I went to Buffalo for medical reasons and booked this hotel directly with the property itself. I have stayed here before and had great experiences. The property has not changed. Great service, great staff and the General Manager is top notch. Nice size rooms and very clean. Great food in the restaurant and always enough staff on duty. A great airport shuttle and local shuttle as well. I have stayed at 5 star hotels and not had the level of service that I encounter here every time I visit.

I stay in hotels about 200 nights every year. This hotel has to be the loudest of any of them. I was there twice in two weeks and got no sleep either time. I realize the hotel can't control other guests, but both times, I had doors slamming constantly through the night. The hotel doesn't seem to have anything on the doors to slow them down when someone shuts them, or any sort of of buffer between the door and the frame, like rubber shock pads. When someone shuts the door, it closes fast, and its metal against metal.
Also, there is no way to turn the heater system to "fan only" for white noise to drown out the background noise. After telling hotel management about my stay, they made no offer of compensation. They said its because my company paid for the room and not me.

I needed a place to stay for the Dallas Cowboys Buffalo Bills Monday night game and having never been to Buffalo and realizing (no offense) that Buffalo/Niagara did not offer the type of hotels I have come to expect from the Chicago's and San Antonio's of the US I was not really sure what I was getting in to. I figured for one night it could not be bad and I was there for the game anyway so it was not a big deal. I am a "travel snob" or so my fiance' tells me as I prefer the Kimpton type/Boutique hotels or those places that have that little extra that you do not get from the big hotel chains. If I stay at a chain it usually is on the higher end but not always. I have found alot of great little Choice Hotel spots and use them most of the time when my first choice of accomadations are not available.

In this case Buffalo was getting tight for the dates and the hotels closer to the stadium were all gone but since I wanted to include a quick day trip up to the falls I wanted to stay downtown anyway. Plus Buffalo has a growing trendy area that borders downtown called Elmwood I believe and there are also several streets in the area that have something going on after dark, which is perfect for the post game scene. I checked Choice and they had nothing in the area avail so I started my search. I found the Holiday Inn and figured it would do in a pinch and it fit all my criteria and at least they are well known. I also joined the Priority Club at the time of booking on the Holiday Inn website to get the lower rate and since I use Intercontinental Hotels especially abroad I figured it was time to join. They actually tell you on the site to get this rate join which makes some good marketing sense overall.

The surprise and I guess the old saying goes when you least expect it things happen! I have never been to a front desk at a major chain and met a staff that cared as much as the Holiday Inn staff did in Buffalo. The welcome! the service! and the attention was a surprise. Seeing that I was from Texas they put two and two together and had me a map to the game in Orchard Park ready as I signed in! Talk about prepared for your guest! With that kind of welcome I would sleep in the parking lot as I have been some places that were so nice yet such jerks at the check in. I also need some tailgate suplies and they gave me directions on a seperate map after I was asked how else they could help me.

I had an issue at DFW with security where I had to give up my hair gel and it was just over 3.0oz and it had not been a problem for the last 6 flights but it was this time. In fact it is not even a gel. But that is the cost of living in the world we live in when people who did not value our free choice to live as we want and respect that choice on 9/11 did what they did. Frustrated but not the end of the world so I asked them as I walked away from the front desk almost feeling like I was asking too much maybe and pushing my luck if they knew a place I might get a replacement product or one like it. Again, map directions and quick conference from two other staff members to make sure they got the information right and add to that a quick phone call to see if they were open since it was Colombus Day! And this was at the front desk not a fancy cocierga. Most of the time I get a " make a left then right" but I got another actual map, phone call and directions!

The room was standard but it is funny how it seemed above standard from the front desk experience. In reality it was a room another room in a large chain just like all the rest but it was clean, the bed fine and everything worked just right. What else could I want it was par for the course yet as I mentioned it seemed even better from the front desk experience . Also, they give the Priority Club members a couple of drink coupons for the lounge, a bag of pretzels and a free breakfast from the resturant, that was a very nice touch. I stopped off and checked both out and they were standard but again great service and great breakfast which perfect for getting the system going after a long draining yet exciting game the night before. I needed my energy for Niagara that day. The drive to the stadium while traffic was a mess was about 45 minutes (20 no traffic) and to the falls about 20 minutes, very easy drive up.

In addition the maids said "hello", the matience man also gave a "hello" and one even helped me with my overloaded bag of post game tailgate debris that I was tossing away. Even at the shift change still very helpful in finding a late night place to eat and how to get there and getting me a cab as well. Whenever you were in contact with the staff you knew it as they all made sure you got a "hello" and when walking thru the lobby a "is everything all right?" "How is the stay?" That consistency speaks loud and clear to me and yes I have had many good solid customer service experiences (mostly in Vegas where you gamble and get that service) but very few that make me take notice. Most trips I just do not recall as they were good enough and I had no complaints but nothing that really got my attention like the Holiday Inn in Downtown, Buffalo.

All and all I was surprised and since customer service is huge to me this stay was one of my best in some time. This one Holiday Inn will most likely get me to give the Holiday Inn chain another shot on future trips. I just hope that at the Holiday Inn yearly national convention the great staff in Buffalo gives the customer service seminar!

Easy to get to with a front desk staff that goes out of it's way to be helpful, The Holiday Inn Downtown Buffalo is the place to stay when in the city. The room was very clean, the bed extremely comfortable, the bathroom was of medium size and spotless.
While we didn't dine at the hotel, we did check out the lounge...which was nice. The only minor drawback was they were running out of select brands of beer when we were there.
I'll definitely be back whenever I have to stay in Buffalo again.