First, the place is terribly constructed. Every door, even though each one has a automatic closing mechanism and could be adjusted to close quietly, slams very loudly. I was staying on the second floor (out of three), next to the stairwell, and every time the door to the stairwell closed, my entire room would shake. Even when the door to the outside at the bottom of the stair wellwould close, my entire room would shake.
A couple of the nights there was a person above me, and every step this person took literally shook the entire room. I even had the privilege of listening to my upstairs neighbor have sex at 2 a.m. I called the front desk to complain, but no one answered. I could clearly hear the bed squeaking, among other things.
The shower hot water literally took about five to ten minutes to warm up. Some of the cabinet trim was falling off. The place seemed as if it was constructed as cheaply and quickly as possible. I asked to move to the third floor, and the staff was very helpful and provided a room for me. I packed up all my stuff, and went up to the new room, only to find out that it was a smoking room! The staff failed to tell me that the entire third floor was smoking, so kept my original room so as to avoid the disgusting stench of the third floor.
I entered and exited through the far-corner of the building which is supposed to be a secure entrance, but it was never locked, even late at night.
Just some observations: Why provide a full-size dishwasher in each room, but only two sets of plates and utensils? Why provide a cutting board, but no chopping knives? Why have an entire floor of smoking rooms? Are a third of the customers really smokers? It is disgusting.
The “exercise” room was a joke. The treadmill was broken, and I told the staff and they didn’t even know it was broken.
On the plus side, the staff was friendly, helpful, and well-meaning. I could feel their frustration knowing that their facilities were built with such shoddy construction.
In the future I will be doing all I can to avoid staying at a Homestead Suites. Since I paid $25 per night on priceline, I don’t feel particularly ripped off, just disappointed that any business would be run so cheaply and with such little pride. I think this hotel is a dead-on perfect example of American business mediocrity, where the business is run as if its customers are too dumb or lazy to care about quality.
If I had paid anywhere near the advertised price for this room I would be asking for a lot of my money back.
- Homestead Indianapolis Northwest
