I am familiar with the Hilton Garden Inn and the Hampton Inn near YOW airport where I stayed many times in the past.  There is a new Homewood Suites which opened a few months ago and I had not stayed before.  I tried it for the first time and I can say it’s a good addition to the Hilton choices near the airport.  I was able to find a good Best Rate Guarantee slightly above $100 CAD which I generally find more difficult to do at HI and HGI.  

Location

The location is about the same as the Hampton Inn so a bit farther from the airport than HGI which is the closest.  Anyway with the shuttle bus it’s only a few minutes away and the advantage is that there are more shops and restaurants around the hotel than HGI near the airport.  

Room

This being a new hotel, obviously the rooms are in good shape.  I booked the basic room and this is the room I got.  So no Diamond upgrade, not that I necessarily expected one since Homewood Suites is not a brand which normally participates in Diamond upgrades, plus I am not a repeat customer of this hotel (yet).  It’s called a studio suite but I would not necessarily consider this room much of a suite – it’s more like a large room.  The rooms at HGI YOW are about the same size as Homewood Suites, and both of them being far bigger than those at Hampton Inn which is the smallest of the three.  The kitchen at Homewood Suites is small but is the main differentiator over HI or HGI. All cooking equipment was available in the cup boards.  If there is one negative to the room it would be soundproofing which was surprisingly weak for a new construction.  We could hear people talking in the hallway very clearly.  

Interestingly the hotel only has two room types available, one category up from the king studio suite is the 2-queen 1 bedroom suite. The 1-bdr suite seems significantly larger based on the floor plan and only sells for a fraction more than the studio. 

Dining

The hotel has evening reception on week days for all guests as per Homewood Suites standards, from 5pm to 7pm.  It is not at the same level as a proper hotel lounge, but competitor hotels around the airport do not have this feature so it’s clearly a plus and it’s better than nothing.  They had veggies, soup, and bread every day, and a rotation of another dish.  One night was a couple of pasta choices which were nice, other days were cold salads.  The room where they have the evening reception is bright and has high ceilings so it is a good environment to spend time.  One minor negative is that they should clean the tables more frequently when guests leave.

Breakfast is served in the same room and it was nothing to write home about, although there was also a rotation of hot items such as frittata, pancakes, sausages, etc. to avoid breakfast becoming too boring and repetitive for people on a long stay.  I would rate breakfast at Homewood Suites above Hampton Inn but below Hilton Garden Inn. 

Gym

The fitness gym has new equipment in good working order and it was not crowded when we went there.  

Overall

Overall it’s a fine hotel which normally sells at a premium over Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn if you don’t get BRG.  I would say this price premium is warranted to some extent.  People who would get the best out of this hotel are those staying during the week to benefit from the manager reception, and those who need the convenience of the kitchen.  However it should be noted that Diamond benefits are limited to just bonus points and water – no room upgrades; breakfast and evening reception are provided to all guests so those without Hilton status would find this property to be a better deal generally speaking.