Homewood Suites Tampa Brandon

Be warned! Spent a little over 2 months here while on a business trip. Hotel is badly in need of a major renovation. Had to use my cellular data for pretty much the entire time I was here due to absolutely horrendous internet. One of my coworkers had to change hotels because his wife was unable to work in the room due to lack of internet. Another coworker moved out after he discovered a seemingly fraudulent charge to his credit card. I stuck with it merely because I had too much in my room to bother moving after working 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Living room furniture was totally worn out. I discovered an erroneous charge for a $7.00 beverage on my folio that had been billed to my corporate card. It was credited back to me, however, I was unable to submit my expense reports on time because I was told that the hotel had no way to correct my receipt to make it reflect the correct actual amounts charged to my room. Got locked out of my room at 4 am one morning and was nearly late for work because the hotel was “upgrading the software for the digital locks”. Guy at the front desk was not able to let me in and I had to wait around 20 minutes for someone else to arrive who had a master key card to let me in. Television’s are slow with a very limited amount of channels. Hotel staff was mostly friendly but I don’t suppose that they can do anything about the owners who seemingly refuse to spend any $$ to fix the place up. Breakfast was pretty decent but the Wednesday manager’s reception was lame.

My room was spacious and comfortable and very clean. Overall, my stay was lovely. My favorite part however definitely had to be the continental breakfast!! The staff member serving breakfast (I did not catch her name) was friendly, charming and polite throughout my meal. Her and Darcel truly seemed to care whether we enjoyed our food or not. They were also very attentive and smiled a lot. It makes all the difference when you can tell employees really care about their guests.

When you arrive at the hotel, a sign is at the entrance of the hotel that is from the sheriff that advises you to lock your car. The hotel parking lot was very poorly lit as three out of the four light bulbs were burnt out on several poles. Even after voicing my concern to management nothing changed the nine days of our stay. That is the kind of service you can expect at this hotel. Nothing! There are signs everywhere that. advise you Homewood Suites is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen items. At least change your light bulbs. We decided we should take everything out of the car, beach chairs, cooler, umbrella, and etc. No luggage cart was available. I inquired at the front desk and was told that no luggage carts were available and that they were probably in the rooms of hotel guests. I asked if they could look for one for me or call me if they found one or possibly had something I could use, and I was told they would. You guessed it no help no call. No service to assist me. Thus, we made four trips carrying up our items to the third floor. What a hassle. Next day I want to print some tickets out at the hotel at the business center. There was only one computer in the business center, and it was not working. I tried to call technical support for help but was unable to contact them. I went to the front desk to see if they could print out my tickets for and was told they could not print anything because of viruses. I asked to speak with the manager and was told that they were doing away with business centers and told me I could print from my phone. I went back in the business center to see if I could print from the phone but that was not true. The printer did not have wireless connections. I thought the manager was going to help as she walked back in the business center but all she did was disconnect the computer and left with the computer without saying a single word to me. Once again, no service. I had to go the library to print out my tickets. What a hassle. There was a notification on the mirror in the bathroom that we would be getting room service every two days. The maid rang the bell on the third day, and we asked for room service, and she told us not English, but we were able to grab fresh towels from the maid's cart. That is how we got room service grabbing towels off the maid carts or going to the front desk. We did call on the four day and ask for room service and did get it. We stayed for nine days and had room service one day. The breakfast was standard but only had on most days one woman working and could not keep the breakfast adequately stocked. My son only liked several items yogurt and a pastry they had but several times they ran out, so we had to get to McDonald's which was very close to feed my son. The Homewood Suites as you can see backs up to an Interstate so the room you can hear the traffic noise at night and if you're a light sleeper like me makes it difficult to sleep. I ended sleeping with the white noise on m

Property is in dire need of renovation. Everything in the room was worn beyond what one would expect. Even a chair had a slip cover (also very worn). Old drapes that won’t close fully. Sheers with holes, etc. (see pics). Beds and pillows leave much to be desired. Most telling sign was on arrival. Parking lot was extremely dark with most every light dim or out. Very unsafe. I started to rate this as a three, but can’t bring myself to call it average. On a brighter note, it does appear the cleaning staff does their job. Ownership needs to invest back in the property. This was once a very nice property.

The 1 bedroom suite was spacious with a very comfortable king-sized bed. Buffet breakfast is included in the rate and offers a variety of hot and cold options. My only criticisms are: a) The (free) in-room wifi connection was not consistent and b) The onsite gym was very small (9 x 7 feet) and only had cardio equipment.

Location was good. Staff was great. Housekeeping was poor - sheets not changed after a week, tissue not replaced, kitchen towel not replaced. Exterior of the building is filthy - stucco is stained/discolored and many double-paned windows have failed seals leaving them cloudy. The grounds are ok but the dumpster area is littered with trash. The interior of the building in the common areas is dirty and worn-out. Lots of peeling wallpaper seams, decade old filth, broken trim, broken ceiling tile and dingy finishes. This appears to be a 20 yr old hotel that was NEVER renovated - same decor and furniture (uncomfortable) since it was built. The carpet seems newer though. The breakfast is the usual reconstituted eggs and rubbery processed turkey sausage - but not the worst. Coffee always seems to be on. The guests are nice. The washing machine - I’m doing laundry now - is a Speed Queen and it’s rattles around and I’m not convinced it actually cleans…we’ll see This hotel is pretty dingy. They need an $8 mil makeover and porters on staff I’m on long-term assignment and have been in Hilton properties since mid-February. I’ll be getting out of this one and back to a Home2 Suites in short order (food terrible but otherwise great).