Homewood Suites

[Queen Elisabeth]

Has anyone stayed at Homewood Suites? They get almost all glowing reviews and they provide a breakfast buffet and a light dinner and they're on a "light" ART route, plus they have newly renovated suites with full kitchens.

I am considering staying here but I'd like to hear from you experts. It's kind of a long story but I have to go through Costco Travel so I can't stay at HoJo.

 

[fronkfam]

We stayed there about a year and a half ago. The newly renovated rooms are so nice! It was great for us to have a kitchen. Our room had two queens in one room and the living/kitchen area in another room where the couch also slept 2. We never ate the light dinner, but the breakfast was super. Always plenty of hot items. The dining area could get crowded, so we ate on the patio a couple of times.

As for the ART route, it was a bit of a pain for us. There were times that we probably waited 15-20 minutes to get a bus to the park. That is a difficult wait with 4 kids. Several times the bus was VERY full. I loved the hotel, but haven't stayed there again because our trips are more enjoyable when we can walk to and from the park.

Good luck with your trip!!!

 

[Karenann*]

Homewood shares a dedicated private shuttle with another hotel and charges the same as ART. It runs every 30 min. If you prefer ART as we do, there is a stop at the hotel next door. We are staying there in July on the recommendation of friends who stayed there last year.

 

[specialks]

We stayed there in Sept 2008 and Sept 2009. We loved the place. The suites are all renovated and have full kitchens. Flat panel TVs in both rooms. We also requested a Disney facing room (top floor) and we could see the fireworks (granted they were VERY far off but you could see them)

The breakfast is always nice. Different hot dish each day, cereal, bagels/muffins, and best of all, make your own waffles!

The first year we did not each the dinner but last year we did. It was actually ok - kind of like good cafeteria food. Everyone in our party enjoyed the meals and my husband especially liked the complimentary beer. The two meals we had were spaghetti and sloppy joes.

One negative is the elevators are slow and there are only 2 of them. If you get a far room (away from the lobby) there is another elevator that is not as busy and has a separate entrance. We parked there (on the back side) and entered that way.

The housekeeping was wonderful! We would leave our dishes in the kitchen and when we came back from the parks they were all run in the dishwasher (make sure not to leave out non-diswasher safe stuff; they put everything in the dishwasher). The beds were always made nicely (even the pull out sofa put together everyday).

We really LOVE this place. Our next trip we are probably going to stay somewhere in walking distance. We always drove to the parks and the drive is quite easy.

When I asked about shuttles I was told they use ART. I don't know what the other person has found about a private shuttle but I was never given that information. They are on the ART route and I guess it would be possible the shuttles could fill up but the front desk didn't seem to think there was a problem taking ART. Of course, we have always gone in the off-season.

I think this really is a great place if you don't mind taking ART or driving. For around $100-$120/night you get an amazing 1 BR suite with full kitchen, free deluxe hot breakfast, and free dinners on certain nights. Really is a steal of a deal!

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

Thanks for your replies!



I'm having so much trouble deciding on a dang hotel! Every time I make up my mind, I second guess myself, lol.

I made the switch to this hotel, but I'm worried about transportation taking forever. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.

 

[6Smiles]

When are you going? We will be staying here from June 19 - June 27 so if it is after that I'll be doing a TR. There is a Trip Report by kylieh in TR thread where she talks about both her ART experience and the hotels dedicated shuttle which costs the same and runs every 1/2 hour .

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

When are you going? We will be staying here from June 19 - June 27 so if it is after that I'll be doing a TR. There is a Trip Report by kylieh in TR thread where she talks about both her ART experience and the hotels dedicated shuttle which costs the same and runs every 1/2 hour .

We are going in December for Christmas so I'll be looking forward to your TR!

I know about the dedicated shuttle but it sounded to me by the TripAdvisor comments that that shuttle drops off a lot further than the ART. Also, although the per-ride fees were the same, I didn't get that the hotel shuttle offered a family pass like ART, which is considerably cheaper for my family of 6 than paying per ride. I'm off now to look for kylieh's report. Thanks!

 

[mkarizona]

Absolutely our favorite place to stay!! I wish we didn't have so many free nights elsewhere.

 

[Karenann*]

We are going in December for Christmas so I'll be looking forward to your TR!

I know about the dedicated shuttle but it sounded to me by the TripAdvisor comments that that shuttle drops off a lot further than the ART. Also, although the per-ride fees were the same, I didn't get that the hotel shuttle offered a family pass like ART, which is considerably cheaper for my family of 6 than paying per ride. I'm off now to look for kylieh's report. Thanks!

Getaway Today has ART passes for reduced fees. There is no shipping charge and no waiting at a Kiosk when you get there. They have 5 day pass for $10 and 7 day for $16. I used Art because you can go anywhere in the ART system including Gardenwalk, Block@Orange, and Metrolink transport station. At the ART website, there is a map to view or download which shows all the routes.

 

[LindaM]

We stayed here last month and loved it. The staff were great, the breakfast and welcome home dinners were good. We didn't use the shuttle as we perfer to drive to the parks. We will be staying here again in October. Enjoy your trip.