Holiday Inn Express Hotels in Barrie

My husband and I stayed overnight last night and I just have to write how friendly and welcoming the staff is. P.C. the evening receptionist, checked us in efficiently and even insisted on carrying our luggage to our room for us. As well I needed help printing our boarding passes and he graciously helped me with that too! We had a king room and requested a quiet location which is exactly what we received. Room was clean and renovated. This is not a new building and it shows its age in many places but we were pleased with the overall bright and fresh feeling in our room. Many plugins/USB docks for charging devices. Our bed was comfortable, pillows good, clean white bedding and towels. Shampoo and conditioner provided in large size was excellent. Coffee was strong…perfect. Breakfast included was adequate. Yogurt, apples, waffles, cereal, scrambled eggs, sausage and home fries. We have booked to stay here again on our return trip and would recommend this Comfort Inn.

With a stay at Parkside House, you'll be centrally located in Barrie, a 8-minute walk from Barrie Centennial Park and 13 minutes by foot from Barrie Farmers Market. This apartment is 2.4 mi (3.8 km) from Georgian Mall and 3 mi (4.8 km) from Georgian College.Take in the views from a garden and make use of amenities such as complimentary wireless internet access.Featured amenities include express check-in, express check-out, and multilingual staff. Free self parking is available onsite.Make yourself at home in one of the 5 individually decorated guestrooms, featuring refrigerators and Smart televisions. Flat-screen televisions with digital programming provide entertainment, while complimentary wireless internet access keeps you connected. Private bathrooms with bathtubs or showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include microwaves and coffee/tea makers, and housekeeping is provided on request.

Most of the reviews online are poor, we had no choice but to use this hotel as part of a hockey tournament. Our room was not as dirty or smelly as others had indicated but it was outdated and in need of new carpet, no bathroom fans, no sprinklers, no modern conveniences ie. USB charging ports etc. The beds are all doubles, not queens so they are small. It wasn't terrible however. The WIFI was good when it worked, went down for a couple hours, I contacted to hotel regarding this, they pawned me off to a 1-800 number, they told me it was infact the hotels hardware that needed fixing, had to let the hotel know this, as if its my job. I run a business so connectivity is key. The pool was the coldest pool of any hotel I've stayed at, its clear they don't pay to heat it, perhaps 70-75 degrees at best, for that reason its not well used, at least for long. The health department shut down the hot tub (per the sign on it when we visited), the out door pool would be amazing but its closed and in need of a ton of repair, sauna not working. The owners need to do some serious updating to this property if they want to sustain business in the coming years, we would never return on our own. My son was a late ad on to the hockey team and we were not able to book under the ”team” rate, we had to pay $40 more. They would not give us the same price as the rest of the team. On the final day (Sunday) I asked for a late check out as we wouldn't be back to the hotel until 12pm after the game and they refused to give me a later checkout and told me that they couldn't guarantee housekeeping wouldn't be in there. I told them I paid more than everyone else on the team, would be the least they could do for me, to no avail. We gave up and packed up early and left to avoid any further contact with them. I would have given them 3 stars had their employee been nicer regarding the request for a late check out. The hotel was full for the weekend, 100's of rooms to clean Sunday, I highly doubt they have 100's coming in Sunday to replace us all, I don't appreciate the ignorance of the employee I interacted with. In short, its clear this property is 30 years past its prime and little has been done to maintain its relevance to 2022 standards. My suggestion would be to avoid at all costs, park benches may be a better alternative than staying here.

Disappointing Experience at Monte Carlo Hotel, Barrie I recently stayed at the Monte Carlo Hotel in Barrie, and unfortunately, my experience was far from satisfactory. I had booked the $200 Sunrise Suite, which was supposed to be a premium experience with a jetted tub. However, the stay was marred by several issues: Lack of Privacy: The suite did not have curtains, which severely compromised our privacy and comfort. We are parents that only stay in hotels sparingly and not having a curtain to block out the sun is just ridiculous. Cleanliness Issues: Used band aids were found on the side table, which is unacceptable and raises concerns about the cleanliness and sanitation standards of the hotel. Inadequate Room Amenities: When we requested assistance, we were provided with binder clips and a bed sheet to address the issues ourselves, which was not a suitable or acceptable solution. I have attached pictures of my attempt to fix the issue. They should be embarrassed by the look both inside our room and the look to the outside with a large circle window stuffed with everything I could to block the sun. We were told there were no other rooms with round curtains which when I went outside saw this was a lie. Given these problems, I am disappointed with the quality of service and the state of the room. This is very disappointing as the Monte Carlo is where we stayed with our families for out wedding in 2016. We have continued to come for the jetted tub king suite experience. We are now at home disappointed this might be the end of that. Could you please let me know the next steps for addressing these concerns? I would appreciate information on how you plan to rectify these issues and what compensation, if any, might be available. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Best regards, Mark Kucharski

Stayed here for a hockey tournament weekend with a large group of approx. 60 people total. My main complaint is what occurred on Saturday November 25. While there are many things I could have complained about with this place - this one is the most important. As we are a large group with kids, we requested to book the conference room for a team dinner (pizza and wings) and was told that it was under renovations and could not. We then requested the front lobby area as it had adequate seating / tables and confirmed with an employee that we could for 6:30pm. We were told we could do this by a staff member - not to mention we saw plenty of other people having drinks and food in that area the night before. So as far as we understood, this was ok to do. Our game that day was 3-4 and some of us even stayed an hour longer to watch the game after since we were playing the winner of that game the next day. Our team was not even present at the hotel from about 1:45 to 5:30 / 6:00 on Saturday afternoon to early evening. (Note: the time is very relevant to the issues) At around 6:15 I started to hear some of our kids crying in the hallway saying ”the girl at the front desk called the cops on us”. I thought it was a joke. I assume you reading this would also think it was a joke - but sadly no. Around 7:40 the police finally came and ”broke up our pizza party”. The girl at the front desk told the police we were ”drinking and being rowdy” - which we absolutely were not. Remember, we all just got back to the hotel about 45 mins before she called the police. After the police cleared us out saying that we were not allowed to congregate in that area and that alcohol is prohibited we all retreated back to our rooms. After the group was gone, I went to the front desk privately to ask the girl her name. Her response was ”Why?” and I said ”So I have the name of the person who called the police on 10 and 11 year olds when I make my complaint to the hotel.” She refused to give me her name (nor does any of the staff here wear name tags) and then she said ”I didnt call the cops on the kids, I called them on you.” and I said ”For what!? We were only here for 45 min - and why did you tell our kids then that you called the cops on them ?!” She responded with ”what I actually said to them was ”Do you want me to call the cops on you again?” and I responded with ”AGAIN? When did you call the cops on us the first time?!” She responded with a smirk and an attitude saying ”At 3:00”. At 3:00. WE WEREN'T EVEN THERE. Apparently there were 3 hockey groups booked that weekend and maybe she mixed us up with a different group? Without trying to have a respectful conversation with us, she called the police and told our children - not us. That is how we found out the police were called - our kids told us. One of the youngest siblings in the group was so terrified she was going to get arrested - she couldn't stop crying. At around 9 pm we all retired to our

Breakfast is very rich and there are many options. It is suitable for taking children and encountering many local parents to take their children to stay together, perhaps for extracurricular activities. The parking lot is quite big. There are restaurants and supermarkets nearby.

I was in Barrie for 4 nights and stayed at this hotel having previously stayed at other Hampton Inn and Suites. Nice lobby but our room was well worn. Badly in need of a reno. It was very humid so we had to run the air conditioner at night. Basically every time it came on both my wife, my daughter and I would be woken up. It had a very loud blower was mount against the outside wall. It was brutal. We are normally deep sleepers. I’ve only experienced this type of unit in budget motels in one hotel towns. Didn’t expect this for the price charged for the room. When we entered our room I noticed a bobby pin on the carpet in front of the TV. That bobby pin stayed there for our entire visit. So likely our room was never vacuumed for our 5 day stay. They did make the beds every day and tidy the room but we had to call the front desk to get our towels changed. Given the humidity towels wouldn’t really dry when hung. The breakfast they provided was ok. The eggs where decent although my 9 year old was not impressed with the stale cheerios provided by one of those long tube where you turn the wheel at the end. She did enjoy the waffles. From a price point this hotel should rent for $99 dollars per day not the grand it cost me for four nights. It’s a solid two star hotel . It will stay busy simply because there aren’t many hotels in Barrie.

Thoroughly unimpressed. They never cleaned our room and we were there for 3 nights. Room was ok. Pool was meh and very cold gym very small, not many machines. Small lobby area, not much sitting area for groups. Pillows were garbage lumpy. We asked to check out early since one of us was sick and we weren’t happy and they said no we missed the checkout deadline so they have to charge the whole third night.

The hotel is right next to the highway, so it's very convenient to drive there; the service at the front desk is good, and the room is clean and hygienic; after staying for three days, even though I was reminded every day to clean up the room, I only cleaned the room for two days, and only cleaned the bathroom and not the room.