Home2 Suites by Hilton Huntsville/Research Park Area, AL — Hotel in Huntsville

I moved to Huntsville for work August 1st. My house was not yet finished and I needed to stay in a hotel until it was completed. I chose the Home2 Suites due to its location, reviews, and the fact that they are pet friendly.

My stay here started with a call to reserve a room for 1-2 weeks. I was advised by the person that I spoke to that they would reserve the room for the first week and that I could let them know by the end of that week if I needed to stay longer. Upon check in, a few of the dishes in my room were not clean, with dried on food stuck to them. At the time this wasn't a big deal, mistakes happen. I washed the dishes and began to enjoy my stay. While I was there for the first week, the staff was very friendly and I didn't have any complaints at the beginning.

When I went down to the front desk at 8:00pm to extend my stay, I was informed that the hotel was booked and that I didn't have a room and needed to check out the following morning by noon.

I told the person working the front desk that this did not work for me and that I had initially asked to stay for up to two weeks with the possibility of checking out early due to the unknown completion date of my house. He needed to make a few phone calls so my wife and I went to dinner and came back to the hotel expecting an answer. We were once again informed by the desk clerk that the hotel was booked (along with the Hampton that is in the same building) and that we would have to check out the following day by noon. I asked for a manager and was told that the manger would not be in until around 9:30 the following morning. I left my phone number for them to give me call since I would be at work by the time they got in.

Reluctantly, I packed up my room and got ready to check out of the hotel the following morning. When I woke up to check out I went into the bathroom only to find a 3" long cockroach scampering around on the counter in the bathroom (I have a picture to prove it). I angrily killed the insect, put it in a coffee mug and delivered its carcass to the front desk. I gave them my room number and was told that they already have a note for the manger to call me (no apologies at all).

When the manager called she apologized for all of the inconveniences, told me how everything SHOULD have been handled (this does me no good at all at this point) and told me that if she were there the previous night that everything would have been handled differently. She claimed that they NEVER have bug problems and that I can expect an insect or two to make their way inside when I'm in the south. The 4th floor in the middle of the building in a room that I never opened the window in is a long way for one bug that crawled in the front door to make it before being found. I have a very hard time believing that this is the first and only cockroach in the building. Where there is 1, there are thousands. The most troublesome thought about this is that my cats, who usually sleep all night and are silent, were making all kinds of noise that night and running around the room. I can only assume that this thing was crawling around the room, being chased by the cats, and seeked refuge in the bathroom where the door was closed and inaccessible to the cats.

So here I am, with no where for me, my wife, my two cats, and my puppy with no where to stay. I suppose I should be happy that I am out of this hotel and away from the cockroach but I'm still without a place to stay. The manager offered a $10/night discount off of my bill and comp'd one night. I do appreciate the discount but am still not satisfied with the outcome.

Stay at...

If I was allowed to give 4.33 stars, I would.

I've always had great experiences with Hilton properties, but this one was a semi-exception (tl:dr It ended up being a good experience). I was in town to pace a marathon and while the employee who checked me in, as well as the one who was on duty when I checked out the next day were great, the morning employee was not so nice. While I understand that 5:00am is early, if you're on duty, at least be available.

The reason I needed to speak to the staff was to request a late checkout so I could grab a shower after the marathon before I drove home. Twice, I visited the front desk, but no one was there. Even after I waited and knocked on the kitchen door as I heard them preparing for breakfast. There was an office with the door open and while I didn't want to go beyond the front desk, I needed a yes or no before I left. I decided to go to the outside of the office and knock (I saw the employee in a chair turned away from me). She was sound asleep. I get it. I'm sure the overnight shift sucks, but she wasn't kind after I profusely apologized for waking her.

After explaining my situation, she told me she couldn't do anything to help me. She told me I'd have to call after 8. Well, that wasn't going to work because I was expected to be running at that time. I asked if she could leave the 8:00 staff a note, she turned and walked away. The other guest in the lobby stared in disbelief. There were many guest staying there to attend the marathon, so I wasn't the only one up and about.

I sent my husband a text explaining the issue and asked if he could call after 8 and request a late checkout and text me with their answer. He sent a text with "all good." When I called him after running, he said the employee told him checkout wasn't until noon, so it shouldn't be an issue. Why he didn't think I knew the checkout time was noon, I'll never know. After explaining that I knew the checkout time and more time was needed, I called them myself. Of course, they gave me a late checkout of 1:00, which was all I wanted.

The 3 star rating is for the employee that was rude - not because she didn't give me a late checkout as I know the hotel is not obligated to offer that, but because of her attitude.

Also, I give my husband 3 stars because he couldn't understand how I couldn't get my shower in before noon when I was pacing until 10:40. Being a pacer himself, he knows how long it takes to talk to the runners you've paced, take pictures, and drive to your hotel.

I also give myself 3 stars for not asking for late checkout when...

The hotel itself is very nice, well layed out, modern, and spacious. The basic rooms are very nice and have the right amount of amenities foto e night ir extended stays. The inly problem I have is with the cleanliness.

The hotel lacks staff that cares about keeping things clean. The lobby is very clean, but as soon as you enter the elevators you gebi to see it. The staff does a poor job of maintaining the elevator floor clean, they are often soiled or wet and no one bothers to keep them clean (they may do it once or twice per day, but the floor is often dirty.

The hallways are dirty, often have bags of trash laying around and the carpet is not vacuumed enough. Looks dirty.

Enter the rooms. The entry and bathroom floors were sticky and had shoe (sole) marks for the first week I was here. Several in our group complained and it took nearly 1 week for the staff to properly clean the floors. The type of "cleaning" done daily is slim to none. They may replace dirty towels, pull the bedspread and fluff pillows, but that is it. The staff does not wipe down counters, vacuum, do the bathrooms, replace empty tissue box or toilet paper... even the soap dish in the bathroom was dirty from day one and have yet to clean it 8 days later.

The full service cleaning is supposed to be done every 5th day. Staff oversight made it happen on the 7th day.

Bottom line, nice...