We recently stayed three nights in a 3rd floor room. There is construction going on next door (we couldn't hear it from our room) but as you enter the hotel from Wave St. it was closed to through traffic. The location of this hotel is ideal. There is free parking under the hotel, we only needed the car one day otherwise we were able to walk to the aquarium and restaurants both on Cannery Row, the wharf area and Alvarado Street. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful throughout our stay. Take a look at guest photos - the stairs are pretty unavoidable unless you request a 1st floor room. We definitely got our steps in!

Stayed here for 2 nights so we could visit the aquarium. Room was clean but nothing special. Rate was good. Parking was easy and free! They actually had a warm breakfast with a decent selection, which was a big deal because most hotels were still serving COVID to go cold bags. Others have commented on road noise. We stayed at the front and when we first entered the room the window was partially cracked. Closing this, the road noise was minimal and didn't bother us at all. I'd stay here again but as others said, be prepared for the stairs. Location is great!

Two words.....
Bed Bugs!
We checked in on Sept 28, and even though we ended up having to switch rooms, it wasn't a hassle. They have an elevator, but here are steps to get to your room, so I requested to be moved to the first floor. There are still two areas on the first floor with stairs, but at least those steps are deeper so I would have been able to manage with crutches, if necessary.
The room itself was okay; nothing fancy, but seemingly clean. The noise from the road was really loud. I checked the windows, which were slightly open; when I closed them the noise level lowered. It was still annoying but I could handle it.
Now we come to the real issue. I turned off the light and lay down to sleep sometime after midnight. A short bit later I turned the light back on, as I got up I noticed a bug on my pillow. Being half asleep, it didn't ring a bell. I got a tissue and disposed of it. Then I saw another bug on the bed sheets. I woke my husband and told him. I managed to get the second bug into a tissue and gave it to him. He took it and compared it to pictures online as neither of us has seen a bed bug. It was definitely a bedbug. YUCK! My husband then began to inspect the area around the beds. He started counting bugs behind the bed stopped at 25 saying there were just too many to count. Ditto behind the bedside table and the other bed. Many of the bugs were dead, but there were also live ones mixed in. He took some dead ones and a couple of live ones to the bathroom-there apparently are bed bugs and maybe something else mixed in with the crowd.
He went to the front desk and informed the lady there. She was apologetic and tried to help, but had to defer to management. She offered us a different room, which my husband inspected with his flashlight. He found bugs and possibly some bug eggs, although not as many as in room 108, so we declined the room. The front desk person who had checked us in in the daytime was called and was really no help, other than to "cancel" our reservation as we had no option but to drive the four hours home again as you can't really find a hotel at 2 am in Monterey. He also accused me of having been "unhappy" when we checked in. That was a total insult, not to mention totally untrue, as I was very friendly when checking in and even when requesting a room change. On top of that, even when confronted with this very major issue, both my husband and I were very friendly, did not blame the night clerk, and we were calm and polite throughout. We had paid aquarium reservations which we now can't use, nor have refunded. I place the loss of that cost squarely on the hotel. If there had been a single stray bug, it still would have been disconcerting, but because there were masses of dead ones and live ones, they had to know somewhere along the chain of command that they have a bug issue. Oh, and the daytime guy did tell me over the phone that they have a pest service every three weeks, so that tells us they are very aware of the problem.
We carefully packed up the room, using a plastic trash bag I had along, for anything that was on or near the beds at any time, shaking everything well and inspecting everything thoroughly. Luckily our suitcases had been up on the racks the whole time. We drove the entire way home at nearly 3 am, arriving there at close to 7 am, exhausted, but not done yet. We put everything we had with us in our backyard to deal with later, stripped off our clothing and went in and took showers. My husband was able to fall asleep after all that but I never really slept. It was an exhausting ordeal for two 65 year olds, and not one I ever want to repeat. This was a trip for our 46th wedding anniversary, and we had dinner reservations, along with the aquarium tickets, and a few other things planned.
I used to go to Monterey a lot in the past, but haven't been there in a very long time, so was excited to see it again and do the things we had planned. Instead, it was a waste of gas and time, and a big letdown on a trip we had been looking forward to and were excited about. At least we got to see the ocean, and eat some delicious ice cream at Ghirardelli's, plus walk around Cannery Row a bit.
At some point in the future we'll go back to Monterey, but you can bet we won't be staying at the Holiday Inn there ever again. At the very least they should be offering us points on my rewards club account for free nights at another IHG hotel as an apology for the entire fiasco.