Holiday Inn Express & Suites South Padre Island, an IHG Hotel

First, I want to say I love HOLIDAY Inns and am an IHG fan, staying in them regularly. This hotel is not to par, and not what I believe IHG expects. We booked for 4 nights ($1750.) & changed hotels the next morning. Hotel is run down, parking scarce. Staff very nice and friendly. Hotel is not a 3 star. This from someone who travels 120 nights a year. We had to walk with all of our luggage through the hotel and past a large pool to get to our building “Tower B” because we reserved ocean view. I’m guessing tower b was part of the adjacent closed down water park at some point based on some of the exterior decor, etc. I was questioning my comfort level as I had to carry all of the luggage such a distance. They should just get rid of the small cheap wooden cabana’s by the pool as they cheapen the entire vibe and look. The elevator to our floor smelled substantially of mildew and organic growth. The room itself while dated and well used, was mostly clean. Unfortunately it too smelled. You can see where they had painted over mildew in the corner wall and ceiling by the window. We went downstairs to the outdoor grill/bar next to shower where everyone washes off their feet and bodies coming from the beach. Not the most appetizing. Again the staff was terrific. Good not bad at all. I ordered iced tea and the water in it smelled like sulfur. I could not drink it. We got back to the room and again the smell was enough it gave me a headache. I immediately went online and found different accommodations where I felt safe, called downstairs and changed my departure date. I did tell them to have maintenance check the room.