Homewood Suites by Hilton Sarasota — Hotel in Sarasota

The room was nice. Bed was comfy. Kitchenette was adequately stocked with dishes. Cleaning staff were extremely friendly.

Breakfast wasn't the tastiest but it's free so can't complain too much about that. Plus, there was a waffle maker... who doesn't like a waffle maker :).

Why I'm rating 2 out of 5 stars is because of the manager on duty during our check-out, Betty, who was rude and inhospitable. She was not very kind to her employees, yelling at them while we were eating breakfast. Also, instead of putting the effort in to right a misunderstanding she belittled us in front of other guests and kicked us out!

Some background on the misunderstanding:

We confirmed a late check-out upon check-in and confirmed again with the front desk staff the day before our departure. All seemed to be fine.

The day of check-out, we grab some breakfast and head over to the pool around noon to enjoy some sun since it had been hiding for most of our trip.

While we're laying out, a front desk attendant approaches inquiring about our check-out time as she was expecting us to have left and doesn't have a late check-out on file for us. We explain the situation, she assumes a miscommunication and heads back in.

Next the manager, Betty, comes out and greets us with a stern "I'm going to have to ask you to leave". That escalated quickly, right? We explain the situation and she goes on about how she 'doesn't have anything on file', how 'no one would ever have agreed to a 3pm check-out time', and how 'they have to flip the rooms immediately because there are only 4 others like it on the property and there are guests who have a reservation for ours'. We let her know we are not pleased but we pack up our stuff and head back to the room to pack. We spent over an hour getting ready and packing with no interruption. Funny seeing how the room needed to be flipped right away.

Our interaction with Betty ended our trip on an extremely sour note. There was clearly just a misunderstanding but she made us feel like criminals in front of other guests and instead of trying to make it right she kicked us out! Situation reeked of discrimination as I'm sure she wouldn't have treated other guests this way... at least I hope not.

Kind of random, but also a contributor to the 2 out of 5 stars. There was a crime scene investigation van on the property upon our arrival whose officers were tending to an incident a few doors down from ours. Floor outside the room was soaked with a bunch of towels covering it. Three officers were surrounding the door with a stretcher on standby. We were told by the hotel staff not to worry about it. I know it's something that's out of their control but what an eerie start to...

It’s a nice hotel centrally located at Beneva and Fruitville. Dodge’s store on the corner is a Sarasota landmark and always has the lowest gas price. Our bed was comfy, bathroom was conveniently designed EXCEPT for a little tiny low toilet that looks like it was made for a child. Chair height commodes like most people now have in their homes would help. The little kitchenette was great and had a larger fridge and freezer than most. Wished the microwave was convection, but didn’t expect it. The rooms are a little dated. I was surprised for a $237 room. (Many paid much more). Too much brown drabness in the decor for today. Old looking but not old. Brown cabinets and brown furniture give it a non-modern look. It is a long, long, walk to get to some suites. But the walking was good for us. The place was spotless! I walked on the carpet in white socks and they never got dirty. Impressive in a hotel. The kitchen is wood-look floored, other areas carpeted. We needed a desk in our room. We stayed two weeks and really needed a desk for our computers. Most people do nowadays. Noah, Amy, and Linda at the front desk were all wonderful. So anxious to be helpful - but unable to offer a lower rate to our relatives who wanted to stay one night to visit us. They were quoted $468 for a one-night stay. Ridiculous. It IS nice but NOT that nice. The employees wanted to help but seemed unable to get a cheaper rate. The worst thing about this property was a filthy swimming pool. I’m still feeling dirty after using it today (4-6-22). We got into the pool and splashed around briefly before we noticed the AWFUL slimy brown build up on the tiles - like a terrible bathtub ring. I could write my name in it with a fingernail. Dead skin cells, sunblock lotion and god knows what else. I got out as fast as I could and almost gagged. I mean, it is not a little dark ring on those tiles. About 3/4 of each tile has it and it obviously has built up for a long time. In the corner by the steps it is almost black. If the pool got scrubbed down, it would be a very good hotel. It was quiet and the rooms are large and we enjoyed all but that hideous pool. Oh, and the apparent pool contractors came YESTERDAY and told everybody to get out - in the middle of prime afternoon swimming time while they proceeded to pour large quantities of chlorine into the pool. Then they ran the LOUDEST pressure washer around it - disturbing everyone- but did not give any attention to the “bathtub ring.” Fire this pool company! The housekeeping staff are sweethearts and do a very good job. And the owners should give Noah, Amy and Linda pats on the back. They are gold! We would return, but would check that pool carefully before...

Being Hilton members and wanting a one bedroom accommodation, we chose this location. Bad mistake. The room had a weird odor when we entered although at that point, it was masked from it being cleaned. We quickly realized that although the ACs (one in bedroom, one in living room) were on, it was musty, humid and it smelled. The carpeting in both rooms was very old and probably held a lot of the smell. There was laminate in the kitchen area but it felt wet when walked on due to the humid air in the room. We intended on staying 3 nights but after the first night, I began having a bad headache. Wasn't sure if it was just a headache or due to the odor in the room. The first morning, I take our dog outside and upon return, there's a note stuffed in the door stating the fire alarms will be checked at 10 am. Okay, not a lot of notice but we took off for a hike at a local nature preserve and for lunch. We returned around 12:30-12:45. My husband left to golf and I laid down because of my headache. Around 1:15, I'm awaken from sleep by our dog yelping and the fire alarm screeching. I get up as quickly as I can and get the dog and myself out of the room and outdoors. I message the front desk asking what is going on, we understood the testing was at 10 am. I'm then told it STARTED at 10 and should be done soon. Twice I thought they finished and tried going back into the room, only to be met with screeching alarms, again. I stood in the parking lot with our dog until 3 pm. These tests are not a surprise visit by the Fire Dept. The hotel knew but apparently decided to not inform guests when they booked their room, nor did they inform us upon check in. We would not have stayed there. If that wasn't enough, we would constantly have to disconnect from the WiFi just to look something up. A little later in the day, we get yet another notice on our door saying they will be entering all rooms that very day and a couple days on (this is 4th of July week) to do AC maintenance and work on WiFi routers AND even if you have a "do not disturb" sign up, they're coming in anyhow. I have no words. Obviously this is something that had been scheduled as well and notice to potential guests should have been given so we could decide if we wanted to stay here during their maintenance time. We have a suspicion, after reading other reviews, that Hilton HQ has been notified and they are scrambling to make this place more acceptable. We will be reaching out to Hilton as well. Completely unacceptable. We ended up checking out the next day due to a continuous headache which we think came on from the mold/pee/old dirty carpet smells...