought I was staying in a nice hotel, but to pay that much money and be disappointed & frustrated, kinda sucks. Next year I'll pay the extra money and stay at the Hyatt or Marriott...IHG can keep my "reward points"...I wont stay at an IHG hotel ever again.
• GB

  Greg boswell

  Feb 23, 2026
  4.0
  So confusing going from one area to another. One check in point then two different elevators in two far off areas to get to rooms. AC broke down in hotel but not the rooms. Breakfast was a sweatbox. Elevators broke down so taking stairs was the only option with luggage. Parking garage sucks. Much easier and cheaper to take a waymo than rent a car and drive. Small SUV'S will fit in the parking garage ok. Stay small to avoid damage to vehicle.
• SO

  Scott OBrien

  Feb 21, 2026
  2.0
  Stayed here for the UIL State swim meet 2/19 -2/21. Parking was not free for hotel guests. 1 day parking fee was 50.00. Ice machines on the 1st and 5th floor were not working. The AC in the breakfast area was not working and felt as though the heat was on. Vagrants broke into the hotel and slept in the breakfast room. Beer cans strewn about on the 5th floor. Toilet would not flush (had to flush twice). Above all the bar across the street would play music until the wee hours of the morning...but hey the hotel did supply ear plugs! I do not recommend staying at this hotel.

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