Homewood Suites by Hilton Santa Maria in Santa Maria, CA

First, the good. Front desk, service staff, and manager were friendly and helpful. Nice to have a restaurant and bar on site, which was good. Stayed for three nights with my spouse and two teenagers on a ground level floor. Hotel was busy, but the site is readily accessible off the freeway. We had a room with a washer and dryer, which was awesome. Now, the not-so good. When we arrived, the front desk person advised us the hotel had been renovated seven months earlier and everything was “almost brand new”. Here’s some of the issues we experienced though, despite the newness: 1. The extra door security device, the one that flips out in addition to the deadbolt, was installed in the wrong location with a single screw. So it was not secure and literally twirled around in a circle. And even when it was in place, you could open the door because only an eighth of an inch or so even made contact with the door and it flexed as soon as pressure was put on it. 2. The toilet seat was very loose and wobbling around, which was annoying. 3. Half of the towel bar in the bathroom didn’t even have an attachment to the wall. I think it was stuck on there with some sortof adhesive and came off at the first touch. 4. The flooring is terrible, stained, and dirty. Seems super cheap and obviously hard to clean. 5. There was a dirty rag directly outside our first floor back door, which stayed there all three days. 6. The door to the toilet room was like one that is put in an RV, with a multi inch gap between the top of the door and the frame. There is also no fan in the bathroom that you can turn on, and the combination of those two things makes the space much less private. 7. The shower head is very low pressure and terrible. Takes extra time as a result to get a decent shower. 8. Our freezer was dirty, along with some of the dishes in our room. 9. Somebody in their infinite wisdom, put a motion sensor by the bathroom sink which turns on several bright overhead lights at o’ dark thirty you get up to use the bathroom. Not ideal if you’re trying to go back to sleep after that. 10. The chairs for the table in the lobby area are too tall for the table itself. Pretty much only a child’s legs could fit between the top of the seat and the bottom edge of the table with the chair and its normal position. 11. There was a terrible rattle in the AC unit in the living room, where the teenagers slept. 12. Even though I booked this for four people, there wasn’t bedding for the teenagers when we arrived late at night. 13. For some reason, you cannot proactively even turn on the fan on in either of the air-conditioning units. It turns on and off when it wants to as dictated by the thermostat I assume, but if you’re looking for constant white noise of just a fan, you can’t have it at this hotel. See my earlier comment about the lack of a bathroom fan as well. 14. Lastly, I booked this room directly with Hilton through the app, the Honors member Park and stay package, and was given a “total price for the stay” at booking which did not match what I was charged in the end. To begin with, I was double charged for parking (which the manager removed when I brought it to his attention), and then additional taxes and fees were added on, which should have been listed on the app itself. The manager said he would follow up on this issue, but it shouldn’t happen in the first place in my opinion as these taxes and fees are well-known to each hotel site and the app should be aware of that. In summary, this hotel site needs work and some more thought put into its design and execution. I have another multi day stay booked at this hotel in a few months but honestly, I’m probably going to cancel it because of this experience.

My wife and I stayed here for a few nights while we were in town visiting her family. This hotel is recently redone and perfect for any visit to the Central Coast. The rooms are large and there is no shortage of amenities. The lobby has a market for snacks and essentials, full bar, and breakfast every morning. The breakfast was much more than cereal and there was a huge selection to choose from. The grounds have a pool, hot tub, and outdoor grill/patio area, and a wonderful fitness facility (with a filtered water station). I would recommend this place for any stay from a business trip to a family vacation. The rooms are huge with areas to work and a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove top, and microwave. They really have all your bases covered and I would definitely stay here again. The location is convenient off 101 and plenty quiet. The hotel is clean, reasonably priced, and dog friendly!

Overall, I had an okay stay, but there are a few things worth noting. First, I really don’t think this property should charge $10 for parking. That was disappointing and unnecessary due to its location. On a positive note, Corinna (I believe that is the correct spelling), the front desk manager, was awesome — very friendly, professional, and helpful. The shower was frustrating. It took me quite a while to figure out how to turn it on. There’s a small slot on the spigot near the wall that you have to lift and twist — not intuitive at all. The shower head is very large, but only the outer ring functioned for me. It also wasn’t angled downward, so water sprayed against the back wall and out onto the bathroom floor. In the kitchen, there were no small pots and no larger spoons — only teaspoons. There was also no dish drainer for hand-washing items. One of the towels appeared stained or possibly not clean. If you want to grill the front desk will lend you a grill kit. We could clearly hear the people above us — they were heavy walkers — and the room temperature fluctuated quite a bit, which made it uncomfortable at times. With a few improvements, this property could offer a much better guest experience.

We stayed at the property when it was a Holiday Inn—a terrible experience. Seeing that the property had changed hands and was thoroughly renovated, we gave it a shot. The entire property is in exceptional shape. The lobby is open and bright, the staff friendly, and the room was spotless and modern. It’s hard to believe the transformation. A few hiccups: Only while taking a shower did I notice the shampoo was empty—something that shouldn’t happen. The water pressure was poor as well. Moreover, there was a storm that knocked out the TV channels—a problem not fixed during the remaining day+ of our stay. What is more, the hotel was out of eggs at breakfast. Odd thing, no? But again, great renovation and nice staff.