Holiday Inn Express - InterContinental Hotels Group charged for pet cleaning charge $250.00 Indianapolis, Indiana

While traveling during the Thanksgiving season; we opted to stay overnite in Indianapolis.  We made reservations at the Holiday Inn on Keystone Ave.  When we arrived at the hotel we noticed a sign "No pets allowed" and told the desk clerk we had two dogs. He referred us to a Holiday Inn Express at 5302 Victory Drive. We stayed at this hotel on November 24, 2009.

When we got home on November 29th, 2009, there was a message from the general manager of the Victory Drive Holiday Inn stating he was charging our credit card $250.00 for a pet cleaning charge.  He further stated we signed an agreement that we would be responsible for such a charge.  Additionally, he said the charge was not negotiable and not to contact him. He further stated that a hotel employee saw our dogs and we had left a dog blanket on a bed.  We were not told nor did we notice a "No Pets Allowed" sign.

I am not denying we had dogs as evidenced by our notification to the first hotel. Since our referral to the Victory Holiday Inn was done by another Holiday Inn employee we didn't question their selection. At the Victory Holiday Inn there was no sign at the check in desk nor did we sign anything stating a " No Pets Allowed" policy. Also, we did not attempt to hide our dogs from any hotel employee.

A letter to Holiday Inn corporate did nothing except a generate a form letter from Brenda Johnson. She said the hotel would " contact us directly to discuss the situation further".  That didn't happen!

We stayed at Holiday Inn because of their pet friendly policy we will not be staying at a Holiday Inn again.