Homewood Suites by Hilton Akron Fairlawn, OH — Hotel in Bath Township

We were very disappointed with our 3-night stay at the Homewood Suites in Fairlawn Ohio at the end of June 2024. Silver Rewards member, moving close to Gold later this year. For reference, have stayed in Tru brand once, Hampton Inn & Home 2 Suites many times, and Homewood Suites a couple of times over past several years. So have a good idea of what to expect from each.

The room and bathroom appeared fairly clean and in reasonable shape.

Our room was a bit warm upon entry. Noticed thermostat missing from wall (bare wires showing) and living room unit not running. Bedroom thermostat set at 68, but temp was 74. Notified front desk. Attendant stated no maintenance person around (4pm). Was to create work-order. Checked next morning and found out she didn't create. Very bad.

Had to ask front desk for toilet paper (almost out) and tissues (out) that evening as well. Would have thought this is part of normal room cleaning/inspection. Missing floor mat in bathroom as well, but just used a spare towel to step out on. [Had to ask for some clean towels after a couple of days, even though signs in the bathroom indicate the room is refreshed every couple days for longer stays. Surprisingly, a floor mat showed up with the towel refresh as well.]

Breakfast - what a disaster on Friday/Saturday! Typically we'd find all sorts of choices. The only things present were a few hot items and one type of cereal. No fruit, yogurt, pastry/bread items. And there was no massive crowd consuming items. No napkins. They placed a roll of paper towels for folks to tear off a sheet from to use. Seriously? Folks - there is both a Sam's Club and Walmart close by to get items if you're having trouble with your stock arriving! It was exactly the same way on Saturday. Even worse, both days the waffle batter was out (again, this was at 8am, not close to breakfast closing time). I asked if there was more available. On Friday, the lady (who was very personable) indicating that yes, she'll put out some more. Fifteen minutes later, I checked back, and still none. I peeked around the corner where breakfast prep work is done, found her there socializing and joking around with one of the male maintenance workers. I asked again about the waffle mix. She replied that she was waiting for the lumps to work themselves out. Really - wouldn't it help to be stirring it? Again, we've stayed in numerous Hilton brands and never encountered this type of situation at breakfast. Yes, some have been tremendously busy and were running out of food, but the staff would readily be on top of things. But not at this location. Sunday breakfast was better. Hey - we now had napkins! And some fruit had been put out. And there was waffle mix. Hurray, at least some improvement. But still not like we've witnessed at other locations.

This location has a major management problem. Obviously the breakfast situation could have been dealt with by a quick thinking manager (e.g. go down the street to get something as simple as napkins, not to mention fruit, etc.). We encountered staff often huddled in various areas socializing and obviously not doing there jobs. Some complaining about their jobs. Often seeing the same ones outside the doors smoking multiple times. And of course I already mentioned the lack of attention by the breakfast attendant on Friday and Saturday. And the front desk person working Thursday afternoon/evening not fulfilling her promise to create work-order for A/C problem.

Again, this visit was a tremendous disappointment, and definitely not what we've come to expect with the 4 Hilton brands I mentioned early in this message. Fortunately we know this is not normal for Hilton properties - otherwise had this been our first experience at a Hilton property, we'd be looking at a competitor for our future travel needs. We have experience with many of them over the years (for both business and personal travel), but have chosen to frequent the Hilton properties the past several years. So hopefully this particular property and its manager gets its...

My husband and I booked this hotel for one night after calling around and many others were booked. We were given a great rate and were pleasantly surprised with the hotel at first. The room was awesome: large with every kitchen item you would ever need, a full refrigerator, living room with separate bedroom and a television in each one.

However, on closer inspection, the room wasn't as clean as we would have liked. There was some purple gunk caked on the bathroom wall as well as the bedskirt; the coffee table was obviously cleaned with a dirty rag, and the grout in the bathroom was dirty. We discovered that the rooms had been renovated less than a year ago, which tells us that the cleaning staff is not properly cleaning the bathrooms if the grout is that dirty. It made us wonder what else was dirty in the room...

The next morning, my husband and I made our way to breakfast around 9:15 (it was meant to last until 10.) The first staff we encountered was a cleaning woman with her cart blaring music from her phone. We actually heard it in our room and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. OK...

We were not the only ones in the lobby area eating, but we seemed to be the last ones to get breakfast. After gathering our food and sitting down for about 5 minutes, the hotel staff began congregating in the lobby area. They sat down near us and other customers and began chatting. We were seriously baffled; it was around 20 staff. Then two manager-like people showed up and began conducting a cleaning staff meeting. What??? There is nowhere else to do this? At this time it was about 9:30, and again, breakfast was served for guests until 10. This is when we learned that the rooms had been renovated less than a year ago. We also learned all the things that customers had complained about. After their meeting, the cleaning staff descended upon the breakfast and ate it in the lobby area while chatting loudly and making phone calls. Again, there is nowhere else to do this?

Mind you, my husband and I don't care if meetings are held and we could care less if the staff eats the leftover breakfast. Nothing going to waste, right? But seriously, holding meetings in a part of the hotel that guests frequent and allowing the staff to eat, gab, and make phone calls in the same area is probably the most unprofessional thing I've ever seen in a hotel. Who came up with this??? Also, there is a smoking area designated in the back of the hotel. About 4 staff were smoking right outside a side guest entrance/exit near the lobby, in direct violation of law and creating a smoke cloud for guests to walk through. We actually ended up walking through it because that door was closest to our car.

Honestly, at first, we were impressed with the Homewood Suites, but after the dirtiness of the room, experiencing the cleaning staff's meeting, and witnessing their break time we won't be back. We've never been at a hotel charging this price for a room that allows their staff to be so unprofessional. And we know this isn't the cleaning staff's fault....standards are set by management. I'd recommend steering clear of Homewood Suites...

EDIT: The hotel reached out to me and helped with this issue. Updating my rating to reflect that.

Stayed with my wife and 4 kids, this was one of only a few places that didn't try to put us in two rooms and was the cheapest. Check in was great, gentleman working the front desk on check in was great and he was still there next morning as well. Lady making breakfast both mornings was awesome. Room smelled clean and seemed nice when we checked in. Dishwasher and microwave and fridge were all clean. Bathroom had some hair on the shower curtain but otherwise clean. Now I don't know how hotels work but I booked the room 3 days in advance and picked my room using the app about 5 hours before check in. They knew there would be six of us. We got checked in, and immediately went to the pool. First off Hot tub was down for maintenance which was not mentioned during booking or check in. The pool was under maintenance as well but it was working upon check in. Not sure why that wasn't mentioned during booking. There were no towels in the pool room and only a handful of small towels in workout room. I had to walk soaking wet out to the front desk to get towels. I also had to get towels for the room since there was enough to only 2 people, not a family of 6. I had to go back down again and asked for bedding for sleeper sofa, again we booked for 6 people. After the pool we got dinner and settled in. Next morning we had an outing and once we got back I started noticing issues. I'll save some time and just list the issues I found. No towels in pool. Hot tub down. Used shower cap and hair tie under edge of bed. Toilet paper or wipes of some kind in corner of room. Outlet in kitchen was half unscrewed. Really bad job trying to patch a drywall issue. Trim piece missing and staples sticking out under bathroom sink. Coffee pot didn't work. Ceiling fan worked but light didn't. Burn in of some kind on tv screen in bedroom. AC unit in bedroom was falling apart but operational. Lady at front desk seemed bothered I asked about staying another night and at checkout.

Minor inconveniences were a table that only sat 2 people. For a suit that sleeps up to 6 but easily 4 I'd have thought the table would have been bigger. The thermostat screen in one room was messed up but usable and on checkout day the buttons for the elevator didn't work on our floor. I had to walk down 3 floors to bring the elevator up. These last issues weren't big deal but should be noted if travelling with more than 2 people. I expect these issues at a comfort inn or Redroof or other discount motel. I did not expect these issues at a Hilton property. I would try the Homewood Suites again, I hope this was a one time issue. Of course when I contacted staff they apologized and that is as...