My wife had a pretty terrible check-in experience. While she was greeted warmly at the ground floor and directed to an upper floor for an upgraded check-in, on the upper floor, she was met with an endless hassle.
First, they demanded a reservation number. I was at a meeting, my wife had to call me, I gave the reservation number. Then they demanded a different reservation number. She called me again, I gave the different number. Then they demanded a screenshot of the reservation. She called me again — third interruption of a meeting! I sent a screen shot. Yes, I could have added names to the reservation (but Hotels.com doesn't make that simple). But no, it shouldn't be this difficult — and certainly, your agent at your upgraded checkin station should be be so rude. If we wanted the Holiday Inn experience, we would have picked a Holiday Inn.