WARNING: Long Review
I recently spent five nights at this property and let me start by saying that this property will be beginning renovations in the next few months which should help to alleviate the majority of the concerns relating to it.
Location is excellent if you need to be in the Alpharetta/John's Creek/Roswell area of the Greater Atlanta Metro. While traffic in this part of town can be very heavy at times, it is right next to GA-400 (no noise from the highway though), approximately 15 minutes from Perimeter Centre, 20 minutes from Buckhead, 25 minutes from Midtown, and 30 minutes from Downtown Atlanta. There are several restaurants within walking distance, and North Point Mall with all of the shops/restaurants surrounding it is a short drive (or lengthier walk) away. Be aware that the complimentary shuttle offered by the property ONLY runs once an hour.
The staff here, with the exception of the General Manager, are uniformly friendly and pleasant, and were always happy to answer any questions I had, and greet guests when they come in the door.
I only partook in dinner on one evening, but found it above average for Homewood Suites. The menu offerings also looked above average for most properties flying this flag. I did not partake in any of the breakfast offerings so cannot comment on them.
The rooms (507 for me) are spacious enough but well worn, dishes are mismatched, the appliances/furniture are quite dated, and the overall level of cleanliness is less than par. The renovations should take care of most of these issues, but for now it is apparent that no money is being put into their upkeep. There were dirty/cracked dishes in the cupboard upon check-in, trash from previous guests was left behind the television stand in the living room and beside the bed, the tub was chipped and stained, several broken tiles throughout the suite, stains on the duvet (no duvet cover???) and it was apparent that the carpet had not been deep cleaned in quite a while as black dirt washed off of my feet each time I stepped into the tub.
In addition, if the DND disturb sign stays on your door past 1PM then housekeeping will not service your room at all that day. I was not made aware of this until my fourth day when I finally requested housekeeping at the front desk at 1:45 PM only to be told that I would not be able to have the room serviced for the day, but could be provided with clean towels. Needless to say, when I returned at 6:45 that evening, clean towels still had not been delivered.
Upon checkout, I relayed these concerns to Guest Services Supervisor, GiGi. She took note of my concerns and relayed them to the General Manager while I waited for the next shuttle to depart. I also requested to have one to two nights refunded since the hotel was unable to provide me with a clean suite, either upon checkin or during my stay. On the shuttle ride, she took my contact information and promised to have the GM contact me.
The following day, I received an email from the General Manager of this property stating that my concerns had been relayed to him and I am no longer welcome as a guest at his property. To be exact I was told in the email:
"I am referring to your conversation with our Guest Service Supervisor Ms. GiGi XXXXX and I am sorry to tell you that we do make use of our right to refuse service to you and we will also not accept future reservations made by you.
Our decision is based on the fact that we obviously are not able to accommodate your expectations to the degree of your liking."
The GM went on to further than in the history of my account (2 years as a Diamond Elite with Hilton with over 150 nights in those two years), that there had been 35 Files opened with Guest Assistance regarding concerns with hotel stays. This is not completely accurate as a few of those were to get points that did not automatically credit back to my account during system maintenence recredited to my accounted.
I find this response from the GM to be absolutely appalling and unprofessional as instead of taking responsibility for and apologizing for the short comings of his property, and perhaps using it as an opportunity to upsell the upcoming renovations, he would rather exclude a guest from being able to return on the basis of "we are banning you because you did not like your dirty room."
The property of which this Gentleman was the previous General Manager was a dog of a property that was deflagged from Days Inn, operated briefly as an independent hotel, then completely shut its door while being gutted and transformed into an aLoft Hotel by Starwood. It is unfortunate that Hilton has decided to hire him on to manage one of their properties. As such, until the GM leaves this property, I cannot recommend it to anyone, which is rather sad as after the renovations I have no doubt that it will be one of the premiere locations in the area.
I recently spent five nights at this property and let me start by saying that this property will be beginning renovations in the next few months which should help to alleviate the majority of the concerns relating to it.
Location is excellent if you need to be in the Alpharetta/John's Creek/Roswell area of the Greater Atlanta Metro. While traffic in this part of town can be very heavy at times, it is right next to GA-400 (no noise from the highway though), approximately 15 minutes from Perimeter Centre, 20 minutes from Buckhead, 25 minutes from Midtown, and 30 minutes from Downtown Atlanta. There are several restaurants within walking distance, and North Point Mall with all of the shops/restaurants surrounding it is a short drive (or lengthier walk) away. Be aware that the complimentary shuttle offered by the property ONLY runs once an hour.
The staff here, with the exception of the General Manager, are uniformly friendly and pleasant, and were always happy to answer any questions I had, and greet guests when they come in the door.
I only partook in dinner on one evening, but found it above average for Homewood Suites. The menu offerings also looked above average for most properties flying this flag. I did not partake in any of the breakfast offerings so cannot comment on them.
The rooms (507 for me) are spacious enough but well worn, dishes are mismatched, the appliances/furniture are quite dated, and the overall level of cleanliness is less than par. The renovations should take care of most of these issues, but for now it is apparent that no money is being put into their upkeep. There were dirty/cracked dishes in the cupboard upon check-in, trash from previous guests was left behind the television stand in the living room and beside the bed, the tub was chipped and stained, several broken tiles throughout the suite, stains on the duvet (no duvet cover???) and it was apparent that the carpet had not been deep cleaned in quite a while as black dirt washed off of my feet each time I stepped into the tub.
In addition, if the DND disturb sign stays on your door past 1PM then housekeeping will not service your room at all that day. I was not made aware of this until my fourth day when I finally requested housekeeping at the front desk at 1:45 PM only to be told that I would not be able to have the room serviced for the day, but could be provided with clean towels. Needless to say, when I returned at 6:45 that evening, clean towels still had not been delivered.
Upon checkout, I relayed these concerns to Guest Services Supervisor, GiGi. She took note of my concerns and relayed them to the General Manager while I waited for the next shuttle to depart. I also requested to have one to two nights refunded since the hotel was unable to provide me with a clean suite, either upon checkin or during my stay. On the shuttle ride, she took my contact information and promised to have the GM contact me.
The following day, I received an email from the General Manager of this property stating that my concerns had been relayed to him and I am no longer welcome as a guest at his property. To be exact I was told in the email:
"I am referring to your conversation with our Guest Service Supervisor Ms. GiGi XXXXX and I am sorry to tell you that we do make use of our right to refuse service to you and we will also not accept future reservations made by you.
Our decision is based on the fact that we obviously are not able to accommodate your expectations to the degree of your liking."
The GM went on to further than in the history of my account (2 years as a Diamond Elite with Hilton with over 150 nights in those two years), that there had been 35 Files opened with Guest Assistance regarding concerns with hotel stays. This is not completely accurate as a few of those were to get points that did not automatically credit back to my account during system maintenence recredited to my accounted.
I find this response from the GM to be absolutely appalling and unprofessional as instead of taking responsibility for and apologizing for the short comings of his property, and perhaps using it as an opportunity to upsell the upcoming renovations, he would rather exclude a guest from being able to return on the basis of "we are banning you because you did not like your dirty room."
The property of which this Gentleman was the previous General Manager was a dog of a property that was deflagged from Days Inn, operated briefly as an independent hotel, then completely shut its door while being gutted and transformed into an aLoft Hotel by Starwood. It is unfortunate that Hilton has decided to hire him on to manage one of their properties. As such, until the GM leaves this property, I cannot recommend it to anyone, which is rather sad as after the renovations I have no doubt that it will be one of the premiere locations in the area.