Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport by IHG

The hotel is conveniently located close to the airport, and has ample free parking. The room was available an hour before check-in time, and they allowed us to check out at noon as our flight was later in the day.
However, the room was dismal and tired. There was a separate living area with a sofa bed for my daughter, but despite that, the room was very congested. The sink was outside in the room and not in the bathroom, which I hate. The carpet was old and actually kind of damp for some reason. The air conditioning and the bed were quite comfortable though.
The breakfast was standard fare, what one would expect at 2-3 star hotels. I hadn't included the breakfast in the room fare, but I was able to go down and have breakfast for $12, which is a pretty good price.

Great location to the airport. The pool was closed , they didn't have any regular coffee for the room, the rowing machine in the gym was broken. On a good note, the staff was great and the room was nice.

Location

Staff in the check in was very helpful

How big it is

We had a terrible experience, and IHG has NOT been helpful. Our room had a chair with a large, disgusting stain; the fridge had takeout containers with rotten food; the curtains were ripped; two of the three lightbulbs in the bathroom were burned out, and the remaining one was flickering. We requested new lightbulbs and both the chair and rotten food to be removed, but the hotel did not oblige. I am still awaiting a refund! Do not stay here.

We found this hotel when we decided at the last minute to go to a Brewers game. All the hotels downtown were so expensive, we decided to try this one that was more reasonable. It was really nice for the price, and although fairly far from the stadium, it was simple to get there from this location. Our check-in was easy, and the staff was very kind and informative. She even told us how to get to the stadium without having to get on the interstate. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is we paid extra for breakfast, and it really was nothing special. It was a very small buffet and not much choice of items. It served the purpose of feeding us before we got back on the road, but I’m not sure it was worth the extra cost with the room.

Nothing

The staff was courteous and very helpful.

On June 16, I experienced what is, without question, the worst hotel experience I have ever had.

I arrived at the Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport at approximately 5:10 PM to check into my confirmed reservation. The front desk agent, Kiki, informed me that there were no clean rooms available and that it would be about 30 minutes before one was ready. I accepted that explanation, left to have dinner, and returned around 8:30 PM—more than three hours later—expecting my room to be ready.

Instead, I was told that they had no rooms available at all and that I would not be staying there.

No phone call. No text message. No apology before I arrived back at the hotel. Just, “We don’t have a room for you.”

When I asked where they were relocating me, as walking displaced guests to another hotel at the property’s expense is standard practice when a hotel oversells, I was told, “We were busy today and the city is sold out.” Their solution? They could cancel my reservation “without penalty.”

Without penalty?

The penalty was entirely mine.

I was stranded in a city where hotel inventory had essentially disappeared because Crowne Plaza sold me a room they ultimately could not provide. I immediately contacted IHG Customer Care, only to be told there was nothing they could do because the hotel was sold out. Their attempt at making things right was an insulting 15,000 IHG One Rewards points—a gesture that doesn’t begin to compensate for what followed.

I searched everywhere for a room. The closest available hotel I could find was a Hyatt charging $882 per night—well outside my company’s travel policy. With virtually no options remaining, I had to drive an hour south to Chicago just to find a hotel with availability.

To make matters worse, I had an early morning flight departing from Milwaukee. That meant driving an hour to Chicago late at night, sleeping fewer than four hours, and then driving another hour back to Milwaukee before dawn to catch my flight.

Because Crowne Plaza oversold its hotel.

Because Crowne Plaza failed to relocate a displaced guest.

Because Crowne Plaza offered no meaningful assistance whatsoever.

This wasn’t an inconvenience—it was a complete failure of hospitality and customer service. At no point did anyone take ownership of the situation, attempt to find a solution, or demonstrate even a basic level of empathy.

I’ve stayed at countless IHG properties over the years, and this experience was by far the most disappointing. A confirmed reservation should mean exactly that: confirmed. If your hotel oversells, the burden should never fall entirely on the guest to solve the problem.

The Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport failed at the most fundamental responsibility of a hotel: providing the room that was reserved. Its complete lack of accountability and customer care is an embarrassment to the Crowne Plaza and IHG brands.

Avoid this property if you value reliability. A reservation here is apparently nothing more than a suggestion.

It was good