Homewood Suites by Hilton Milwaukee Downtown — Hotel in Milwaukee

My wife and I drove from Detroit to Milwaukee on Friday, December 30, 2022 for a 3 night stay. We were tired from our long drive an anxious to get into our room. Upon entering our room and putting our luggage down, we quickly realized that the room had not been cleaned! We took pictures of the room and then called down to the front desk to let them know that the room they put us in was not cleaned. The clerk at the desk seemed irritated about our call. She answered the phone saying, “now what”? We got our luggage and went downstairs to talk to someone, in person, because it was obvious we could not stay in that room. We spoke with Miriah, the Font Desk Supervisor and showed her the pictures of the room she checked us into. Her first words were "oh, that room must have fallen through the cracks.” She offered to put us in another room and that she would compensate us, in some manner, for the inconvenience. Since we were tired from driving and didn’t want to start looking for another hotel to stay at, we agreed to be moved into a “clean” room. We got into our new room, which was on the sixth floor, room 609. It was clean and comfortable. However, this was just the beginning our nightmare! We had the room for three (3) nights and, we didn’t get any sleep as the guests staying above our room, assuming 709, were loud (yelling), using vulgar language and constantly walking back and forth and in and out of their room throughout the night. I called down to the front desk several times throughout our stay, using my cell phone as the phone in the room did not work, to see if they could do something about the noise and they said “they would look into it” and “that it was probably the guests from the wedding party they had staying with them”. In the morning on December 31, 2022, when we were headed out, Mariah, the Front Desk Supervisor, saw us and handed us a bag with some chocolates and a Sparkling Ice drink along with a hand written card apologizing for the dirty room and that the hotel would be crediting 30,000 points to my Hilton Honors account. We thanked her and then proceeded to tell her about the loud noises from the people above us. That we did not sleep and that we called down to the front desk to complain. We asked if she could do better than just “points” on our Hilton Honors account and she said she would take an additional $100.00 off our night stay for December 30, 2022. She also mentioned that the 30,000 points was work approximately $160.00; which wasn’t true as the points were only worth $60.00; which, by the way, wasn’t added to my account for over 3 weeks. And, Mariah never took an additional $100.00 off our night stay !! Our second night, December 31, 2022, the nose from the guests above us was even worse! The yelling, banging on the floor, using vulgar language and slamming their room door was horrendous! I called the front desk twice and I was told it was from the wedding party and that they would go to their room and let them know to keep it down. I called the front desk on December 31, 2022 at 6:53 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. On our way back to our room that evening, we stopped at the front desk to ask about the guests above us to see if they would be checking out the next day, January 1st and we were informed that they are “full-timers”. That they have been there about nine months. So it was never the guests from the wedding party; they outright lied. They knew that they put us in the room right below someone show was “living” at the hotel ! !! I had to call the front desk on January 1, 2023 at 3:41 a.m. and 8:16 a.m. And I had to call the front desk on January 2, 2023 at 6:57 a.m. and 10:32 a.m. I tried speaking with the hotel manager, Travis Gitter, and he was rude and dismissive. He had no care in the world to listen to me or to try to resolve any issues I had staying at his hotel. We travel a lot and have never had this type of experience. I highly recommend you stay at a...

As a Hilton Diamond member for the last 15+ years, trust me when I say DO NOT STAY HERE. By far the worst experience with Hilton or any hotel for that matter. This hotel and staff (Adam, Clarissa, Michelle, Laurie) is an embarrassment to the entire Hilton brand. The leadership is horrendous which makes it all the more clear why the employees we encountered were lacking basic customer service skills. The GM, Adam never returned phone calls or followed-up as promised. Even after opening up a complaint through corporate. When I called the help desk for the third time after deadlines for follow-ups came and went she finally handled the situation saying "it's clear the management isn't doing their job and he isn't going to call you back." The front desk employees weaved their way in and out of lies and kept getting caught up in them. If you have read other reviews praising the staff & customer service, I was told that apparently this group just took over management of the hotel so you can disregard any 5 star reviews that make you feel as if you will be taken care of here. Not sure if this was true or just another lie told by the front desk employee (Laurie). We entered our room around 1:00pm on Saturday and immediately noticed the smoke detector chirping every 5 seconds. We dropped off our bags and went back downstairs and stopped at the front desk on our way out of the hotel to alert them of this situation (no more than 5 minutes after checking in). They assured us this would be taken care of. The smoke detector was very high and would require a ladder. We were told the issue was resolved. At 12:30am the smoke detector was still chirping. We called the front desk and spoke to Michelle who told us that someone would be up shortly. After waiting an hour we called the front desk again at 1:30am. Michelle had clearly forgotten about this and came right up (smelling of fresh cigarettes). After looking at the smoke detector and realizing it would require a ladder she left saying she needed to call the front desk supervisor and would call us in 5 minutes. When she called back she informed us that there was no ladder on the premises and it would have to wait until the following day and there were no other rooms to put us up in. She also mentioned that the front desk supervisor, Clarissa (the woman we first notified of the issue and who claimed it was resolved) told her that she had gone up and couldn’t get it fixed that afternoon, but her shift was over so she left. We ended up leaving the hotel at 2:30am to drive two hours home because we were not going to get any sleep with the smoke detector going off every 5 seconds. I asked that the GM call me to discuss this issue and compensation. I was put on a long hold to verify when Adam would be at the hotel next. Michelle assured me he would be in on Sunday (the following day) and would call me first thing in the morning. At 12:30pm on Sunday I had not received a call so I called the hotel asking for Adam only to find out he wasn’t working that day. This time I spoke to a woman named Laurie, who again was lacking any basic customer service skill whatsoever. She indicated that Michelle (the overnight front desk person) didn’t know what she was talking about and only told me what she thought I wanted to hear because she was “dealing with an irate person”. We were very calm up to the point when we found out that an issue that was reported at 1:00 in the afternoon wasn’t handled during the day and now at 2:30 in the morning there was nothing they could do about it. She also told me there wouldn't have been anything they could do about it anyway because they don't have a maintenance person starting for another week. Lastly, not that you need any more reasons not to stay here, but the parking situation was absolutely atrocious. I can’t imagine what it would have been like in the winter to have to deal with walking all the way around the building or in back...

This review might be long but with good reason… long story short, we loved our stay. It was easy to find although we struggled initially with where the entrance was (some doors are locked/need room key to open). The hotel doesn’t offer specific parking accommodations, from what I understood, but there’s plenty of options between the large parking garage and lots across the street. We opted for online checkin and used the digital key option so we didn’t visit the front desk initially. We were on the 3rd floor facing Clyborn street in a King accessible room. The room was very large with a kitchen, bathroom (roll-in shower), sofa bed, and king bed. I liked the available linens in the closet so we didn’t have to call downstairs to request them. The windows and ceiling are huge and it makes the room feel enormous. It was such a unique feel and made us feel like we were in an upscale loft. The remote curtain closures are a nice touch. My kids loved that there were plenty of USB ports and outlets for game charging. The king bed was comfortable. The pull-out not so much. I appreciate that they have the option because when traveling with kids, it’s nice to have their own bed. This however, was the first time my kids had ever complained about a bed. Lol. You can feel the wires/springs throughout the mattress. Eventually the kids said they’d rather be on the floor, so it must’ve been pretty bad. We called downstairs for extra towels at one point and Kenneth was very quick to meet our request. Later on that first day we went downstairs to get waters and Kenneth was at the front desk to greet us. He was very personable, and such a happy guy. He was a pleasure to meet and we loved seeing his face every time came into the lobby. I wish all hotels had a Kenneth! From asking directions, to suggestions on places to eat, places around the area to take the kids, and more, Kenneth was such a huge help. He’s honestly the first employee I’ve ever encountered at a hotel who seems genuinely happy to be there, happy to help, and happy to greet guests. I love this and it makes the trips away from home so much more enjoyable. I don’t know if he will ever see this, but Thank you Kenneth for making this trip so much more enjoyable.

If you’re looking for places to visit there are so many options within walking distance. If you walk under the bridge right outside of the hotel, there’s the Public Market. There’s food, drinks, gifts, etc. we spent a lot of time here because there were so many food and drink options. Our favorite was St. Paul’s at the Public Market. You can also walk to the riverfront for more food and entertainment. There’s restaurants everywhere around this hotel though, so you have many options.

We really didn’t have any issues while we were here. Of course the kids didn’t like their bed but, it’s a pull-out couch so. We live rural and aren’t used to the city sounds. Even with sound machines on (fans), the traffic below is pretty noisy, but that’s the price you pay for staying directly in the city and you’ll have that most places. Maybe a higher floor wouldn’t have been as bad? Not sure. Also, As we were packing up on our last day, we noticed ants on the kitchen counter. We had a pizza box sitting on the counter and the ants were everywhere on the pizza. It had only been sitting on the counter about a day but I recommend not leaving food out just in case.

This hotel is fascinating. There’s history behind it. If you have the time, walk around and see the exposed brick, plaques, and display. What’s nice is that they kept the history when they renovated this place but it doesn’t feel “old and dirty”. It definitely feels new and clean throughout.

Pros: Spacious rooms Clean linens and comfortable beds Location Accommodations (fitness room) Included Breakfast

Cons: Exterior (city) noises Parking Uncomfortable...