Hilton HHonors - Homewood Suites by Hilton - Boulder Trip Reports and Reviews

Never stayed in one of these ,but its close to where I need to be.Can someone tell me about:
1)The free grocery shopping thing,
2) Hot Breakfast,(what and where)
3) Free internet(is it wireless) and,
4) what the best upgrade I could expect to get as a HH Gold. I am currently booked into a King Bed Suite and see morre expensive rooms have a fireplace.
Based on stay 7-9 Aug 2007
1) Didn't even know about this!
2) Cereals, some fruit, toast, bagels, scrambled eggs, sausage.
3) Both wired and wireless are free. I used the wired in my room because I have a travel router, so the over-the-air portion was encrypted with WPA. Both work fine.
4) View was important for me. Room was as others have described. They said they will work with Golds, and it is best to also call the hotel directly.

Impression
The room was a non-smoking room in which there was a heavy smoke smell. Housekeeping tried to cover it with that horrible "kill the smoker smell" spray they all use, and that was worse! I asked them not to do that again, and slept with the windows open. Worked out o.k.

The air conditioning is very loud, so turned it off at night (and I sleep with ear plugs!).

Staff were great. Happy hour was quite good: beer, wine, decent food.

The exercise room has a treadmill, elliptical, and sit-down bike plus free weights. There's a superb health club (Flatirons?) next door that charges 12 bucks for Homewood guests

I did a one-night stay at this property earlier this week. My time at the hotel was limited, so there are no doubt things I missed, but I always appreciate seeing other people's reviews of properties, so wanted to put mine out there as well.

This was my first stay at a HS property, and the layout almost looks as though it was an apartment complex converted to a hotel. You either take an elevator or climb exterior concrete stairs to the higher floors, use your key card to enter the central corridor, then enter your room. The grounds appear to be well-maintained, the exterior definitely looks dated, but the interior is up-to-date and modern looking. I had a 1 King room, which includes a large sitting area with fire place and small kitchen, which was stocked with dishes and cookware, 2-burner stove, refrigerator, microwave, and dishwasher (cannot remember if it had an oven also). The bedding was comfortable and modern, and the place was very clean.

Upon check-in, the front desk clerk was almost over the top on wanting to be friendly and courteous. It was a little amusing, but I'd much rather have that than indifference. I also received a phone call about 20 minutes after check-in to make sure everything was OK with the room.

The next morning, I used the modest exercise room, which has two treadmills and an elliptical machine. No weights, but I did notice that they have several bicycles on site for guests to use. Breakfast was hot eggs, bacon, and home fries, plus the usual assortment of cereals and pastries. The hot stuff was all hot and very good. Even the coffee was good.

The location of this property is also slightly odd, located behind a strip mall, but this would be very convenient for extended stays, as the grocery store and several casual/fast food restaurants are within walking distance.

In summary, I'd say this property is far more pleasing than what meets the eye. There were several business people staying there, but it would also be a fantastic place for families on an extended visit. It is the only Hilton property in Boulder, with the next nearest location being a Hampton Inn about 7 miles down the road.

TBH