Homewood Suites by Hilton Needham Boston — Hotel in Needham

DO NOT STAY HERE. The management is defensive and unfriendly. We are not complainers at all but will share this review everywhere we can to help fellow travelers. Hilton Honors made this right but NOT THE LOCAL MANAGEMENT. I have never written a scathing review before; only positives as I am a very positive person. But today is an exception. I checked in at 10:00am to the hotel. I was VERY TIRED after cancer treatment and watching my newborn preemie grandchild which is why I am here. All I wanted was to lie down and rest until my husband arrived at noon and then at 3 we would be off to the preemie again. I unpacked including groceries which took 45 min as we are staying 8 days. The room felt very warm and was registering 78 though it was set to 68. When I turned the A/C down it got hotter. I called Kenny the manager and asked for someone to come look. The lukewarm response was not at all up to Hilton standards, almost like I was 'bothering' him, but someone was sent up and I was told "The A/C is working fine." OK. AN hour later and it is now registering 79 degrees. My husband arrived exhausted and was so looking forward to a short rest. Instead we had to call down again and complain that the A/C was not working. Someone was sent up again and after an hour confirmed that it was in fact not functioning (as I said 2 hours earlier). He had to turn the A/C off in order to fix it. Now it is really hot and stuffy in the room. I'm tired, my husband is tired, the dog is upset and anxious and we are told this could "take a few hours if it works at all" We asked to be switched to a new room and told Kenny that we felt we deserved a nights credit for all our inconvenience. (It would take us an hour to fully re pack and move clothes, dog food etc. to the new room) We were told NO with no apologies or anything. "We have resolved the issue because we moved you to a new room" was what we were told. Almost like we were being demanding and that this was our fault! We ;iterally spent the whole morning/early afternoon dealing with this. I called Hilton Honors and after another 45 minutes was told yes this never should have happened and that of course we should have been given the credit but that they could not do anything until we check out. I seriously considered moving to the Residence Inn by Marriott right down the street but we were by now totally exhausted and they were booked so we stayed. But after THIRTY years as Honors members we will be canceling our membership after this. Such poor customer service it is truly a shame. After 8 days here I witnessed the same poor customer service at the front desk by this man multiple times. I even ehard 2 different customers walk away stating the same thing about the 'rudeness'. Save the headache and choose the Residence Inn right down the street. NOTE: HILTON HONORS MADE THIS RIGHT ; AMAZING, BUT STILL DOES NOT CHSNGE THE PROPERTY AND LOCAL MANAGEMENT SO SADLY THE...

DO NOT STAY HERE. The management is defensive and unfriendly. We are not complainers at all but will share this review everywhere we can to help fellow travelers. Hilton Honors made this right but NOT THE LOCAL MANAGEMENT. I have never written a scathing review before; only positives as I am a very positive person. But today is an exception. I checked in at 10:00am to the hotel. I was VERY TIRED after cancer treatment and watching my newborn preemie grandchild which is why I am here. All I wanted was to lie down and rest until my husband arrived at noon and then at 3 we would be off to the preemie again. I unpacked including groceries which took 45 min as we are staying 8 days. The room felt very warm and was registering 78 though it was set to 68. When I turned the A/C down it got hotter. I called Kenny the manager and asked for someone to come look. The lukewarm response was not at all up to Hilton standards, almost like I was 'bothering' him, but someone was sent up and I was told "The A/C is working fine." OK. AN hour later and it is now registering 79 degrees. My husband arrived exhausted and was so looking forward to a short rest. Instead we had to call down again and complain that the A/C was not working. Someone was sent up again and after an hour confirmed that it was in fact not functioning (as I said 2 hours earlier). He had to turn the A/C off in order to fix it. Now it is really hot and stuffy in the room. I'm tired, my husband is tired, the dog is upset and anxious and we are told this could "take a few hours if it works at all" We asked to be switched to a new room and told Kenny that we felt we deserved a nights credit for all our inconvenience. (It would take us an hour to fully re pack and move clothes, dog food etc. to the new room) We were told NO with no apologies or anything. "We have resolved the issue because we moved you to a new room" was what we were told. Almost like we were being demanding and that this was our fault! We ;iterally spent the whole morning/early afternoon dealing with this. I called Hilton Honors and after another 45 minutes was told yes this never should have happened and that of course we should have been given the credit but that they could not do anything until we check out. I seriously considered moving to the Residence Inn by Marriott right down the street but we were by now totally exhausted and they were booked so we stayed. But after THIRTY years as Honors members we will be canceling our membership after this. Such poor customer service it is truly a shame. After 8 days here I witnessed the same poor customer service at the front desk by this man multiple times. I even ehard 2 different customers walk away stating the same thing about the 'rudeness'. Save the headache and choose the Residence Inn right...

Lobby/Common Area The Lobby is spacious and clean.

Lobby men's room.  2 stalls and 1 urinal. SUN -The handicap stall only had 1 roll of TP.  The floor had some litter and needs to be swept. TUES- early morning the bathroom was freshly mopped. WED- the paper dispenser is out of battery and does not work.

Guest room hallways are bright and clean.

Outside perimeter There is a basketball rim outside by the back of the building.   The court is padlocked, I assume you need to get the key from the front desk.

Parking lot is relatively clean.  No noticeable excessive trash in the shrubbery. The parking stall lines are faded and need to be repainted.

Staff

Front Desk All FD Staff responsive to guests questions. FD Staff did initiate greetings to guests.

Housekeeping Staff No greetings when encountered in hallways.

Food Service Staff I did not see any of the breakfast staff greet any guest.  Guests had to make the initial contact.

Monday- staff did not have any forks out.   They had to search and gather together enough silverware...not plastic forks.  Still stocking and prepping food area at 645AM.

So it looks like the food staff only wipes down tables towards the end of the breakfast service instead of in-between guests or periodically.

Shuttle Driver N/A but there is a van

Room 311 Very clean and bright. Did not find any dust on obvious surface. Kitchen is well stocked, however there was a glass missing from the cabinet, it was inside the dishwasher. What is missing is the serving tray that the ice bucket normally sits on.

Food 2 waffle makers, hard boiled (shelled) eggs, oatmeal and apples are standard daily fare. SUN- scrambled eggs, sausage patty, country potatoes, carnitas MON-  scrambled eggs, potato pancake (latkes), maple sausage and pork chorizo TUE- scrambled eggs, Yukon Gold Potatoes, chicken carnitas, Canadian bacon WED- scrambled eggs, sausage patty, red skin potatoes, carnitas THUR- scrambled eggs, potato pancake (latkes), maple sausage and chicken chorizo

Gym/Pool The Fitness Center and Pool are located across from each other and require separate unlocking to access. The Fitness Center is very spacious and clean. 3 thread mills 2 elliptical machines 1 stationary 1 recumbent bike 2 incline benches with a full dumb bell set 1 Precor FTS Glide workout station.

Guest Laundry 2 Guest Laundries4th and 6th Floors Each room has 3 washers and 3 dryers

$2.00 wash 30 mins $2.00 dry 45 mins

Business Center Right next to the Front Desk.  2 divided work areas with a wireless printer.  No PC.  There is also an ATM located there.

Ice makers Located on each floor.

Guest Elevators 2 Guest Elevators with trash and recycling...