Sacramento, California / Homewood Suites Sacramento Airport Natomas

August 2012, Weekday, 3-nights, King studio #329

Status perks

I received the bonus points I have chosen for my on-property benefit. 

kitchen view from couch

Guestroom

The guestroom was a standard Homewood Suites studio suite on the top floor. I had originally been assigned a studio suite on the second floor overlooking the courtyard. My profile preferences are for a high floor room away from the elevator. Since top floor rooms tend to be quieter, I inquired if a top floor room was available at check-in. The agent said he could reassign me to this room, but that it was on the expressway side of the building.

view from entrance

I happily accepted the top floor room. The courtyard view is nicer; however, when a hotel is full (as this one was), guests often congregate in the courtyard after the evening social, and traffic noise does not usually bother me.

view from couch--bathroom on right

The kitchen area of the guestroom contained a sink and dishwasher with supplies, full size fridge, microwave, stovetop, dishes in the cupboard, coffeepot with supplies, and a table with two chairs. Microwave popcorn was not provided, as it usually is. When I asked about this at the front desk later, I was told that the hotel was out of popcorn, and that I could choose an item from the gift shop.

view from bed

A full size sofa, desk and chair, and flatscreen TV on an armoire, were located between the kitchen area and the king size bed. Two nightstands, lamps, an alarm clock, and a telephone were located next to the bed. The two large windows had screens in them, and they could be opened.

The bathroom shower area contained the toilet, and a tub with shower. The bathroom vanity, and a large closet with glass doors, were both located outside this area.

outside bathroom area

The bed was comfortable, and it was quiet in the guestroom. The lighting was good, and there were plenty of outlets available. There was an ethernet cord and second telephone provided on the desk.

My guestroom was not cleaned after my first stayover night. It is possible this had something to do with the guestroom change I had made at check-in. I had to call the front desk after arriving in my guestroom because I could not access the Internet with this guestroom number, so it appeared as though they did not change their records correctly after the room reassignment. I inquired about housekeeping when I went to the front desk to get coffee for the second morning, and the agent said he would take care of it. My guestroom was cleaned the next day.

Food & Beverage
Complimentary freshments each evening included: fresh salad, soda, beer, and wine. I did not notice what kind of beer was available, although I did observe Coke brand cans with ice for the soda option.

The salad was fresh, and the topping ingredients were slightly varied each night. I thought the salad offering was good. Hot food items were also served each evening. Chicken was served the first night, meatball subs the next evening, and chili with fries the last night. The hot food containers looked scarce as the evening progressed. Items were well stocked when the evening social began; however, when I went to the lodge room a couple of times more than an hour after the evening social had started, I observed empty or nearly empty serving dishes. I did not stick around to see if or when these were refilled.

Breakfast in the morning consisted of: scrambled eggs, potatoes, breads, cereals, cut/canned fruit, fresh bananas, milk, juices, coffee, and tea.

Fitness center
The fitness center contained three cardio machines with cardio theater. One of the treadmills did not work the first day, and all of the machines had been turned off the second day that I tried to use them. The employee at the front desk that morning was able to get both treadmills working, although he could not get the stair stepper to work. He commented that this happens infrequently enough for him to forget how each machine operates. The posted sign on the fitness center said that it did not open until 6 AM; however, there was already one guest using the room when I arrived at 5:30 the first morning. Another guest also arrived before 6 AM that day. The fitness center is not close to any guestrooms.

Pool and outside area
This hotel has an outside pool, hot tub, basketball hoop, grills, and plenty of spacious sitting areas. I was only outside in the courtyard once to do some work on my laptop. The Internet connection was good in the courtyard, and the table seating was comfortable. Although I did not use any of the other amenities, everything looked clean and well maintained.

Misc.
This hotel is a newer hotel in an area that was still being built up at the time of my stay. It offered easy access to the expressway and main roads without a lot of traffic. There is a Holiday Inn Express and a Hampton Inn next door, and a couple restaurants within walking distance. Most of the restaurants were chain type restaurants (Sizzler, iHop, KFC, Panda Express…), although there was also one unique restaurant [Malabar] where I dined one day. I had the Mahi Mahi from the lunch menu, which was excellent.

The hotel has an airport shuttle, although I did not use it.