This is not anywhere near what you'd typically expect from a Holiday Inn Express. It's beautiful. It's clean. It's trendy. It's modern. None of those adjectives usually come to mind when I think of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels. This particular franchise is stellar, I'd go out on a limb and say it's the nicest hotel room I've ever stayed in.
My wife and I have stayed at several hotels in the downtown area of Cleveland over the years, the closer to 4th Street the better. There are some really nice hotels in the area, all convenient walking distance to most of the restaurants and bars we like to go to. We had walked past this Holiday Inn Express many times and from the outside you get a sense of it's former life as a bank, which intrigued me to check out interior photos when booking our most recent trip. I'm so glad I did. The guest rooms have all been recently renovated and look like expensive loft apartments. The honey colored hardwood floors could cause anyone refinishing their home or basketball court to be severely jealous. The ceilings were soaring and the king sized bed was very comfortable. There were granite countertops in the bathroom and great water pressure in the shower (this is usually my biggest gripe about hotels). I can't speak for the quality of the continental breakfast, we didn't go to Cleveland to eat hotel pastries (no offense). We opted to drive to Lucky's Cafe instead. Parking for the Holiday Inn Express is in the garage next door and is $14 a day, with come and go privileges. There isn't a whole lot of reasons to move your car once you are parked, though. The location is perfect for walking to everything.
I will most definitely use Holiday Inn Express when booking our next weekend in Cleveland and wouldn't hesitate to tell you the same!