Holiday Inn Express Colton-Riverside North

I was embarrassed to bring our friends to the hotel it was so ugly

Pros: There was free breakfast... it was OK

Cons: I just returned home from a vacation to California, I live in NY and have never been there. I had a couple friends let my boyfriend and I stay with them in their beautiful apartment in LA, then we had a weekend long event in San Bernardino and we offered they could stay a night or two with us so they didn't have to drive an hour home each night. When I first pulled up to the hotel I thought it was abandoned. There are old, corroded support beams covering the entire building, and at about 2pm there was only 2 cars in the parking lot so it looked closed. Upon checking in, I read the sign that essentially ruined my entire trip to California, the pool was also being "worked on" and the four bathing suits I packed for the 3 night stay were now just a waste of space in my carry-on. We were only 5 minutes from the event center, and after going to many holiday inn locations I assumed the two busses outside were the complimentary shuttles, I asked if the shuttle would bring us to the event center, I was told no and that those are only "for staff to go to the grocery store", I've never heard of such a thing, but never the less, another disappointment. An uber driver told us this hotel has looked this way for a LONG time, maybe over a year. I took pictures of the outside of the building because if I can find the correct place to post them, I'm sure NO ONE would book a room in this location. Lastly, upon checking out, a kind man we met outside (another guest) was complaining at the desk that a STAFF MEMBER went into his room and stole some very expensive products when he had left for dinner. The front desk worker called the police and my heart couldn't have hurt more for the man that forgot to put on his "do not disturb" sign... I seriously considered not staying at a holiday inn again. I like this rewards program, but not if the hotels will look like this when you show up to your "dream vacation" and they don't even warn you the pool isn't full of water. What a BUMMER.