Holiday Inn Express Merrillville, Merrillville

We stayed at this Holiday Inn Express due to the proximity to Deep River Water Park. I attempted to book at two other hotels nearby first because I prefered the accomodations and amenities offered, but they had no suites available, so we opted for this hotel. Upon arrival, there was a large group of travelers in the lobby taking pictures for their trip and no one staffing the front desk to check us in. I could see two staff sitting in their offices but it took them a while to come out to assist me. I believe it's because the hotel is short-staffed. We swam in the pool, and no one regularly came in to clean or pick up used towels left behind, so they were piled up throughout the sitting area. It didn't bother me, but it may be an eyesore for others. For bedtime, we had two children, so we planned to use the foldout bed in the sofa, but there were no spare linens in the room. I called downstairs to see if we could get sheets, pillows, etc. for the bed, and the staff person told me she was there by herself, and if I wanted the bedding right away, it would be better if I came down to get it myself. Again, I didn't mind doing it, and appreciated that she was honest with me so I didn't have to wait unnecessarily, but it could be perceived as poor customer service. In the morning when breakfast was served, it was quite crowded in the breakfast area, but there only appeared to be one person staffing the breakfast bar. It took a while for food items to be restocked once they ran out, and some things never were restocked during the breakfast hours, again, I believe, because of low staffing. We appreciated how polite and friendly the staff were, but there just didn't seem to be enough of them to go around. We had a great time on the trip, and there was otherwise nothing wrong with the room or the hotel. Everything was very clean, and check out was a breeze. I did feel that I had overpaid somewhat for the room (we got the suite) given the low number of staff, but with the few other hotels with suites in the area already booked, we didn't have much choice.