Homewood Suites by Hilton Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

We had a fun family night away without any hassles. The kitchenette came in handy and meant we could spend more time at the pool, and the concert hall was just a four-minute walk away. The hotel was very clean and staff were quick to help. Excellent experience!

The complimentary breakfast is fairly basic, closer in quality to Home2Suites than Hampton Inn, but it does the job. There were pastries and bread, eggs, breakfast potatoes that were so-so, a breakfast meat and usually some tortilla-style meat, cereal, dairy, oatmeal or overnight oats, coffee, and juice. The staff at the front desk were friendly, and they recognized me as a Diamond member right away. The location downtown is convenient. The rooms are still in fairly good shape even though the property has been open for a few years. Common areas, including the kitchen and living room, are a good size, and the beds are comfortable. The bathroom and shower are on the small side but have enough room. Everything was working, including the heat, which kept the room comfortable. Shower pressure was good, and the hot water stayed at a steady temperature.

The rooms felt dark and gloomy, and the lighting was poorly planned. In one room, the bedside lamps had mismatched bulbs, one yellow and the other bright white, almost neon. One of our two rooms had no ceiling light at all, so after daylight faded we sometimes had to use our phone flashlights to look through our things. They were impressively clean when we arrived, with no hair, dirt, water stains, or corrosion in the shower, which was surprising given how dated and dingy they felt. Housekeeping was unpredictable during our few weeks there. Someone came about every other day, but sometimes they only made the beds and left the trash and supplies alone. Other times they restocked coffee, toilet paper, and towels. Nothing went missing, which we appreciated since there’s no in-room safe. Breakfast was one of the main reasons we picked a hotel instead of an Airbnb, but we went only twice. The food was just okay at best and sometimes not worth eating. Worse, guests had to scrape plates and pour leftover liquids into a large communal plastic bowl filled with other people’s half-chewed food, cereal, yogurt, and liquid. It was genuinely repulsive. I’m fine with returning dishes, but that shared bin kept us from going back. It sat right beside the coffee station, so you either waited behind people with full dirty plates or got coffee next to everyone’s leftovers. We travel often and stay in many hotels, and had never seen anything like it. Check-in was a bad start. I stood waiting to be acknowledged while staff acted like I wasn’t there, and the front desk experience was rude. There seem to be only two luggage trolleys, so unloading took a while; the one we got was wobbly and hard to steer. The parking garage has very low beams and exposed pipes in places. We nearly damaged our trunk before realizing how tight it was, so be very careful if you have a larger vehicle. Between the front desk, uneven housekeeping, breakfast setup, and depressing rooms, I wouldn’t stay here again.

Of the four downtown Hamilton hotels we considered, this was the best: the others were the Hampton, Staybridge, and Sheraton. The suite rooms were oversized and had full kitchens, and the facilities and breakfast were terrific. Staff were warm and welcoming, making sure the stay was pleasant and that you felt part of the Hilton brand family at this property. It’s within walking distance of the new TD Coliseum venue in the heart of downtown Hamilton.