Homewood Suites by Hilton Topeka

There were plenty of hot and cold breakfast choices, but the eggs gave me the runs. The bread was paper thin and tasteless, and the sausage patties were good. The potatoes were usually heavily seasoned and spicy; the one day they weren’t, they had a lot of aromatic spices like cilantro. I didn’t try the waffle maker, though it was there. Other options included oatmeal, cold cereal, granola, yogurt, mini muffins, English muffins, bread, butter, cream cheese, coffee, and tea. No Sweet’N Low, just pink, blue, and sugar, plus honey, syrup, jellies, and peanut butter. I ended up buying a dozen eggs and cooking them myself. When the pool finally opened, it was nice. The hot tub looked good, but I didn’t use it, and the gym was okay. The pool and jacuzzi had been under maintenance for the entire first week, though. The room was run down and not very clean, and I was glad I’d read reviews and asked for a top-floor room because the walls are thin. Drawers and the shower door wouldn’t stay shut, which isn’t something you want to walk into in the middle of the night. The shower was black near the bottom of the fixed glass, and there was crud on the bathroom sink that you could only see in the mirror reflection. I was there for two weeks, and the sheets weren’t changed at all. Housekeeping comes every two days, but the next time they came after I checked in, they left only two hand towels, skipped the plastic cover on one to-go cup, didn’t clean the bathroom mirror, and left only pepper packets in the kitchenette, no salt. They usually left plenty of towels when I first arrived. One day they left no coffee, creamer, or sweeteners, so I had to go to the lobby for some for the morning. I was also stuck with one half-used tiny bar of soap for four days. I would have given another star if housekeeping had cleaned better, changed my sheets after the first week, and stocked coffee, creamer, sweeteners, extra soap, and salt packets. The staff weren’t well trained. One young man gave me wrong information because he didn’t know how to charge something to my room, and said I couldn’t do it. I pushed him to call his manager, who showed him how. Taken altogether, it wasn’t a great stay, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Will checked me in quickly, gave me a brief rundown of the area, and got me settled. I’d been driving all day and was ready for a nap, so I appreciated how fast it was. The hotel was quiet, just off the highway and close to most of the city, with downtown a short drive away. I was in town for a conference but didn’t want to stay downtown, and this worked out well. I’d stay again.

The beds were comfortable and the rooms spotless. The staff were wonderful, friendly, and keen to help. Breakfast service was good, though they could have used a few more people. Apart from that, we had a good stay and will come back.

The rooms were spacious, and the pool area and exercise room were nice. The staff were really kind and apologetic, which helped make the stay better, but the hotel needs renovation. We had several water problems: our room had a sinkhole, so we had to move, though they upgraded us for the trouble. Then my mom’s room had a toilet leak through the floor, and she had to switch rooms too. Her shower also took about ten minutes to get hot.