New Homewood Suites - anyone stayed/reviews?

[connorlevismom]

So does express mean that it takes you from the hotel to the park with no other stops? Does this one stop directly at the hotel or somewhere else? I looked it up and it said the bus stop is at Target so I am assuming you would need to walk to Target and get the bus. Sorry - I have never used it before!

 

[tlovesdis]

I'm not sure how the express works, sorry! We take it from the Motel 6 and it only stops at one other hotel and the Gardenwalk.

 

[RKKUNK]

Hi all, we just stayed at this hotel on Tuesday night. It was really nice. They are still doing some work on it, but it didn't affect our stay. Looks like some of the rooms may not be completely ready.

We were upgraded to a 1 bedroom 2 queen suite from a 2 queen studio suite because of a reservation mess up.(Thanks Sienna!) The entire staff that we encountered were very nice. The front desk in particular were awesome and very professional.

We had breakfast there in the morning but were unable to experience the light evening meal as we were at DL until close. The breakfast was good with 4 hot food choices, 4 waffle makers, oatmeal, cereal, toast, bagels, danishes and of course coffee/tea and juices. They have coffee/tea and hot chocolate(packages) out all day and night in the lobby.

We never had a problem with the elevators and we were on the fifth floor, which is the highest.

Our room was very quiet, clean, and spacious. The beds were very comfortable. We didn't like the pillows as they flattened out when you put your head on them. The only thing we didn't like about the room was in the bedroom area, the sink/mirror was out in the bedroom area with the toilet and shower in another room with a door. In the morning when my son was trying to sleep, I was using the mirror and sink area and the light is shining out into the bedroom and he could hear the noise from me getting ready. So, no sleeping in for any one else when someone is using the sink area. Other then that, we didn't encounter any problems with the room.

The Toy Story parking lot is literally right next to the hotel. Yes, you do walk from the hotel, down the block, to a wheelchair ramp sidewalk that takes you into the parking lot. Then you walk across the parking lot to the shuttle area. We didn't time it but it didn't take that long. Less than 10 minutes for sure. We never waited for a shuttle.

We would stay there again
ETA: the pool area is nice and the pool doesn't have a slide. They do have a kiddie pool, the regular pool, and a good size hot tub. It says the pool is heated, but I stuck my hand in it and it felt really cool to me. The hot tub was a good temp.

 

[pennym]

Has anyone slept on the sofa bed? Is it the usual hard and uncomfortable kind, or is it ok?

 

[lulugirl1968]

Has anyone slept on the sofa bed? Is it the usual hard and uncomfortable kind, or is it ok?

We have not yet stayed at the new HS, but have stayed at many others. My 15 year old, 6'3 son, always chooses to sleep on the pull out, and he has never complained.

 

[texasgingerbread]

New review was posted here... http://www.disboards.com/threads/new-homewood-suites-review.3465533/#post-54778891

 

[Cats2]

So does express mean that it takes you from the hotel to the park with no other stops? Does this one stop directly at the hotel or somewhere else? I looked it up and it said the bus stop is at Target so I am assuming you would need to walk to Target and get the bus. Sorry - I have never used it before!

There's actually no "express" in the name. It looks like the ART website route finder hasn't been updated. When you select Homewood, it's choosing the older Homewood which is further away (& near Target), not the newly opened Homewood.
Oddly enough, ART even has a Toy Story route. http://rideart.org/routes-and-schedules/toy-story-line/, and on that route map, it does mention Homewood (the new one).

 

[RKKUNK]

In the other review from the link above, the poster mentioned that the sheets were made of a material that she had never experienced before and that they were rough, when we stayed there we noticed that too, but I honestly think it was because they did not wash the sheets before they put them on the beds and they/we were in a room that no one else had stayed in before. I thought it was the same with the towels.

I guess that we were lucky that we didn't have a problem with the hot water when we were there! I DO NOT like cold showers (not that anyone does ) and that wouldn't have went over well with me.

No one in our party used the sofa sleeper but I looked at it and it is just a regular pull out bed/matress, not a memory foam one.

 

[pennym]

I almost decided to switch to this hotel from Candy Cane Inn next week. Love the idea of a brand new hotel, but I'm concerned about the distance to the park. Hard decision!

We have booked at CCI and HS for mid-April next year...it really is a hard decision! I'm going with 2 seniors and they can't walk it, so it's whether or not the Toy Story shuttles are viable that is the key!

 

[luulu1999]

I almost decided to switch to this hotel from Candy Cane Inn next week. Love the idea of a brand new hotel, but I'm concerned about the distance to the park. Hard decision!

We have booked at CCI and HS for mid-April next year...it really is a hard decision! I'm going with 2 seniors and they can't walk it, so it's whether or not the Toy Story shuttles are viable that is the key!

the link given with the review talks about TS shuttle in detail

 

[RKKUNK]

Pennym, I'm thinking the CCI would probably be the better choice if you are with people who can't do the walking. The CCI has the free shuttle right there at the hotel that takes you directly to the park.

 

[mgd]

In the other review from the link above, the poster mentioned that the sheets were made of a material that she had never experienced before and that they were rough, when we stayed there we noticed that too, but I honestly think it was because they did not wash the sheets before they put them on the beds and they/we were in a room that no one else had stayed in before. I thought it was the same with the towels.

I really hope they wash all sheets before they put them on. There are probably all kinds of chemicals, manufacturing by-products on unwashed sheets. It could be they are "percale" sheets. Those have a somewhat rough feel to them.

 

[RKKUNK]

It did gross me out to think that the sheets and towels had not been washed, but I really do think that is what it was, because I got a little itchy too. Hoping you are right and it was just because of the kind of sheets they were, although we are staying there again next week and I hope the sheets are softer than they were the first time we stayed!

 

[pennym]

Pennym, I'm thinking the CCI would probably be the better choice if you are with people who can't do the walking. The CCI has the free shuttle right there at the hotel that takes you directly to the park.

We stayed at CCI last year, it was good except for that the rooms were so small and they can't guarantee us a rollaway, which we need! HS would have plenty of room for us including a sofa bed, plus the breakfasts look a lot better.....

 

[az4boys]

It did gross me out to think that the sheets and towels had not been washed, but I really do think that is what it was, because I got a little itchy too. Hoping you are right and it was just because of the kind of sheets they were, although we are staying there again next week and I hope the sheets are softer than they were the first time we stayed!

I wrote the review with the comment about the sheets. Will you post what you think the second time? I had wondered if the sheets hadn't been washed, but they didn't look like they were straight from a package. We thought we were probably the first people to ever use the room.

 

[KalamityJane]

I wrote the review with the comment about the sheets. Will you post what you think the second time? I had wondered if the sheets hadn't been washed, but they didn't look like they were straight from a package. We thought we were probably the first people to ever use the room.

It takes 5-6 washes to get all the sizing out (chemicals in the fabric).

 

[bcinohio]

We are looking at this hotel for a May trip to use DH Hilton points. I see it is next to the Toy Story parking lot. How far would it be to walk to the parks from the hotel? Is it a hard walk? This would be our first trip to DL. Thanks.

 

[texasgingerbread]

We are looking at this hotel for a May trip to use DH Hilton points. I see it is next to the Toy Story parking lot. How far would it be to walk to the parks from the hotel? Is it a hard walk? This would be our first trip to DL. Thanks.

Google maps says 1/3 of a mile and those who have stayed said 5 minutes.

 

[az4boys]

We are looking at this hotel for a May trip to use DH Hilton points. I see it is next to the Toy Story parking lot. How far would it be to walk to the parks from the hotel? Is it a hard walk? This would be our first trip to DL. Thanks.

from the front door of the hotel to stepping on the shuttle was .3 miles - easy walk

 

[RKKUNK]

Pennym-yes the rooms at the Homewood Suites are larger than CCI's. I think the Premium rooms at CCI are larger and better suited to handle the rollaway. But, I have never personally stayed in a premium room. We always stay in a standard room as it is just the 3 of us. Also, you are right, the breakfast is better at the Homewood Suites.

az4boys-I will report back after we stay there next week and let you know if the sheets were any better.

bcinohio-While the Toy Story parking lot is 1/3 of a mile from the hotel, the walk to the parks is quite a bit farther. I'm thinking it will take 15-20 mins to get to the parks. I am sure some one else here will have a better idea. We just used the Toy Story shuttles and it worked out great! We never had to wait for a shuttle. Once or twice we had to wait for a shuttle to fill up a little more but the wait was only a couple of minutes.