How are Cole Haan shoes?

They are ok. I would not pay more than $100US for a pair. Check out the buy and sell sections here and look around ebay for some used shoes of better quality that can be had at the same price.

Not really. Yes.

They are not that well made.
Personally, I would stay away from them.

If your budget is ~$100, I would get Johnston & Murphy's.

In my view they were better before Nike took them over.

That's exactly what horrible about them.

Before I knew any better, I bought some Cole Haan leather sneakers with the weird Nike sole. I don't ever wear them because they just don't look right. I also had friends who bought the Cole Haan dress shoes. The construction didn't look too awful, some of them appeared to be welted. However, the leather looked awful and plasticky.

Cole Haan has a lot of different shoes, made by different manufacturers. I have some Made in USA loafers that are pretty decent. I also have a pair of Benchmade in England (I suspect by C&J) cap toes that are quite nice.

True.

I have a pair of driving shoes from Cole Haan - those work great as a casual (and less pricey) alternative to Tod's.

I would stay away from their formal offerings.

I used to purchase CH shoes back in the good old days (pre-Nike). CH has a boutique in the Cherry Creek mall here in Denver. Most of the entry to mid-level shoes are made in India crap. There are a few higher end European-made shoes still available. AE or Alden are better bets these days.

Twotone

Most of the Cole Haan Benchmade in England I've seen are Cheaney, though I do know for the fact that I have seen CH by C&J somewhere here on SF.

the high end cole haan collections from my experience were great.
made in italy, soft bologna construction leather soles.
the regular pedestrian collection from cole haan sucks. the nike air is not a good sole imho