As Hilton’s entry into the upscale extended stay market, I have always liked some concepts the brand brought into the industry, but my experience at the Homewood Halifax unfortunately cured my curiosity.
I arrived fairly late so I decided to check in online and get a mobile key. When I arrived at the hotel, the gentleman at the front desk seemed to be fairly confused and insisted I should have been next door (at the Hampton Inn). I tried to let him know a couple times I checked in online but he seemed puzzled and kept scrolling through his list. I ended up showing him my reservation code, he punched it in and said “oh you checked in online!” which I tried to tell him a few times not a minute ago. I found this amusing afterwards, but not on the spot at 1am tired from travelling. He did find my reservation and apologize in the end, and to be fair to him I can see how guests can confuse the two Hilton properties so it must have been a knee-jerk reaction.
The room condition, though, was quite inexcusable. I stayed in on the 16th floor had all kinds of issues, namely weird noises coming from weird places. Bathroom fan sounded like a turboprop engine and cannot be turned off (by design?). My room seemed to have two independent A/C systems and the wall thermostat could only control one of them. And when wind picked up overnight, the window rattled and creased like crazy, which woke me up a few times, and I’m not a light sleeper by any means.
Breakfast was chaotic at best. Service was extremely slow, and queue for food was all the way to the lobby. Kids were running around with no supervision, adults were hogging the tables after finishing their food, and given the fact the seating area was tiny to begin with, I had to carry my food all the way upstairs to my room. I understand the staff had nothing to do with what other guests were doing, but without interference this didn’t look very good on the hotel either.
All around, the Homewood was a disappointment. It had a prime location and the view was awesome, however the experience was far below par.
RealScore
Service: 5.0
Design and Room Size: 7.5
In-room Amenities: 9
Bathroom Size and Layout: 6
View from (my) Room: 9
Hotel Location: 8
Available Guest Facilities: 6
Food Quality: 7
Food and Beverage Service: 5
Executive Lounge Quality: N/A
Final RealScore: 6.88
Final RealRating: B
Hotel is built/opened: 2014
Total number of rooms: 135
Length of stay: 1 night
Membership level at check-in: Diamond
Room type experienced: Standard Studio
Hotel4Real! 