Just as a follow-up, I did stick with the Homewood Suites in Brighton.
It was a bit of a slog from DTW (especially with a very late arriving flight and a mess at Hertz). I had called the day prior to let them know I'd be very late. When I walked in at nearly 2am, the clerk and someone with her asked me, "are you Mr. aztimm?"
In appearance, the hotel seems like a normal Homewood Suites. But the staff here really make the place shine. And I mean all of the staff--from the front desk clerks, to the cleaning people, to maintenance (had something odd with a TV), etc. Heck even when he was taking out the trash one guy said, "Good morning," when he saw me walking to my car. The cleaner was extremely nice and flexible...I wasn't quite ready for her to clean once and asked for 30 min. After I got back, the suite was done. And everything cleaned, everywhere.
One thing I really like about smaller properties, like Homewood, is that they have more than one entrance/exit. You can be from room to car in 2 minutes, versus a larger property.
I had reserved a 1 bed/1 bath suite, and that is what I received. It worked out well...the friend did end up coming up for 2 nights, but he slept on the pull-out
It was nice having the living area, as the other friend (who lives in Hillsdale) also hung out with us for a bit. This is one of the few times I've actually used the outside area of a Homewood, and it is really nice to have decent furniture out there.
The first morning, both treadmills in the fitness center were broken (yes I tried what I thought may work). As I changed a bill from the front desk I mentioned it. One of them was working on my last morning (I did a LONG swim the middle day so didn't need to visit the fitness center).
As far as location, the hotel is fairly well-positioned in Brighton. There's a Meijer Supermarket almost within walking distance (if you've never been, you
must visit!) There's a cute little downtown area maybe a 5 minute drive. Plus there's typical chain restaurants even closer (possibly walkable).
Brighton itself was fairly well-positioned for my needs. Other than the late drive from DTW, it was about 30 min to Hell. My swim was about 10 min from there. We had dinner in Howell one night, maybe 10-15 min away. It was about 45-50 min up to Flint.
The area was amazing! Everything was so green, the temperature was perfect (highs in the low 80s), and there seem to be lakes almost everywhere.
I did get a Boston Cooler for my drive from Flint down to Detroit!
There was a Halo Burger right off of the I-75 at Pierson Rd (oddly it didn't show up on my map app but I could see the sign from the freeway).
Evidently Dawn Donuts' original location was torn down back in 2013, and there's a new building there now, still on Clio. It has the original sign on the highway.