Holiday Inn Express: "Comfortable but something didn't quite click!" Top 5 Page for this destination Carlsbad Caverns National Park Hotel Tip by Bwana_Brown

A sudden business trip to Carlsbad, New Mexico found me in the state for the first time since I had been to Albuquerque five years earlier on another business trip. I spent two nights at the Holiday Inn Express and found its rooms to be of their usual high quality. However, I did not really find their complimentary breakfast to be quite up to the mark in comparison with other mid-range hotels that I have used - and normally I'm not all that fussy about what I eat. Everything just tasted 'blah' for some reason. Overall, the $123/night price with taxes seemed a bit steep to me.

Unique Qualities: The trip resulted in our services being accepted a couple of weeks later, so I returned to Carlsbad with another five employees to begin a 3-week assignment (during which I managed to slip in my trip to Carlsbad Caverns). Because it was cheaper to rent local housing than to put that many people up in hotels for that amount of time, I did not stay in any other Carlsbad hotels. However, some of the guys that did stay in them while the housing was being finalized said that the Days Inn (at the south end of town) was terrible but that the Comfort Inn (near the Holiday Inn at the north end of town) was great.

Carlsbad is only about 20-odd miles north of Carlsbad Caverns NP and it is the only decent-sized community within striking distance. There seemed to be quite a number of motels scattered along its main street so I'm sure visitors to the National Park would be able to find something that suited their tastes. Just outside the entrance to the Park, a limited motel selection is available in Whites City - but I just passed through on my short day-trip.

Address: 2210 I West Pierce Street, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
Comparison: more expensive than average
Directions: Near the south end of town on Highway 62/180 as it passes through
Phone: 575-234-1252
Price: US$120-180
Theme: Hotel