Home2 Suites by Hilton Gainesville Medical Center

Great Hotel- quiet and relaxing slightly away from the commotion of the campus, but easy walking distance from the hospital. Rooms clean and quiet, work out room had everything I needed, breakfast simple but more than adequate with selections changing each day. I enjoyed doing some of my computer work in the lobby. Carlos facilitated a much appreciated late check out for me. The pool looked great and it was warm, but unfortunately I was here on business and never had the opportunity to use it.

I enjoyed a solid three-night stay at this hotel. I’m a light sleeper, so it was key for me to have a room on the east side, so I wasn’t facing HWY 441. I couldn’t accomplish that room selection online. To my relief, Aaron and Aylissa at the front desk helped me out. My 5th floor room was quiet, and everything was in working order. I enjoy having the full-size refrigerator, couch and workspace. I didn’t make much use of the free breakfast. It has hot and cold food to get your day started. There was a loud party poolside one night, but it quieted down by bedtime. The hotel is under renovation, so the laundry & exercise room are not available. There are quite a few construction trailers in the parking lot. Parking spots can be sparse in the evening. The bath towels are little frayed around the edges. Mine at home are the same way. There was no special perc for being a HHonors Diamond member. I enjoyed my stay and would stay here again. The hotel is convenient to UF Campus, Vet School, UF Health & Paynes Prairie State Park.

- suuuuuper fabulous front desk staff (a young UF student welcomed me at check-in) - room was clean and had everything I needed (except there was only one small spoon — I definitely could have used more) - room had recycling bins, yay! - excellent shower pressure and temperature, but the shower cubicle was small - very comfortable bed - super quiet throughout the hotel and I slept like a baby! - good location (5 mins from UF) with plenty of fast food options within walking distance (unfortunately not much more than that) Note that there is construction currently being conducted right throughout the second floor, so if you’re looking for a quiet sleep-in or trying to work during the day, it can be a little challenging with all the bang bang banging going on. Otherwise, a wonderful stay!

I gave this hotel two opportunities to resolve this issue before writing a public review (in person and through corporate), but there was no response from the manager. I gave her the benefit of the doubt in case she was having an off night from a long shift. I had to follow up on my request for a refund by calling Hilton a second time and they gave me 15K points but no refund or response, so I am sharing it now. If this had been addressed properly, then I would have considered my experience to just be unfortunate, but handled by management with a refund. It was not. My expectations are normal as I travel internationally and am a former travel writer. I also secret shop in the hospitality industry and know what to expect within reason. I stayed at this hotel in room 305 for one very basic reason only and that was to get a good night's rest before very early medical testing at Shands the next morning as I live out of town. Upon arrival I discovered the light fixture next to my bed was burned out. I let that go because my main goal was to sleep. I am on medications that make me very hot when I sleep, so a cool room was imperative. I also needed the fan blowing for white noise. I discovered that when I turned off the lights and there was no movement, the AC and fan also shut off. After about twenty minutes with no AC or fan, the room temp began to get uncomfortable, so I got up and saw there was a motion sensor on the thermostat. When the lights were turned on and I waved my hand in front of the sensor, the AC and fan started up again. I went back to bed, and within 10 minutes, it stopped again. I tried turning down the thermostat and anything I could think. I decided to call the front desk and found my telephone in the room had no dial tone and did not work. I finally decided to call the front desk on my cell. I spoke to a gentleman who said he thought there was a button on the thermostat to fix that. He sent up Bianca whose first words to me were irritated, "He sent me up here for this?" That was pretty surprising since AC is a pretty valid need. I explained that I had to get up at five am for medical tests and could not sleep in a room without AC. Bianca replied somewhat coldly that she was tired too because she had to work a double shift. It was a dismissive response to a paying customer when she is the hotel manager (I found out later on check out). She never said anything I would have expected like, "I am so sorry this is happening." I could not imagine a hotel that would design the AC to turn off when you shut off the lights and said to her there had to be a way to override it when a guest checks into a room. She told me that she "was not responsible for the way the hotel was built and designed" and had never heard of this problem since she had been there for the last two months. When she did not say anything in response to the other issues like the phone or light not working (Like, we can get you a new phone), I repeated

The door for the bathroom is a pocket door and is very hard to open and close and even harder for anyone with no grip strength. Need a handle of some kind to be able to grab easier. The room is very spacious and the hotel in general is clean and kept up with. Staff is friendly and helpful. I do have to say the cable sucks! No guide it takes 10 secs to load next channels and it keeps cutting in and out randomly.

Dirty areas and rooms, cockroach in the kitchen, BROKEN CHAINED Fire pits that should be removed from the pictures because it is false advertising! I have never written a bad review of any hotel. I always find positives in our stay, but they are not taking care of this Hilton Brand and I don't want others to waste their money. When we arrived, the toilet was dirty, yet there is only one member on staff in the evenings. I had to sanitize the bathroom myself. I believe the location brings so many travelers they don't keep up with repairs and cleanliness. I am so disappointed.

Our family just finished a four week trip covering Kentucky, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. We stayed in a number of Home2Suites and were completely satisfied with every one except this. We phoned several times to ensure the room would be feather free (allergies). We checked in after 5pm, so there was no excuse for the room not having been fully attended. Of course, there was a feather pillow, but that only showed a lack of diligence. What was worse was the complete inattention to normal Home2Suites services. We looked for dishes; nothing, until we called the desk and were told to check the dishwasher. There were a couple of plates and bowls, and two glasses - all wet. No way of knowing if they'd been rinsed and left in the dishwasher for later washing (the appliance wasn't warm though, so we assume it hadn't been used). No utensils. None. Not a single one. Went down to the desk and was told all they had were some plastic forks because the manager had ordered more silverware but it hadn't arrived yet. There were no knives. There were no spoons. The attitude of the front desk staff when we checked in, with the exception of one younger woman, was dismissive and condescending. A poor couple checking in ahead of us had called twice to specify one room, two beds. The system had it down as two rooms, and no one at the hotel had looked at the reservation when taking their call. Yes, you guessed it - the hotel insisted on charging them for two rooms. The next morning staff were even worse, again with the exception of one young man. The new manager was again dismissive and condescending. No point in asking why breakfast had been cleared early, or if we could grab something to take in the car (it closed at nine, we were there about 8 minutes before). What we could see of the breakfast being cleared was a pretty sad affair anyway; we got something on the road. The hotel is older, which would be fine if it didn't also feel slightly filthy around the edges. The outside isn't kept up, and most of the furniture looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years. The elevators should be ADA-compliant, with a ring or buzzer each time a new floor is reached. In one elevator, the buzzer wasn't working at all. In the other, the tone was so loud and breaking up so badly that we thought it was the alarm going off at first. In looking at other Trpadvisor reviews of this hotel, I notice the GM responds to negative reviews with an apology. That doesn't help when nothing changes. If this had been our first Home2Suites, we'd never stay in another. This hotel shouldn't be part of the Hilton chain. It's a disgrace.

We arrived at 5:00 pm and were told that our room had not yet been cleaned and that we couldn’t check in. The bed had a saggy mattress, polyester sheets, and worn-out pillows. There is no room cleaning for multi-night guests (to be more accurate, the desk clerk said “It depends”….depends on what?!?). The breakfast is the usual cheap hotel crap. We were woken up at 12:30 AM by unchaperoned high schoolers in the pool area, and the desk clerk said she “wasn’t sure” about the hotel’s noise rules. All this for $211/night

The room I stayed in wasn’t the room I paid for. The bathroom looked like it hasn’t been cleaned in a month. There was dust everywhere. I had problem with the internet, it didn’t recognize my room. I called the front desk, I told the associate that my internet wasn’t working. I told her I was in room 321, she denied it. She told me I wasn’t in 321 and didn’t believe me because she stated that there wasn’t a 321. I said I’m currently in the room and the room card has 321 written on it. She still didn’t believe me. So I walked downstairs and showed her the card then she said and you have a picture of the sign outside the door. I was so shocked. Why wouldn’t I know what room I’m in? She finally believed me after I showed her the picture of the signage outside of the room. She didn’t even apologize for being wrong. She fixed the issue and said thank you to me. She had to have the last word. So pathetic and unprofessional. I will never stay here again and I recommend my colleagues not to as well.