Sleep Inn & Suites University/Shands — Hotel in Gainesville

My 5 star rating is for the cleanliness, comfort of the room, location and sense of safety this hotel provides. The buffet breakfast has a very nice variety and is always fresh and flavorful.

I may be biased, but the true value of this hotel is its staff. They are an amazing group of kind, caring, funny, friendly and helpful people. From Mrs. Anne, Mrs. Joy, Mr. Mark, Mr. Holmes at the front desk, to Mrs. Dora, the buffet attendant, Mrs. Sherly and another kind lady whose name I cannot spell, the housekeepers, to Mr. Dallas & Mr. Zack, and a third, whose name escapes me, in maintenance, you won't find another group of men and woman who go out of their way to make you feel like part of the family as you will here.

The carpets are old, outdated and "1970's" ugly, but they are extremely clean and well maintained. The rooms climate controls are in tip top working order. The paint and wall paper in the room's bathrooms are old and outdated as well, but they are incredibly clean, always well stocked, nicely lit and very roomy.

The Wifi is very good and I've had no issue with conncetion. The TV's are big, beautiful screens with excellent sound quality, but the hotel has downgraded to the bare basic cable service. This means there is absolutely NO CHANNEL GUIDE. This leaves the guests no other option but to scroll endlessly from channel to channel in order to figure out what is playing on each channel at that time and that time only. God forbid it's commercial time, because you wind up missing the first 15 minutes of whatever show or movie you decide to watch, because you HAVE TO SCROLL. There are a decent amount of channels, but the LACK of an on screen channel guide to show you what is on now and coming up thereafter, on each channel is EXTREMELY frustrating. As silly as it is, this is one of the most disappointing downgrades the owner has made since I've been coming here. It may seem frivolous to complain about what most think is trivial, but my health doesn't let me do much and when I'm stuck in a hotel room between doctors appointments, therapy, imaging, X-rays, and lab work, the TV is the only thing I have to keep me sane.

This hotel is the only hotel I will stay in BECAUSE OF IT'S REMARKABLE, CARING STAFF. I feel safe, cared for and at home here because of ALL OF THEM. But, and I truly hate to say this, if it weren't for the staff, I wouldn't stay here anymore. I've been staying here for six years now, at least ince, if not twice a month. Sometimes for a few days each week in certain months.

While the staffing quality has NEVER decressed, the hotel hasn't received the needed updating and touch up care it requires to remain as equal it's staff. The owner has paid more attention to his other hotels, and has done the bare minimum with this one. The worst part is the rising cost per night and especially the new "per night" cost of homegame weekend nights.

This hotel, just the hotel mind you, is NOT WORTH THE PRICE PER NIGHT that the owner charges for homegame stays. The staff definitely is, but the rooms definitely are not. An Air B&B or similar would probably be cheaper than the "per night" cost of these rooms on homegame weekends.

I have a few issues with the owner. He absolutely REFUSES TO HONOR the "Medical &/or Veterans" discounts during homegame weekend. I'm sorry, but not everyone is here for a freaking football game. Some of us are here for surgeries, medically necessary procedures and doctors appointments. If we can provide proof, either with a letter stating our medical reason for being there, or admit / discharge papers, then he should very well HONOR THE DISCOUNTS.

He has such amazing employees, I think if he would take the time to realize their value, he'd do more to improve the much needed updating and refreshing this hotel requires, which honestly isn't much beautification wise. I hope and pray he will, because I really don't want to stay anywhere else when in...

We have been frequenting this hotel for years as we visit our child a attending UF. The maintenance man is above and beyond nice( or so we thought). The front desk Joy, also above & beyond nice. The cleaning team has something to be desired. Check in on 10/22 turned into a nightmare of dirty rooms with towel still in bathroom hanging on door, pillows with shoe print marks and a fridge that didn’t work. Joy was happy to move us and Maintenance man was immediately in the room inspecting it with the cleaner. ( whom I heard arguing with him that she didn’t leave the room like that when we were reassigned to a room on the same floor and hallway, of which his reply to her was “ I know you didn’t, I know it was them”- my question is, who is them???? Us???? Ridiculous!) Anyways, new room looked and smelled better but when I turned the AC unit on in the window- ants scattered EVERYWHERE! I went to pick up my cup that I placed on top of the dresser by the tv and ants had already covered 1 inch from the bottom along with tiny spiders that were coming out from under the TV. We also saw hair and dirt around the drain in the shower- clearly not cleaned and the bed skirts had lots of debris( I did not inspect closely if it was bed bugs, we hightailed it out if there). For $185 a night, we definitely expect the basics… clean & bug free. We immediately went back downstairs to check out and cancel the reservation. Joy was very concerned & accommodating. This filthiness is absolutely hands down unacceptable! We went straight across the street to the Marriott where they matched the price and accommodated us for the evening in a beautiful, clean and comfortable suite. Unfortunately, you’ve lost a repeat customer & Mariott gained one. The snarky maintenance man with his lack of a spine to stand up to his cleaning crew when she pushed back on him is laughable. Gauging from the clientele hanging in the parking-lot when we left, seems like this hotel has taken a nose dive. There’s a reason your competition had full parking lots, and you did not. Take heed, your competition is doing it right, and...

Not as clean as it could/should be. The VA paid for our room. For a free room, I guess I really shouldn't complain but Veterans deserve better than this regardless of who is paying. I just wonder how much Kickback the hotel is getting from the VA system.

The room came with two queen size beds, a desk, one night stand, a lamp standing in the corner with a chair shoved up against it.. there was also a small fridge, a microwave and a coffee maker in the other Corner next to the desk. The room needed paint touch-ups. There had been damage on the wall and you could tell where someone added putty but did not smooth it out before painting.

The chair would have been better near the desk instead of in the corner were there could have been a second night stand. Thought it odd that the telephone was on the desk and not on the nightstand in case you were waiting on a wake-up call in the morning.

The lamps were old. You could tell from the corrosion on the base of them . The furniture was chipped and scratched and maybe with a good polishing that might help the appearance.. At best it looked like yard sale furniture.

The mattress was wonderful. The pillows were absolutely the worst. The bathroom was clean but there should be a handicap toilet for older people. While the water got hot and the water pressure was outstanding, the shower head was dirty and should be cleaned or replaced. The carpets in the room were stained..

Since surgery was so early the next morning we did not check out the continental breakfast. I would not have paid more than 90.00 a night had I been paying.

Again, Veterans deserve better accommodations.. I will say that the hotel is in a good location to the VA Hospital and...