goldielocks222
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2010
- Messages
- 32
We went for a last minute and quick weekend stay and decided on the Homewood Suites. I looked through the board and didn't really see any info on the hotel, so I wanted to do a review to hopefully help others. I am an avid Trip Advisor reader, so I did read a lot of reviews and looked at pictures before staying. We normally stay in condos through VRBO when we vacation, so staying at a hotel was something different for us.
The location was good. It is not in walking distance to Seaworld, but it was just a few minutes drive from there and located just off I Drive near the convention center area. The hotel was a little hard to find both off I Drive and Universal Blvd and I did read about that, so I knew what to look for. It is off I Drive just behind Bahama Breeze and Fridays, so if you know that going into it, it shouldn't be too hard to find.
Check-in was easy. They gave us a pool view room and I asked them to change it since I was concerned with noise keeping my son awake at night. They changed it with no hesitation. We got a ground floor room so we didn't have to deal with the slow elevators as reviewers mentioned. Our rooom was 110. I didn't like the bright spotlight shining in our bedroom window from the parking lot, but with a toddler who prefers it dark, I am prepared with push pins and thick, black contractor garbage bags. We just open them up and put them across the window to make it dark. It works wonders and we do that everywhere we stay anyway. I like the location of the room. First floor and very close to the side exit door.
We always prefer a one or two bedroom since we have a baby so we can put him down and watch tv in the other room and each have our space. We got a one bedroom and it worked out well. The room was clean. I checked for bed bugs and other bugs and did not find anything. The sheets and towels were clean, with no extra hairs hanging out. The living room/kitchen combo was small but worked for our family of 3 for a few days. I wouldn't stay a week due to cramped quarters, but it was no problem for a few days when we were mostly at the park anyway.
I always prefer to have a kitchen which this room did. We did not cook besides the microwave, but we did use the freezer for ice paks for the cooler and fridge for drinks and leftover food, snacks etc. The kitchen had enough cutlery for several people and enough pots and pans to get by.
The couch left a little to be desired but almost any chair felt good after walking the park. The bed and bedding were comfortable. The water pressure was great. The shower had an adjustable head which is good for my longer thick hair.
The breakfast had a big selection and was included in the price. We went around 9am each morning and it was really busy. Again, I read this so I knew going into it, but we really wanted to sleep a little longer since we were at the park until close both nights. They had the following: cereal, juice, sausage, eggs, home fries, toast, bagels, muffins, fruit (not cut up but whole, like banana, orange, apple), soda, coffee, waffle makers, yogurt. It wasn't like our home cooked items, but it was definitely edible. The ladies working the breakfast station were very sweet and worked really hard to keep it stocked.
We got the room for $119 a night. I think it was a fair value. Not excellent, but it could have been higher. They had a little convenience store area in the lobby, but we did not use it. I saw they had milk and that would have been the most important thing in the event we forgot to pick it up for the baby.
Overall, I would stay here again. It was clean, convenient, reasonably priced, and the staff was always happy. I picked this hotel over a few others, Residence Inn - accepted pets and I am allergic, Springhill - looked awesome but lacked a true 1 bedroom, Hilton Grand was almost $150-$180 more total and that was hard for me to pay knowing we wouldn't be in the room much.
So, please let me know if you have any questions, I am happy to help.
The location was good. It is not in walking distance to Seaworld, but it was just a few minutes drive from there and located just off I Drive near the convention center area. The hotel was a little hard to find both off I Drive and Universal Blvd and I did read about that, so I knew what to look for. It is off I Drive just behind Bahama Breeze and Fridays, so if you know that going into it, it shouldn't be too hard to find.
Check-in was easy. They gave us a pool view room and I asked them to change it since I was concerned with noise keeping my son awake at night. They changed it with no hesitation. We got a ground floor room so we didn't have to deal with the slow elevators as reviewers mentioned. Our rooom was 110. I didn't like the bright spotlight shining in our bedroom window from the parking lot, but with a toddler who prefers it dark, I am prepared with push pins and thick, black contractor garbage bags. We just open them up and put them across the window to make it dark. It works wonders and we do that everywhere we stay anyway. I like the location of the room. First floor and very close to the side exit door.
We always prefer a one or two bedroom since we have a baby so we can put him down and watch tv in the other room and each have our space. We got a one bedroom and it worked out well. The room was clean. I checked for bed bugs and other bugs and did not find anything. The sheets and towels were clean, with no extra hairs hanging out. The living room/kitchen combo was small but worked for our family of 3 for a few days. I wouldn't stay a week due to cramped quarters, but it was no problem for a few days when we were mostly at the park anyway.
I always prefer to have a kitchen which this room did. We did not cook besides the microwave, but we did use the freezer for ice paks for the cooler and fridge for drinks and leftover food, snacks etc. The kitchen had enough cutlery for several people and enough pots and pans to get by.
The couch left a little to be desired but almost any chair felt good after walking the park. The bed and bedding were comfortable. The water pressure was great. The shower had an adjustable head which is good for my longer thick hair.
The breakfast had a big selection and was included in the price. We went around 9am each morning and it was really busy. Again, I read this so I knew going into it, but we really wanted to sleep a little longer since we were at the park until close both nights. They had the following: cereal, juice, sausage, eggs, home fries, toast, bagels, muffins, fruit (not cut up but whole, like banana, orange, apple), soda, coffee, waffle makers, yogurt. It wasn't like our home cooked items, but it was definitely edible. The ladies working the breakfast station were very sweet and worked really hard to keep it stocked.
We got the room for $119 a night. I think it was a fair value. Not excellent, but it could have been higher. They had a little convenience store area in the lobby, but we did not use it. I saw they had milk and that would have been the most important thing in the event we forgot to pick it up for the baby.
Overall, I would stay here again. It was clean, convenient, reasonably priced, and the staff was always happy. I picked this hotel over a few others, Residence Inn - accepted pets and I am allergic, Springhill - looked awesome but lacked a true 1 bedroom, Hilton Grand was almost $150-$180 more total and that was hard for me to pay knowing we wouldn't be in the room much.
So, please let me know if you have any questions, I am happy to help.
.
