Homestead Suites in Downtown Austin

Last week, my husband and I stayed in the Homestead Suites on 1^st St. in Austin, Texas. We didn't choose this hotel, we used Hotwire.com. If you've ever used Hotwire, you know that you can choose your price and the location of the hotel, but you won't know what hotel you're staying in until you have booked your stay.

We laughed to ourselves a little bit after we saw that we ended up with a Homestead Suites, because this is a part of the chain that includes Extended Stay America. We've had some strange experiences staying at this chain before, so we were almost sure that our stay at Homestead Suites was going to be bad. We couldn't have been more wrong.

When we pulled into the Homestead Suites, we were exhausted. It took us 22 hours to get to Austin, and we drove it straight through. When we entered the lobby, I was quite pleased. They checked us in right away, we didn't have any problems with our reservation, and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. They were able to answer all of our questions right away and gave us all the information we needed to navigate the town.

Our room was clean when we checked in, we turned the air conditioner on right away and it worked very well. The bathroom didn't look new, but everything was clean and functional, so we were pleased with it. The bed was less than comfortable. It sort of felt like a cardboard box sewn into a mattress cover, but as you could guess, after 22 hours we didn't care how awful the mattress was. We went straight to sleep and managed to get a great rest, less than ideal mattress or not.

The alarm clock worked well, which sounds insignificant. But it's not. If you've ever stayed at a hotel and their alarm clock has failed you, you know that it can be an extremely frustrating experience. (Just to be safe, we always test the alarm once before setting it and we also set our cell phone alarms. I would highly recommend being this thorough, as your body clock can end up way off when you are travelling over long distances.)

Outside of our room, the rest of the hotel was very clean too. It wasn't the most attractive decoration-wise, but it wasn't hideous either. There was a nice lobby area where they served complimentary coffee in the morning. It was a lounge type atmosphere, perfect for working on your laptop or getting away from the noise of the television.
There are also a lot of informational pamphlets available, which is typical of hotels, but always helpful. The location of the hotel was ideal for exploring Austin on foot or via car. It's close to Zilker Park, close to the Colorado River where you can go and walk on a path, (Not the same Colorado River from Colorado. Two different rivers, same name. Totally unrelated.) and just a block away from several restaurants and Austin landmarks.

I would definitely recommend this hotel, especially if you are travelling on business or if you have a limited amount of time in a town. It's perfect if you don't need the frills of a fancier or more expensive hotel or a vacation experience. I would also always recommend doing a little bit of Googling if you're going to stay at a budget hotel. The key is to find information about the exact hotel where you are intending to stay, not just the chain.

If you are using a service like Hotwire, don't spend too much time worrying about what kind of a hotel you will end up with. Remember that old adage; you get what you pay for. I've always found that to be true with hotels. Also, not to sound completely paranoid, but do always check for bedbugs under your mattress. If you're really nervous about things like that, bring your own pillow and blanket. I always do, it helps me to sleep a little better after having seen so many exposes on dirty hotel rooms.