Homewood Suites by Hilton Tampa-Port Richey — Hotel in Bayonet Point

This is based soley off current stay from 8/20-8/25. We've been staying here for a week every month for the last 4 months. Every other stay has been mostly good, a small hiccup last stay, but all around I would still have said 5/5.

This stay has been a totally different experience.

We checked in at 7am on Weds after driving all night long, exausted. Right away I requested a new room due to not having a tub but they were full & told us to ask in the AM. We awoke at 1pm & were covered in sweat! Immediately I called to request the new room. The man I spoke to argued with me about wanting to send a repair man up, he clearly misunderstood me thinking ac was broken but it worked fine it was just a bad layout and the back half of the room does not get cold enough. Also, my husband is not completely handicapped but does have problems and needs a bathtub for things to be a bit easier (mostly for me when he requires help) and this room did not have one, which I requested when we first got here. But the man basically said since we did not call in the AM it was too late to switch rooms, I reminded him of our arrival time and the fact we drove all night long but he still refused to give the resolution I was requesting, a room change. We had an appt at 1:30pm & were running late so I just decided we'd just deal with it.

Next day, we had an appt from 9am-10:30am & when we got back we noticed my husband's service dog seemed on edge. She barked a few times while we ate lunch, which was very unlike her. We never seen her do this specific routine & couldnt understand why she was barking off her normal commands/alerts. Around 12:30-1pm we took a nap & heard the banging of the construction. THAT'S what was upsetting her & she was alerting us to possible danger. She is literally an alert dog, just usually has other tasks & we personally never seen this specific alert since we've owned her. Then, around 3pm a lady from front desk calls us complaining about our service dog "barking all day". 1st, she is an alert dog doing her job. We were not informed there would be construction 2nd, I did not appreciate the accusatory nature of the call OR the fact that it was 4 hrs+ after anything happened. 3rd, it was not "all day". Had she even been alerting while we were gone, it was still only about a 2hr window where she was alone & the alerts are not constant. Had the threat stopped, she too would have stopped. Just like when we returned to the hotel, she alerted with 2x (barks) about 3x and once she understood we were not in danger, even when the banging continued, she ceased. Had we heard with our ears while it was happening we could have let her know we were safe but we did not hear it until after the alerting had stopped when we layed down. Had they notified us when the issue actually occured, they could have told us what she was probably hearing & we also could have understood and ceased the alerts, but again they did not. Or had we been informed before booking, we would have stayed somewhere else as the noise can be confusing and disrupt her normal routines. Also we think that the smell of the construction dust may have bothered her as even the morning we arrived her demeanor was not the same as any other previous visits. She was whimpering slightly like there was something wrong or frightening her but we didn't recognize this as alerting & brushed it off as her not feeling well.

To summarize: we sweat all night long, my husband struggles in the shower, construction is noticeable (& got no warning nor discount) as well as an exaggerated complaint 4+ hours after the incident would have occured acting like our service dog is a problem when infact it was the construction. The 2 people from CS that we interacted with had been argumentative and/or unhelpful & this has not been the standard we have come to expect from this hotel. I highly doubt we'll be back here after this stay, unfortunately. I would have left tonight for the way both these situations were handled had we not already paid for a...

Our experience was, mixed. As much as there is potential, there is also room for improvement. The location was perfect for us, visiting people in the Sundance RV park, and all of the nice little beaches around. The staff, at least some anyway, were also friendly and helpful, and the pools and hot-tub were nice.

However, on night 4, we became aware that the bites we were getting on our ankles, and the little bugs in the room, were not no-see-ums, but fleas. These bugs did not fly, but jump, and they were getting worst.

So on day 5, we asked if our room could be cleaned. We returned in the evening to find that the fleas were very much still there, that’s when those videos are from, and so I asked to have a new room, in order not to go through another night of being nibbled at, and also concerned not to bring these back home with us. So on the evening of that day I changed rooms, and thankfully no fleas in that one.

On day 6 in the morning, I went back to the front desk, and was actually told the room had in fact been sprayed, which I have no reason not to believe, but I am quite disappointed they thought just spraying, and leaving the live fleas in there, was quite enough in terms of what they could do. I was also quite disappointed that all they offered us in terms of recognition of this bad experience, was a sweet from the snack bar.

I understand how this hotel is pet friendly, but I can’t imagine people would willingly go there, whether they have pets or not, to experience a room with fleas, and the poor customer service that followed.

I was hoping they would make this right, but given all they offered, it honestly reflected even worst.

Safe to say I won’t be coming back here, and will rethink going to any Hilton brand hotels going forward, as this kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.

Port Richey itself has a fair bit to offer though, so don’t let this weigh against your decision to visit this corner of Florida.

P.S.: My only guess is that a previous guest in the room had an animal, and it either had or was getting fleas, and upon our arrival the fleas were still in their early stages, larvae, and as our 7 day stay went on, they were hatching. I didn’t hear anything from other guests, and I certainly hope this is not a common occurrence. These bugs lead to serious infestations that need to be taken care of seriously. Or at least that’s what I think, so that’s partially why it was so disappointing to see this being treated the way it was. I did not make any kind of scene, I was specifically careful not to have our conversations at the front desk overheard, after all, this was probably an isolated incident and I didn’t want other guests to necessarily think this was a widespread problem. And I was hoping to not leave disappointed as a customer, but given the service and experience we got, I thought to at least leave this review as something for others to be aware of.

• UPDATE *

Just off the phone with Tara the manager this morning, and they tell me that an exterminator was brought in the next day, and that there was nothing in the room. The staff also didn't see anything in the room. So essentially I'm either a liar or I'm wrong. If I am wrong, I am more than happy for someone to tell me that. But based on the videos below, I am still quite certain those were in fact fleas. And they will do...

The only reason this hotel is getting 2 stars from me is because it's beautiful, the pool is gorgeous and one is heated, one isn't. The hot tub is also nice and the breakfast and complimentary social were the only reason my family and I stayed as long as we could. My fiance, kids, and I travelled from Massachusetts and arrived at 5 am. Our reservation wasn't til 4 pm that day so I expected to pay some extra BUT not $140 extra(which was more than the nightly rate I booked). The guy at the front desk told me I needed to pay for a full day and the room I reserved wasn't available so I would need to pay $140 to check out at 12pm and then check in for the room I reserved. I wasn't going to pay $140 for 5hrs. I went to discuss with my fiance and he comes outside to tell me I can come back at 7 and he can see what he can do or I can wait until 8 for the manager. We just drove 16hrs to drive around for another 2 hrs hoping then we could check in without paying a ridiculous amount for several hours. We returned at 7 to only be told now it is $118 and the same thing, only this time I was offered to receive a phone call when a room became available. So my family and I drove around for another 4 hrs and finally received a phone call. We were given the option to to pay $44 for the partial day and upgrade to a different room for $8 extra per night. I agreed and appreciated that. I was told a hold for the FULL amount INCLUDING the extra $44+tax and 15% extra would be put on hold so $607 was put on hold BUT when I woke up in the morning another $52 was taken out. I made no big deal of it because my family was having fun. Then we had 2 nights remaining and this 1 woman was picking and choosing who to make rules with. My fiance went in to get coffee and since they were all out of cups the nice lady from the kitchen gave him a glass and then this lady comes and tells him he can't take it outside after the woman from the kitchen said he could, then she proceeds to tell him he needs to put on a shirt after several other men walked in and out without shirts. Yes, my fiance has plenty tattoos so what. For days we watched plenty of men walk in shirtless and not a word. My children who are less than 4 ft tall were jumping in the pool like all the other children and we're doing this for days with all the other children and today were told they couldn't do that. No drinks are allowed at the tables by the pool BUT a group of other people were only told to move away from the pool with the drinks, my fiance was drinking coffee and they had alcoholic beverages.......and FINALLY we decided to check out early after our experience at this hotel and I asked about my funds being released and the other guy in the front tells me it won't be released until AFTER 2am when I was checking out at 7pm. The hotel is nice and a select few of the staff were pleasant BUT I wouldn't stay at this hotel or recommend it to...