Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Duluth, Downtown Waterfront

Although connected by the "Skywalk", it is a VERY long walk. The hotel is starting to look old and tired. The good thing is that they have wireless internet in all of the rooms. I would probably stay at the Sheraton next time.

We stay at the holiday inn - Duluth a few times a year and always enjoy our experience. I had to make a last minute reservation on Friday (camper broke down) and the desk staff was so helpful over the phone and when i got to the hotel. We paid the same low price we always do and had a great stay.

The double pools are very nice with one set being geared towards kids with a little pool for the tiny ones and the bigger pool being about 4 ft deep. 2nd set of pools has the hot tub and a larger pool. Lots of towels and clean.

It is connected to the skyway and a starbucks is only 2 blocks away (a must for me).

Free parking ramp.

Duluth is such a beatiful place and we found an excellent place to take great pics...The road to Spirit Mountain campground. There was even a doe standing on the side of the road.

Boy I'm glad I stayed here. I would of stayed at the Inn on Lake Superior, but they wanted $125 a night non-waterfront. The one I booked at Holiday Inn was the hill view, but I managed to snag a high lakeview room. The desk clerk, Sarah I believe, said I could have it, if i waited until 4pm, because it was still classified as dirty. I said okay and decided to walk around with the wife to Canal Park. When I got back the guy there tried to give me the hillside and tried to blame it on the girl before, because she was "new", but the other desk person, punched up a high lakeview room. He was apoligetic, probably because I am a priority club member, but was as friendly as could be. The rest of the stay was great and I even recommended Sarah to to the general manager. All and all, very great stay. If you don't want to pool side room, if it is early enough, I'm sure you just have to ask.

The Holiday Inn is my usual stay in Duluth. And it keeps getting better. The location is great. Both convenient to the mall and canal park. Rooms are modern, clean and quiet. Lakeside view rooms are great esp in the mornings. Staff is friendly and professional. Sneakers is a great hometown sports bar / restaurant. Great prices. After spending 100+ nights in hotels last year, the Holiday Inn Duluth is one of the best.

Great location, attached to the "SKYWALK SYSTEM", tons of downtown services, restaurants, and an inside walk to the DECC (Convention Center / Arena) which takes you to Canal Park. Tons of great things to do on foot!!! Rooms were big and clean. 2 nice pool areas. Free parking + you can leave your car parked all weekend and walk. Been to Duluth a lot, I won't stay anywhere else.

Had a great stay at the HI Duluth hotel. We book a kids suite and out 2 children, aged 2 and 4 had a ball. And the mom and dad had some peace a nd quiet (at times) in our own separate room.

The staff was very friendly and helpful.

The hotel location also proved to be great as we were able to walk to the aqarium etc. and leave our car parked for most of the weekend.

We stayed at this hotel in one of their kids suites - wow!!!! It was so neat. The one we stayed in made you feel as if you were in a log cabin. The kids loved the bunk beds and the Playstation 2. They really have thought of everything to make traveling with kids a pleasure. (especially since there is a separate room for the parents that has a micowave and a fridge).

Stayed here for a 3 day work related school. Good parking ramp. Hotel is connected with Canel park by skyways. Sneakers is good sports bar food at Holiday Inn basement. Other wise pleny of Hell's kitchen, Red Lobster type restr. East of the hotel.

Hotel clean and desk staff VERY helpfull!!!! All employees seemed very happy to be working here. Rooms were quiet and have TV movie channels. Wireless for laptop worked well too.

Meals and snacks were very good at class too. Except Duluth is a Coke town, so you have to run to the little stores downstairs in the skyway to get your Diet pepsi.

Will stay here again!!!

Stayed at the Holiday Inn for one night in September. We got a great rate on our room at the last minute from Hotwire.com.

The rooms were clean. They had new nice white bedspreads and soft mattresses. The pools were nice but very very busy. On the pool on the third floor there is a kids wading pool also.

The hotel's location is very convenient, being right downtown. It is within walking distance of Canal Park and the lake walk. We ate dinner at Grandmas in Canal Park which is always very good.

We had a room facing the hill which was a problem this night. There was a very loud street concert going on until midnight which kept us up. I would say that was the only negative part of our stay.

Stayed here Friday night December 14 (2 teenagers, a 30 year old and 2 in their 60's). Booked 2 rooms on Hotwire for $60.00 per room. Check in was fast and friendly - Requested that the rooms be near each other as well as in a quiet area. There were a few youth hockey/basketball teams there for a tournament so he did his best to put us on a floor that didn't have many kids.

Rooms were on the 14th floor, very nice and clean. No issues with the room at all. Ate at Sneakers bar and grill, food and service were fine, typical bar food.

There are 2 pools in the hotel on different floors- pools are 4 feet deep max and hot tubs were small. But again clean and no problems.

There was no charge for parking while we were there. Nice stay would go again.

This hotel has very friendly, helpful staff. The room was clean and comfortable. I loved the parking garage. I ate in two of the restaurants that are attached to this hotel and both times, the meals were fantastic. Overall, I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel and will stay there again in the future.

This Holiday Inn was wayyyy nicer than others I have visited in the past. Very clean, conveniently located, friendly staff. I only had three problems. 1) Do NOT get a poolside room unless you are prepared to stay up late becuase even after the pool closes, it is still very noisy. We had to get up early. 2) The drain in the tub didn't work so we had to prop it open with a washcloth. 3) The microwave timer didn't work. Overall I really liked this hotel and would stay there again and recommend it.

My overall experience with this property was both good and bad. We (spouse and two kids 12 yo and 8yo) stayed in a King Suite on the 9th floor. The room was a bit small and aged. The bed was huge but the mattress was terribly stiff and uncomfortable. On the good side, it came with about 6 pillows some soft and others firm. The view was nice as it looked out towards Lake Superior but the window was quite small. The air conditioning unit (two in this style room) were extremely loud and actually woke us up throughout the night when they started up. They did not keep the room as cool as I would have preffered. The bathroom was tiny as was the shower. On the plus side, the water pressure was great and there was a sink/countertop outside the bathroom.

The indoor pool was nice as was the whirlpool. Water was comfortably warm in both. The Staff at the Holiday Inn was their biggest bragging point. They were unbelievably nice and attentive. All the staff we encountered seemed to go out of their way to make sure we were happy.

Restaurants here were ok. Sneakers is a sports bar style place with decent food and reasonably priced drinks. Heres a Tip: SIGN UP FOR THE PRIORITY CLUB when you book a room here. At check in, I was given food discount and free drink coupons because I was a Priority Club member. They even gave us two packs of baseball cards for my kids. I suspect we were given a lake view room as well because of the Priority Club status but I'm not sure about that one.

Kids eat free here, so we saved a good chunk of change with that perk.

Overall, this is a clean friendly place to stay that is priced as a bargain compared to Canal Park hotels. It is located downtown but connected to Canal Park via a skyway. The walk is a healthy 10 minutes. The building itself is older and in need of some renovation but there are five star resorts that could use a lesson in customer service from this staff.

We had a really nice stay here. We spent 2 nights at this location and were very happy with it. Both pools were really nice and we used them between events downtown. There is a lot of walking involved in getting to the Canal Park area, but it is pretty easy on the Skywalk and beautiful on the Lake Walk, take your pick!

Hotel is a little older, but has been recenlty renovated. Our room was nice and clean, the room stayed at a constant temperture and the AC fan was quiet. The room was also pretty quiet even with all the convention people buzzing about. Check-in was flawless and the staff was extremely helpful whenever they were asked for advice on dining or directions.

We used the Family Stay package and got 8 tickets for venues of our chosing in Duluth. Our room rate of $148 included those tickets...a pretty good value I thought. Our choices for attractions were the Vista Cruises, Omnimax, Glensheen, Depot, Aquarium, Zoo and a couple others. I think those options change, check into it.

We would stay again.

Our second labor Day weekend at this hotel in downtown Duluth. Nice pool area and location. It is a quick walk by street or skyway to Canal park. Standard room with small fridge and coffee maker. The front desk is courteous and prompt. I was able to get the room I requested, even thought the hotel was totally booked.

Kids eat free at the on site restaurant, which was average.

At this hotel, you are able to enjoy the neat shops and skyways of downtown and you are also just a short (and VERY cheap) cab ride to Canal Park. The rooms are clean and the views are fantastic, just as long as you get the lakeside. As for the staff, they are very friendly and eagar to please. Would stay again.

This is a nice hotel. If you're not planning to spend time in the pool, request a room not in the pool atrium--the hallways were boiling in that part of the hotel. Otherwise, no complaints.

My mother and I took a trip to Duluth in March of 2003 and booked a room at the Downtown Holiday Inn. The representative that checked us in was very friendly and informative in situating us in the large hotel. In fact, the front desk service was what really stood out from other Duluth hotels i have visited in the past. Anytime we needed directions or suggestions, they were right there and very enthusiastic about making our stay a good one. We were a bit disappointed that the hotel wasn't right by the water as the name suggests, but once we found all the shopping and restaurants (Starbucks coffee!) right in the hotel we didn't mind walking the few blocks to Canal Park. Besides, we got to discover all the cool downtown businesses that probably get overlooked in favor of the Canal Park area (worth checking out :)). The room we were put in was very nice as well. Overall, we definitely plan on returning to this hotel. The accomodations and service from all of the employees we encountered were certainly above average.

As far as i know you can't beat the value of the place. Great rates are available if you know how/when to book.

Pluses: Connected to much of Duluth downtown & waterfront via Skywalk. Short walk, either inside or out, to the water and Canal Park. Reliable internet. Multiple dining options in walking distance.

Minuses: Skywalk has seen better days and is in sore need of cleaning and remodeling (as is much of Duluth). Hotel needs a face-lift badly. There is no open air access in any room, so decades old smells are rampant. As a frequent business traveler, honestly the slowest elevator system I have ever experienced.

Conclusions: Great for business and when I'm by myself. Not somewhere I'd want to bring my family. If you have a few extra $$ spend them at the brand new Sheraton down the street.

This trip marked the second time that I have stayed at this Holiday Inn on business. The hotel is centrally located in downtown Duluth. Almost everything you need is in or near the Holiday center, so it is quite convenient.

Likes:

The staff members are very courteous and the hotel is relatively clean overall. The hotel has its' own parking ramp, so there are no parking charges for guests. They also have a seperate parking ramp elevator that runs much more quickly than the ones in the hotel.

The free wireless internet access was nice to have as well. The speed and reliability are decent enough to get work done and I had no connectivity issues.

Dislikes:

My only minor dislike is the quality of the maid service. Quite a few times, they have not completed the room cleaning. I had one day where they didn't make the bed. One day where they left a dirty rag in the room. A few days where they didn't take the dirty glasses and leave new ones and one day where I was asked by one of the housekeepers if I needed to service that day.

My opinion is that they are understaffed in housekeeping and so small mistakes happen often or at least they did for me.

Overall:

I would definitely stay at this hotel again on business. I would probably not recommend it for a vacation stay.

I stayed at this property for a convention. Most of the activities were at this hotel. The hotel is connected via "squirrel tunnels" to much of downtown and is adjacent to a mall. The one-way streets in Duluth may be confusing for new visitors. Some streets are very steep. Overall I found Duluth to be fairly depressing except for the touristy areas by the DECC.

The staff at check-in was very courteous and helpful. The room was about what you would expect from an older Holiday Inn property, except my room was a suite. They have done what they can to keep it fairly current. I stayed on the 10th floor. The layout of the hotel is a bit odd. One of the elevators was being repaired during the first half of my stay and the delay in getting elevators is noticeable. It was fixed and the remaining two days were improved.

There are two pools. The one by my room also had a hot tub. The exercise room had only one elliptical and three treadmills. It also had a nice HD TV in it. The sauna and exercise room are by the front desk, along with the other pool.

They have Coke products at this property (yay!). The Sneakers Bar is fairly small but comfortable and clean. The bartenders were very good and courteous.

We stayed 2 nights, in August, $155 on Sat, around $125 on Sun.

Rooms recently redecorated, but could have been cleaner (dusty ice bucket lid, hair in tub, wet towel in minifridge from defrosting).

We had nice view of port and lift bridge. Area around hotel is pretty deserted and rather run-down, which is a shame because it's a pretty town. But hotel is connected to Canal Park via walkway and lots to do and eat in Canal Park. New Sheraton hotel nearby if you want to spend the extra money. Staff very nice. Very limited room service menu. Restaurants in hotel and in walkway. We didn't see or use pool. Parking garage under hotel. We would stay here again, but kind of pricy for what it is (but all is pricy in summer in WI and MN).

We got an excellent rate of $74 a night, which we couldn't really beat. The hotel could definitely use an update; the hallways seem fairly old. The room we are in, however, was quite nice. We had two queen beds and the room was quite spacious. The bathroom was very old; the door didn't lock and the tub looked pretty stained from use. Not a huge deal, but would be nice if the tub were cleaner. The pool area was excellent! The pool is heated and the hot tub is great. It looked very new and updated. The only problem is that it was a little hard to find; the layout of the hotel is pretty poor. Overall, we got a great deal and would consider staying here again.

We and our friends stayed at this hotel for a weekend getaway. However, for a $170 per night, we thought the Holiday Inn should do better than this. Its room is crowded. The breakfast was so so. We had to change room since we were assigned wrong to a smoking room.

Had a wonderful view. We were on the 12th floor overlooking Canal park which was 6 blocks down. The lights at night were just beautiful. We could see the aerial bridge and the ships coming and going. The over head walkway attached to the Holiday Inn took us down to Canal park. It was about an eight block walk which I enjoyed. We also got a really good rate through the entertainment card. One of my pet peeves is dirty carpet and I have to admit it wasn't real bad but it was sticky around the bed and around the desk. I always carry clean up wipes so I tried to get up the spots. (So am I pickey or what) Also, the towels were thin and scratchy. Over all though my husband was pleased with the rooms and the view was outstanding.

Although connected by the "Skywalk", it is a VERY long walk. The hotel is starting to look old and tired. The good thing is that they have wireless internet in all of the rooms. I would probably stay at the Sheraton next time.

I am a Travel Agent and have been lucky enough to have traveled around the world. My stay at the Holiday Inn was worst nights sleep I have ever had at a Hotel. They put me in a room right near the indoor pool. The noise was terrible in my room from the echo. I called the front desk to ask to be changed and of course they could not do that. But they did reassure me that they will close the pool at 10:30pm and things will quiet down. To bad for me that was not the case because people were still sitting around the pool and the noise was terrible . It was so bad that at 2:30am I had to call the front desk again. The reason I am writing to Trip Advisor is to stay away from a room on the 8th floor if you want to sleep.

I spent a Saturday night at the Holiday Inn, only after being unable to reserver a room in a hotel in Canal Park.

The room was nice, with newer bedding and furnishing, but the bathroom and towels need to be upgraded and updated.

The pool area is nice and clean, though rather small. At least the second pool, with the three floor atrium.

It's at par for a Holiday Inn, though certainly not worth $220 USD per night. I'd much prefer staying at the Hawthorn, Hampton Inn or Comfort Suites in Canal Park, and it wouldn't have cost nearly as much.

Doubtful I'd be back.

Stayed 1 day on first trip to Duluth. Property is in the downtown area connected to the "Holiday" shopping complex and other shopping areas with their skywalk system. The restaurants was ok with reasonable prices and average food - but good service. The best thing going for the property is the service and efforts of the staff. I had good, fast, and accurate check in. Elevators are very fast and abrupt and are needed to get to the lobby, restaurants, and shopping areas. Although the property has been recently refurbished (new towels, bedspreads, caulking, and furniture), the reuse of "springy" beds, the "metal" and "plastic" fixtures (read slightly rusted and plastic stained sinks, tub surround, etc) with new screws, and sloppy bathroom repair was strange for an Intercontinental property. The room did not smell at all but the air conditioning unit was loud. Didn't use the pool etc on this night. The carpet was kinda clean (some stains) and a bit "sticky". Bathroom was decent but had some mold areas around the caulk and grout and the fixtures were not secured well (for example - changing the setting on the waterpic shower head moved the entire head/shower pipe over 1/4" with the caulk trying to keep up). The tub also had a large non slip pad which has seen better days glued to the bottom of the tub. Overall I was not entirely comfortable (which is important to me for anywhere I pay over $100) so rating of okay if your not bothered by the things I detailed above.

We stayed here for a weekend basketball tournament and the hotel was very full. The plus side: 2 indoor pools, the king sized bed seemed extra large with lots of fluffy pillows, kids ate free at a couple of restaurants in the hotel. The down side: we arrived in the middle of a holiday parade, and when we called the hotel to get directions (the roads were blocked off...) they didn't tell us this, just gave us further directions that didn't work either. When we got there, the parking ramp was full and the lady at the check in really didn't want me to park in the "employee of the month" spot until I told her I wasn't moving my car until the parade was over, since there seriously wasn't one spare spot to park. She begrudgingly agreed. Since I was using reward points, I was told that I had to check in the next morning as well. Which I did, except that it didn't do much good- I was still on the list to check out, so my room never got cleaned and my keys didn't work... The heating/cooling system was incredibly loud (it drowned out the TV when it came on) and kept waking me up, so I ended up completely turning it off. Usually the fans don't bother me, but it was really loud. Also, the drains in the sink and tub were pretty clogged- just brushing your teeth filled up the sink. Taking a shower meant standing in calf deep water by the time you're done. Yuck.

I agree with the fact that if you are near the pool area you will get NO sleep. Screaming & shouting continued well into the night. The staff was polite but not very helpful.. The rooms were dirty, candy wrappers under the bed, a torn label from mens shorts under the pillow and stains on the pillow cases. Garage was not well lit, we backed into one of the posts there. When we asked for at least partial compensation we were referred to traveller's insurance company who were polite at first but then stopped answering emails and sent a letter refusing to pay. If it was just me who had hit my car I wouldn't have been as angry about it. There were CLEAR markings on the same area of the pole indicating others had done the same. You would think they would do something about it. I will never stay in the Holiday Inn again.We cut our trip short because we wanted to have a good nights rest. It just wasn't worth the stay.

When I arrived the staff were very friendly and every one seemed to try to be friendly and helpful during my stay. This was the only positive part of the stay.

The room was filthy!!! and I mean dirty. The window sill was covered with dust. The bed sheets had holes in them and the carpet had dirt caked on the edges by the base boards. The bathroom had spots of mold in the tub area. I could go on and on. The room was hot and the air conditioning didnt' work and no one ever came to fix it.

The bathroom towls were like using a piece of paper to dry with. I don't think I have ever had towls so thin. I wouldn't even use the in room coffee maker. If you get hungry at night and want to eat in the hotel forget it. The only place open is a bar with limited food service.

STAY AWAY from this dump. Holiday Inn should be ashamed of a property like this.

I have traveled a great deal for business but this was a non-business related trip. This is by far the worst hotel that I have stayed in. I paid $225 a night for a small room. It was filthy dirty, the pull-out couch had food crums in it, discarded color crayons, the sheets were dirty as were the pillow cases. The bedroom was in similar state. The bathroom floor appeared not to have been cleaned. I could go on but you get the picture.

I had asked for a later checkout the night before and was denied, however, I did discover that others received a late check when they asked the next morning.

We had to tape newspaper to our inside window for privacy purposes and our room key cards had to be exchanged 4 different times during the weekend.

Stay away from this dump.

This hotel needs a complete "make over". Sticky floor in "sneakers"-the bar and a less than tasty breakfast. There are better places to stay in Duluth for this price!