Home2 Suites By Hilton Springfield

The room was so nice and huge that when I woke up, I thought I was in a better Springfield. Breakfast was great, the staff were friendly, and everything was very clean. It was also a surprisingly good deal. Springfield, Illinois may not be perfect, but this is a great place to stay.

We don't usually choose hotels since we prefer vacation rentals for the comfort and better sleep. We're both light sleepers, and noisy A/C, traffic, or other guests can ruin a night. Still, for a one-night stop we often use Home2 Suites, and this was the nicest location we've stayed at. The breakfast was better than expected, the value felt excellent, and the front desk staff were friendly and efficient at both ends of the stay. We didn't try the laundry, gym, pool, patio, or other amenities, but they were available. We'd come back to Springfield for a short visit or even a long weekend. The one letdown was the chain's app. This was our second time trying electronic check-in so we could skip the desk after a long day driving, and it failed again. In our experience, it's now 0 for 2. I'd wait to offer that feature as a convenience until it's fixed and can be relied on. That's a lot from two people who usually stick to vacation rentals. At check-in, I overheard an Uber driver say this was the newest hotel in town, and it does look that way.

I stayed two nights on reward points. The suite was spacious and updated, as you'd expect from a Hilton. Since I'm a Hilton member, I checked in with the phone key and went straight up. One elevator was out, but I used the other and the dolly provided out front to carry my things and food. The TV showed a welcome screen with a QR code, but scanning it led to an unfinished hotel website with information that didn't match this location. The advertised stovetop and cookware weren't in the room. A message said I could borrow them at no charge from the desk, so I went down to ask. The young woman was on FaceTime on her iPhone and handed me a bag with the burner and pans, saying they'd put a $400 hold on my card until I returned everything. I cooked, then brought the bag back a few hours later. The same young woman was still on her phone, sitting in the staff area behind the desk. I got her attention politely and handed her the burner, pots, and pans through the doorway. Back in my room, I noticed trash from the previous stay in the can by the sink. On checkout day, someone at the desk finally greeted me. She offered a recipe, I said email was fine, and I left. Two weeks later, I saw a $400 charge. I emailed the hotel, and manager Jose said I was charged because I hadn't returned the cookware. I explained what happened, but got no reply. The next day I called and spoke to Jose. He said he'd reviewed six hours of footage, saw me take the pans to my room, and didn't see me leave again before checkout. That wasn't true. I was there for work for two days and did leave and come back, including when I returned the cookware two hours after using it. He put me on hold for about five minutes, then said the footage didn't show me returning it, so the charge would stand. I gave him the time range, described the young woman I'd returned it to, and reminded him she'd been on her phone both times. He said he'd talked to her and she confirmed I never brought the items back. I was baffled by his insistence that I hadn't returned them, and by his claim that the employee backed him up. When I asked if anything else could be done, he said no and apologized. I hung up and called Hilton corporate. Vicky was helpful, opened a case, and gave me the case number and follow-up information. A few hours later, Jose emailed to say they'd reviewed the footage, seen me return the pans, and would reimburse the $400. I'm just describing what happened so you know my experience.

The hotel itself was very clean and nice, and I was there for a five-night work training trip. The room next door shared a connecting door with mine, and the people there were so loud I could hear their conversations and music while trying to work. I was disappointed to be told there were no quiet hours. The location was okay, though groups of vehicles did burnouts and donuts in the empty lot across from the hotel around 9:30 every night.