Holiday Inn Express & Suites Lake Okeechobee

The front desk staff is pleasant, friendly, and attentive. Guests praised the comfortable beds and soft pillows. They also enjoyed the complimentary buffet with a variety of high-quality options.

I checked in on an overnight business trip. The front desk told me the automatic curtains didn’t work in the room I had been assigned. On entering the room, I walked to the curtain controls and found someone had mangled one of the control power connector pins trying to plug it in. This flattened the pins onto each other, creating a potential fire hazard. I took a picture of this and showed it to the front desk. They made a note of it and I heard nothing back after that. Back in the room, it began to feel uncomfortably cool, as the temp was dropping outdoors. The room has one of those wall-mounted thermostats, which controls the room's ac/heat unit. I pressed the arrow button which should have turned on the heat. I heard the wall thermostat click, which should have been followed by the heater turning on. It did not. I discovered the heater had been unplugged. I plugged it back in, and reset the ground fault interrupter button. Still, the unit's heater did not turn on.  I went to the front desk and asked what I needed to do to get the heat on. I was told which settings I should have on the thermostat to get it to work but my settings were all correct and still, there was no response from the heater. When switching on the wall controller's fan to continuous, the fan did indeed come on, blowing cold air.  I asked for a different room and was offered a portable heater, which I declined. I can’t imagine that would be to code anyhow. I was switched to a different room, and although there was no mold smell, the heater did not turn on when I raised the thermostat setting. I went back to the front desk, and let them know this was unacceptable. I was told I management decided to program the thermostats so that it would be impossible to use the heater. Here are some suggestions for guests: 1. Bring your space heater. The staff offered to give me a space heater, but if I need one then why not my own? 2. Bring an electrician, or at least a multi-meter to figure out their electrical issues. 3. Make sure you plug the heater in (maybe something you should keep the children from trying) 4. You are not allowed to turn on the heat, but if the thing isn't plugged in, you can't claim due diligence. 5. Bring lots of Lysol to kill the mold, or maybe a mask to filter it. It's going down to 41 degrees tonight, and yes it's cold in here.

G.A. 80th bd Check in was very smooth. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable. We liked having first floor room. The room was great. Very roomy and comfortable. We have stayed here twice now, and will stay again when in the area.