Homewood Suites by Hilton Madison West — Hotel in Madison

Horrifying Bed Bug Experience & Terrible Customer Service — Still Waiting for Accountability I don’t usually leave reviews, especially not long ones like this, but I feel morally obligated to share what happened to me and my daughter during our recent extended stay at Homewood Suites by Hilton – 479 Commerce Dr, Madison, WI (May 16–31, 2025). This was, without a doubt, the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had and I’ve traveled extensively and stayed in hundreds of hotels over the years.

We booked this hotel for two weeks while my daughter finished her school year before a cross-country move. Everything seemed fine until the very last morning, June 1st, at 5:30 AM, when I found a live bed bug crawling across my pillow. I caught it with tweezers and placed it in a sandwich bag, immediately taking it to the front desk. The overnight attendant was kind and apologetic but informed me that maintenance wouldn’t be in until 7:30 AM to confirm it.

In the meantime, I was absolutely panicked. I had to clean and pack all of our belongings without knowing how far the infestation had gone. We had been there for two weeks, living out of the room with visits from friends and family, and now I had no idea what might have been exposed.

At around 7:40 AM, I called the front desk to follow up. That’s when things took a shocking turn for the worse. The woman who answered, Abby (who apparently only works Sundays), had a disgustingly rude and dismissive attitude. I was visibly shaken and trying to ask what the next steps were — but she told me to “stop talking” and acted as if I was the problem. Instead of offering a solution, she belittled me, had zero empathy, and acted like I brought the bed bugs with me.

Then came Aaron, who showed up wearing sunglasses inside at 10 AM, acting completely detached. He offered no comfort or real help. I was eventually told I couldn’t switch rooms because I could “spread the infestation,” and that I had to leave the hotel that day. Keep in mind: I had just paid for another night (due to them checking me out and back in) — yet I was kicked out of the same room I never left.

Their “resolution”?

A refund for only the last night (not the full stay — because I had “checked out and back in”) $20 in quarters to wash all of our belongings at a laundromat No help or reimbursement for the fact that I may now need to pay for extermination services elsewhere No acknowledgment of what this has cost me emotionally, mentally, and logistically No support, no escalation to management, and no follow-up Eventually, we were begrudgingly moved to another room (without our belongings, which remained quarantined), and granted one additional free night — a bare minimum gesture considering the circumstances.

I have photo and video evidence of the bed bug and the condition of the room. I kept detailed notes. I acted responsibly and respectfully throughout this ordeal. What I received in return was poor communication, horrific customer service, and the deep violation that comes from sleeping unknowingly with pests for two weeks. I’m still left uncertain whether they’ve spread to our possessions or worse — our new home.

This is not how you treat paying guests, let alone long-term ones. I am actively seeking further compensation and accountability from Hilton corporate, because what happened to me is not just unacceptable —...

We stayed here on Wed night and Friday night and requested pet free rooms as my husband has severe pet allergies. The king suite on Wednesday was roomy and mostly clean. There were some hairs in the corner of the bathroom and the shower track was filthy. The tv is tiny and the remote did not work well, nor could one hook up roku because the input could not be changed. I went downstairs to inquire and the front desk rep showed me on the lobby tv to adjust the input by pressing under the middle of the tv where there is a button to toggle. That worked!||The evening reception was great except for other rude guests who were filling up tupperware bowls leaving everything empty until the worker could refill (which was not often enough due to this). We felt like we were being monitored by these guests. I don't know if they live there or what but it was very uncomfortable. Breakfast was ok. There was some sort of burrito you could make with chicken that did not look appetizing. We had to deal w/same rude guests filling up their tupperware bowls and, again, being monitored by them. They acted like they should be the ONLY ones there. On Friday night, we checked in. This king suite was not as nice. A light was burned out. The toilet was disgusting and the shower door handle was falling off. The bed was not very comfortable either. There was not an evening reception, which we knew. The bed was not comfortable in this room, either. The tv in this room was, again, tiny and it did not have the toggle button on the bottom for us to change the input and watch our roku. I talked to the front desk and they offered not help this time and pretty much said too bad. The breakfast was not very good this morning, either. Not much offered (why no raisin bran is beyond me). The same rude guests were there again just staring everyone down and still filling up their tupperware bowls. Is this a hotel or an extended stay place for older people?||As far as a pet free room....I am not convinced....or should I say my husband is not convinced. His allergies were fine UNTIL we go into each room. In fact, we had to go buy him allergy medicine from the pharmacy just so he could sleep so I (we) are not convinced that they will place you in a pet free room when requested. This is something that should NOT have to be. One should not have to request a pet free room. It should be the other way around. ALL room should be pet free and if the hotel wants to cater to this nonsense, then there should be a small block of rooms that only allow pets that one should have to ask for if they insist on bringing their pet.|VERY disappointed in this aspect of the hotel. Not only are pets allowed in the rooms and probably were in our room, but they are allowed during the evening reception and during breakfast. This should be some sort of code violation! We had to deal with owners and their dogs during both times which is very frustrating!!||Lastly, there were no Bibles...

The hotel was decent. The room was a bit small, but fairly new and clean. Some of the dishes were dirty even though there was a note posted saying they were all clean. The toilet clogged in my room. I notified maintenance and they sent someone up within half an hour.

I think this hotel has potential to be very good, but I had a combination of bad luck mixed with bad timing. I'll explain what I mean.

I really wanted to like this hotel. I really did. The outside is very nice and seems well maintained. But, I chose the wrong weekend to stay.

The hotel had a very large group of guests staying there. And I'm talking it seemed they rented almost the entire hotel. I walk in after some sight seeing and I'm greeted by very loud, noisy, obnoxious beer drinking guests. They had the entire lobby filled with these people. I squeeze my way up to my room to change into some swimming gear.

I get to the pool and I have the entire thing to myself, this is awesome! That lasted an entire 5 minutes. Kids started to wander into the pool area, a lot of them pre teens without their parents. My relaxing, quiet dip in the pool and hot tub turned into a noisy splash fest. I felt like I had no other options but go back up to my room.

The next morning, I wake up and go down to score some complimentary breakfast. Oh, wait, the dining area is packed full of the same people that were out in the lobby last night. And they rudely take up ALL the tables. I was forced to sit in a big cushioned chair and hold my plate on my lap. It was so uncomfortable, and members of this group quickly scattered around me. I quickly eat my food and head back up to my room. I head out and do more sight seeing, come back, guess what? The group is back in the lobby chugging beers and being as loud as ever. It seems like there's even more people than the night before. This time, I came back carrying a bunch of groceries. I had to squeeze past all this people with arms full of groceries. What a hassle!

I'm writing this when I'm in the hotel. I'm dreading going down to breakfast tomorrow, because I'll probably be forced to squeeze in, grab my food, and take it up to my room because no seating will be available.

I don't understand why Hilton allows this thing to happen. They pretty much let one large group of people take the hotel over for the weekend, leaving the other guests feeling very uncomfortable and unwelcome. Good facility. But terrible...