Homewood Suites by Hilton Overview

Homewood Suites is a full-suite hotel brand under Hilton, with about 450 properties in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. They mainly operate through franchising and are positioned in the same segment as IHG’s Staybridge Suites and Marriott’s Residence Inn.

Room types are generally one bedroom, one bathroom, living room, and kitchen, as well as two-bedroom, two-bathroom, living room, and kitchen suites. But at some newer properties, you may also see the less generous one-bedroom, one-bathroom, one-kitchen layout. All guests receive free breakfast, Monday to Thursday evening social dinner (evening social dinner), free Wi-Fi, and a 24-hour fitness center.

The logo of Homewood Suites is a handsome duck called Lewis, and I usually call it the “duck hotel” myself.

Homewood Suites by Hilton San Jose Airport

This property is only about a 6-minute drive from San Jose International Airport, offers an airport shuttle, free breakfast, weekday social dinner, 24-hour coffee and hot water, free parking, and free Wi-Fi.

Booking

I booked about half a month in advance, using 40,000 points per night to redeem a three-night one-bed suite, for a total of 120,000 points. The cash rate was around $230 before tax at the time.

I wanted to compare it with a cash booking and casually checked for this Friday night. I found it for only $126, or 30,000 points per night! I remember I checked the same-date price after check-in, and it seemed to be around $126 as well (I just randomly checked via Google and didn’t look at the points rate). If I had checked two days earlier and seen that same cash/points price, I could have canceled and rebooked. So if you’re booking at a non-touristy hotel area, check again closer to check-in—you might get a surprise.

Still, at least with the two-bed suite price, I could somewhat comfort myself.

Perks

We stayed at this hotel three times on our Bay Area trips: the first two as Platinum members, and the third as Gold. For the first and third stays, we were proactively upgraded to two-bed two-bath suites. The first stay was a two-bed king suite (both rooms King), while the third was a two-bed full and king suite (one king, one full). On the other visit, seeing the parking lot packed full at night made sense.

At check-in, you can choose 250 points, or two bottles of mineral water plus two cookies.

Kid perk: after we checked in, my dad wandered around the lobby and chatted with the front desk with our kid, and the front desk agent gave us a Lewis "Cute Duck" U.S. 50-state coloring book and a small box of crayons. The coloring book is high quality. The sticker price on the back says $2.99, and I checked online that the duck hotel’s website actually sells it.

This photo proves this duck is pretty handsome, haha

Rooms

Using this room as an example: the center area is a living room with dining area; the kitchen is fully equipped; and there is one bedroom plus bathroom on each side.

At the entrance, the sofa in the living room can be pulled out into a queen bed, and the dining table is small.

There is a fireplace on the right side of the main room. Before check-in, I got an email asking if I wanted to pay to upgrade. The basic one-bed suite had a one-bed suite with fireplace, and the upgrade was about $15 extra per night. That felt a little rough.

At the far right of the living room is the kitchen. I really liked it—it is fully equipped. There’s also a pantry room that I didn’t manage to shoot; even though it was empty, it’s designed exactly like at home.

The two bedrooms sit on the left and right of the living area, and each bathroom is private to each room with no shared hall bathroom. The distance from the kitchen to the rooms is also quite far. This is the full-bed room:

The bathroom in the full-bed room is also relatively small.

The king-bed room and bathroom are a bit larger, and the vanity and bathroom are separate, so I’ll skip adding more photos of it.

Each bedroom and the living room have one air conditioner and a temperature-control panel, and each also has a TV, so guests can stay independent. Storage is plentiful, so no need to worry about where to put your stuff.

Breakfast

This duck hotel’s breakfast is very well rated on TripAdvisor, and among this type of hotel it is quite good.

I especially love their fruit, especially strawberries and blueberries—they are very sweet.

The staples and baked goods were good—taste was nice and texture just right.

Cereal; waffle maker; homemade yogurt; oatmeal

Social Dinner

The monthly social dinner menu is usually posted on the room fridge, and it can also be checked online. Time is Monday to Thursday, 5:30PM–7:30PM. My first two stays were check-in on Friday and check-out on Monday, so I never had the chance. This time I checked in on Thursday, so I was able to join.

White wine, rosé wine, and red wine; the cookie refers to the welcome-item cookie; beer; fruit basket

That night’s main dishes: Pizza; chicken noodle soup; salad bar

Other

Gym, basketball court, pool, and paid laundry room

24-hour coffee/hot water and Business Center

Summary

Homewood Suites by Hilton is an extremely budget-friendly option for families traveling with kids who need a kitchen and more separation in living space. If there is a seafood market near the hotel, buying fresh ingredients and cooking your own meals is also a great choice.