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Whether you’re visiting Greenville for a concert, sporting event, or just for fun, staying in Downtown Greenville can be very convenient. You’ll be close to the action, as well as some excellent restaurant and shopping options.
And if you’re looking for a place to stay in Downtown Greenville, you should consider staying at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Greenville-Downtown.
My family and I just stayed there during a trip to Greenville, South Carolina. We found it to be among the most affordable options for its great location. And in this hotel review, we’ll go over those benefits of the location, what our room was like, the parking situation, and more.
Location
Near Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Our family was in town for the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament. So for us, we really wanted to find a hotel that was within walking distance of Bon Secours Wellness Arena. That way, we wouldn’t have to worry about finding a parking garage, dealing with traffic before and after the game, etc.
Well, Holiday Inn Express is around a 10 minute walk to the arena (about half a mile), so this was perfect for us. It makes the hotel a very convenient place to stay if you’re in Greenville for a concert or game at the arena.
More Things to Do Nearby
If you’re looking for other things to do near the hotel, Fall’s Park is eight blocks south of the hotel. At Fall’s Park, you can enjoy some of the natural beauty of the area. And you’ll definitely want to check out the gorgeous Reedy River waterfall.
Also within walking distance of the hotel are a number of restaurants. You see, a great place to go in Greenville for both dining and shopping is Main Street. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has actually recognized Main Street as a “Great American Main Street.” There’s 10 blocks worth of restaurants and stores. The hotel is actually located on 407 North Main Street, and it’s only about a block away from that stretch of places to eat and shop. And in addition to the places right on Main Street, there are signs up for nearby restaurants and bars.
Unfortunately, even with all those nearby restaurants, none of them seemed to be open later on a Monday night – it seemed that pretty much every place to eat stopped serving food at 10:00 pm or earlier (some much earlier). If you’d like to go out for drinks at that time, you’ll have options, but not for food.
Now, you may not be planning on having dinner at 10:00 PM. But you should definitely keep it in mind that if you’re attending an event on Monday that gets out late, you probably won’t have any dining options. You can, however, order a pizza to be delivered to the hotel. And there are a limited number of frozen dinners for sale at the hotel’s market in the lobby, which you can then heat up in the microwave in the room.
Hotel Room
We were very happy with our hotel room and how spacious it was. The room had ample space for luggage. There’s a wardrobe for hanging clothes (that conveniently has a side door where the ironing board and iron are stored). Extra floor space to the right of the wardrobe was nice for storing bags. There’s also a bench area underneath the TV, and plenty of space at the front of the room near the door and one of the mirrors.
Speaking of which, I appreciated how there were actually three mirrors in the room. You’ll find a nearly full length mirror near the door, a well lit mirror in the bathroom, and a hexagonal mirror over the desk.
There’s also a small kitchenette area with a Danby Designer brand mini refrigerator, a Danby microwave, and a Keurig coffee maker. Unfortunately, there’s no exterior light or lamp right in that area, which made it a bit dim.
If you need to get any work done, there’s a desk and desk chair with wheels. There are also some extra outlets and USB plugs to the right of the desk, as well as in between the beds. This was appreciated but still not quite enough for us. For example, we had to use a 3 outlet surge protector we brought from home between the beds in order for two people to use/charge Chromebooks, since there are only 2 outlets between the beds and one was already being used by the room’s clock radio.
By the way, I highly recommend the 3 outlet surge protector we use. It’s not too large which makes it convenient for travel, and it even comes with 2 USB ports as well. It’s come in handy on multiple trips of ours.
Other than the desk chair, there is also another chair in the room if you’d somewhere to sit other than the beds. Unfortunately, the chair is located in the corner at an angle and right between one of the beds and the wall, so there is not a lot of leg space.
The room had two queen beds with four pillows each. And the pillows were very soft. If you’re not sure whether to sleep with one or two pillows, I would recommend using two as the ones at this hotel compress down a little more than your average pillow.
As for the toiletries, I appreciated that the hotel offered Dove soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I’m allergic to a number of soaps, but Dove is one brand that has always been safe for me to use.
Amenities
When you walk into the hotel lobby, you’re actually on the second floor. This is also the same floor as a 24 hour business center as well as where you get free breakfast in the morning (more on the breakfast later).
The first floor is where you’ll find the fitness center, as well as access to the outdoor pool. Please note that the pool is seasonal – since we visited at the end of March, it had not opened yet for the year.
Free Breakfast
The complimentary breakfast takes place between 6:30 AM and 9:30 AM. We had a lot of options, including:
- Cheese omelet
- Turkey sausage
- Cinnamon rolls
- Pancakes from a pancake maker (they are delicious!)
- Yogurt
- Muffins (Blueberry, English)
- Cereal (Raisin Bran, Frosted Flakes, etc)
- Fruit (bananas, oranges, apples)
There’s also plenty of seating available for breakfast.
It’s not free, but the other place you can go for food inside the hotel is the market we mentioned earlier. The market is located right off the front desk where you check in. You can get sodas as well as some snacks and a small selection of microwavable meals. And one note about the sodas – the Cokes were wonderful! I personally am very picky when it comes to sodas. A lot of places have drinks that are too flat or not cold enough for me. But these Coca-Colas were just right.
Service
The employees at this Holiday Inn Express are friendly and very helpful. For example, when we ordered a pizza, they were nice enough to give us plates and napkins to use. I was very impressed with the service at the hotel.
Parking
Parking is available in the front and back of the hotel. And parking is free! You’ll just need to fill out your basic car information when you check in (you don’t need to give your license number) and then you’ll get something to hang inside your car. There’s also an offsite parking garage a block away from the hotel, but we were able to park in front and didn’t need to use the garage.
The free parking is a great perk of this hotel, especially if you’ll be going to a game or concert at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. You won’t have to pay – or worry about – finding parking when you go to the event.
Conclusion
The Holiday Inn Express and Suites Greenville-Downtown is an excellent hotel if you’d like to stay in downtown Greenville. You’ll be within walking distance of Bon Secours Wellness Arena and many places to eat on/near Main Street.
And it’s a great place to stay if you’re looking for a more affordable option in downtown Greenville! You get perks like free breakfast and free parking that save you money. And you can save even more money if you book your Holiday Inn Express hotel stay here and use one of the several deals they offer, like we did.