Homestead – Studio Suites

Our family booked several rooms for our extended family. We picked it because it was a convenient location. But it was a bad choice on our part. Ugh, where do we begin:
— for one of the rooms, we had to change rooms 3 times :
— 1^st room — wasn’t cleaned. why provide a room that housekeeping hasn’t gotten to?
— 2^nd room — was smoke-​infested (even though they claimed it was a non-​smoking room)
— 3^rd room — was ok, or so we thought, until you turned on the AC/​Heat system –which blew out smokey air (again, a non-​smoking room). so we switched again to the 4^th room which we finally stayed in for the rest of our trip.
— we requested extra blankets. they provided us a blanket that was labeled «Do not use — holes». why would you give a guest a blanket that explicitly says «do not use»???
— half of the lights in the room did not work, or had broken switches
— in one of the rooms, the toilet was running. we tried to fix it ourselves, but after a day, it started running again.
— on the pull-​out sofa, you can feel EVERY spring and the bar that goes across.
— the carpet had mysterious sticky spots
— overall, you don’t really want to touch anything in the rooms. it was pretty gross.
— the security there was questionable: one morning in front of the hotel, there were cops patting down a guy and «taking him in»; on another night, we overheard the night watchmen and night attendant telling each other «if you see a guy wearing xxx around here, call the cops and arrest him right away»; and in general, there were sketchy people hanging around the parking lot at times.
— they claim it’s a new hotel (built in 2004)… i’d add another 15+ years to that. and it’s definitely not well maintained (e.g. the cabinets were falling apart) since it was built.
— this wasn’t just our opinion — we had other friends who stayed only one night and checked out first thing the next morning due to the smokey room and the overall sketchiness of the hotel.

This location is intended for people who are in town for business purposes for a week to 10 days and it met my needs perfectly.
The location is good– right off a major highway and close to shopping. A nice surprise is the glade-​like setting in the same industrial park with one of the Emory satellite locations.
The MARTA has a stop right out front if you wish to take advantage of that option for your personal transportation needs.
The rooms are basic but have features that I have found lacking in other hotels costing several times the daily rate.
I was happy that even at peak hours there was more than enough hot water and it is delivered at a good pressure; thank goodness the shower heads are «standard» instead of «low flow».
The rooms have good sound insulation and I heard no more from the other guests than I would have expected in the average apartment or condo.
The kitchenette, and workspace/​breakfast nook is logically laid out and easy to work in and around. 2– element range, refrigerator/​freezer microwave, coffee maker, toaster and sink are found in the kitchen along with a basic set of plates, utensils and cookware.
This location is less than a mile from a Whole Foods market with a fresh bakery, salad bar and hot bar. A couple of nights when I didn’t feel like either cooking or going out, I grabbed a fresh and tasty salad «to go» for only a couple of dollars.
There is a picnic area in the rear with a grill that is available for guest use. It’s a nice gathering place for people who want to have a social outlet rather than being holed up in their rooms night after night.
I felt that there is adequate guest closet space and dresser storage for a week’s worth of clothing for two people.
There is a coin operated laundry available for guest use, but I was disappointed that there was no laundry soap dispensers in the laundry area. If you bring some detergent from home before your stay this is a non-​issue.
My room had a fairly new flat screen TV with Showtime movie channel included at no extra charge. Local broadcast channels and ESPN are also there for your enjoyment.
The guest room telephone system has voice mail and you can add your name to the guest directory so callers can connect directly to your room without going through the front desk.
High speed wireless Internet is available for about $ 4.99 per stay regardless of the length of stay. I was able to connect at 54 kbps with a strong signal which is fine for my needs.
Incoming faxes are delivered to the guest room at no charge, outgoing faxes can be sent at a nominal fee.
Homestead has an agreement with a nearby executive health club where guests may use the facility for a small daily fee.
The guest parking area is not visible from the roadway and staff members appear to do security sweeps of the parking lot several times during the night.
In-​room food service and catering is available from
which is a third party not associated with Homestead. A number of restaurants deliver to Homestead– most anything from pizza to Thai food is available.
The staff was friendly and helpful on the few occasions that I asked for assistance.
I will be the first to say that Homestead lacks the gloss and (usually costly) amenities of a premium hotel chain, but overall I was both comfortable and satisfied with my stay at Homestead Studio Suites. I feel that their rates represent good value for the business traveler.

Is there a negative star that I can give out?
Let’s start w/​the crappy bed. Then move on to the broken mirror. How about the neighbor who kept burning food and setting off the smoke detector.
These hotels are supposed to be good for long term stays where you want to be able to make some cereal, warm up some take out and have a fridge to hold a beer or two. The room was $ 49/​night which isn’t too strange for an off the beaten path kinda joint. But this place was a piece of shyt! Its in a great location, close the 85 freeway, restaurants, banks everything you’d need for a stay in Atlanta but it is such a disappointment. Spend a few extra bucks and stay somewhere else.