Homewood Suites by Hilton Albuquerque Airport

I’ve stayed at a lot of hotel brands and used to work for Hilton for years, and this was a dump. The property director and Hilton should be embarrassed. The room was worn and grimy, with torn, cut-up living room furniture, red stains on the curtains, a cracked glass stove top, and brown tile in the roll-in shower that didn’t look clean. All the kitchenette cabinets were open when I arrived, so I wondered whether the room had been fully cleaned. There were dishes on the hallway floor, and the room was right by a hard-closing exit door that shook it when it slammed. Street traffic sounded like it was inside, making sleep impossible. The wall unit took ages to warm the room to 70, and the business center computers were unusable: one mouse was dead, one keyboard was dead, and the keyboards didn’t show when Caps Lock was on, so logging into email or anything else was impossible. The front desk employee spent the time talking to us while playing a game on her phone. This wasn’t worth the money at all. A Best Western would be comparable, and I’d choose the Marriott down the street. I don’t understand how Google gives this place four stars.

The internet kept dropping and was slow, and there really wasn’t much to watch on TV. I also expected the room to be a little cleaner for the price, though maybe it was just that room that time. Still, we had a nice setup: two queen beds for the kids with their own bathroom, plus a master bedroom with a king bed and another bathroom. The full kitchen had everything needed to cook, which was great. They accept animals too, another plus. We’ll have to see how it is next time we stay.

The breakfast was the usual Homewood quality, and the server was friendly. Our one-bedroom suite faced the courtyard and was quiet at night. My friends stayed on the road-facing side and said it could be noisy. The linens were clean, and the kitchen was a nice extra. Some parts of the room are dated, but it was generally in good condition. Parking in the hotel lot costs $10 per night, though street parking nearby is free. The front desk only mentioned that option after I asked, so I parked on the street. I’m taking off a star because similar hotels near Albuquerque airport rarely charge for parking, and I wish they’d told me about the free street option up front.

We paid $171 for a Wednesday night, plus another $10 to park, and the place felt like a $59 hotel at best. The rooms were musty and beat up. They were clean, but the furniture was old and wrecked. The food was awful, and the dishes and silverware were extremely dirty. The parking fee didn’t seem to bring any extra security or patrols, while employees parked under the covered loading and front entrance during their shifts, which made us question how safe our car was. The woman at the front desk was playing a game on her phone while talking with us. We stay at Hilton hotels often, and this one is embarrassing for the brand. We’d hoped to stay at the Marriott across the street, but it was booked for the night, partly because of the reviews. Unless there are major changes, I’d stay almost anywhere else. We’ll keep using other Hilton locations, but this one was unfathomable.