Jim W.
Yelp
First, I'll say that I usually enjoy staying at Homewood Suites. Also, on this same trip, I stayed in several other Hilton-franchise hotels (Hampton Inns), which are probably one notch down the overall ranking of properties (in theory, in terms of price/quality). And, I understand that different states and cities have different Covid-related policies that may affect hotel stays (at this point). That said, here is my review.
You should be aware that there are, in fact, 2 Homewood Suites properties within about 4 blocks of each other in this area. So when making a reservation, be careful which one you are choosing. A lady ahead of us at check-in may have been at the wrong property...
This hotel is in the business district (about a half mile from I-10), and as such is valet-only parking. They were pretty good at coordinating the traffic flow while allowing you to unload luggage. There is space for maybe 6 - 7 cars in the covered pull-through area. However, the hotel appeared to have only one large luggage cart available. This actually became a bit of a running joke during the trip. We never saw more than one cart at any time, even early in the morning. I cannot understand why this would be the case, but it made unloading more challenging. We emptied the car into a space in the lobby and then made multiple trips to ferry things to the room while someone watched the remaining items (we had some extra luggage as we were helping someone move).
The next challenge was towels. We had a party of 3, but only 2 towels when we checked in. We asked about it and they said they were out of them, but would have more in the morning. At breakfast the next day, I asked again and they were still out; they did offer to have some brought to the room, though. True to their word, a staffer did show up about 30 minutes later with towels; she asked for the used towels in return. I then started to put away what she'd brought and realized that we again had only 2 towels! I had to go down the hallway to get her to provide that extra 3rd towel...
Breakfast was pretty minimal. There was a lot of variance between hotels and states as to what was provided. Here, you got a bag breakfast with an apple and a packaged muffin; if you were lucky, you might also get a breakfast bar of some sort. That was it. Maybe this was due to local / state restrictions there? They did have coffee in the lobby also.
The final minor issue was the clock in our room - it had no display. However, its alarm did function, as that went off about an hour after we arrived. I don't know what it is about Homewood Suites and clocks - a few years ago, they had some model where, if you needed to change the time, they wanted to send a maintenance staffer to do it for you... (?)
Aside from the above, I will say that the staff here was uniformly friendly and tried to be helpful. The room itself was quiet and comfortable (we were on an upper floor). The location is pretty central - you can walk to Bourbon Street in about 10 minutes or down to the river and the associated mall-type district in 15 - 20 minutes. Jackson Square is within a 30-minute walk. We could see part of the Superdome from our window, so it was close also. There are a number of restaurants within easy walking distance. We left our car in their garage for our full 36-hour stay. You can also take the streetcar to some of the tourist areas.
If I ever return to New Orleans, I might check out the other Homewood Suites for comparison.