First Impressions of Brand New Homewood Suites by Hilton

We’re on a Hilton kick this year. It’s an accident because we didn’t plan on it. Instead, it was the convergence of earning a free night with the Hilton Surpass AMEX, having many Hilton Honors points due to expire, and needing a hotel where a Hilton property ended up being the best combination of price, location and quality.

For this trip, I was searching for a new place to stay in Texas for our second Schlitterbahn visit of the summer. We stayed at a Wingate by Wyndham for our first trip, which was okay but not particularly memorable. This time, I booked a room at a Homewood Suites located just off I-35.

We had eaten at a restaurant, Roost, which is currently across the street from the back of the hotel. At the time, Roost and just 1 or 2 other storefronts were THE only things in this part of town. In the year since then, construction in the immediate area had obviously happened. There was now an apartment complex a block away, as well as a church, 2 other strip malls, a huge bar/restaurant and, of course, our brand spankin’ new hotel.

The fact that it’s situated right behind the Buc-ees may or may not also have influenced our decision to choose this hotel. 😉

Homewood Suites by Hilton New Braunfels
620 Oxford Drive, New Braunfels, Texas, 78130

It’s been years since we’ve stayed at a Homewood Suites. My memory is a little foggy, but I don’t think those hotels from 20 years ago are anything like the new Homewood Suites.

We checked in and were provided a room on the third floor. The elevators were down the hall, past a larger seating area.

The design pallet continued up to the rooms with the hallways keeping the same grays but with a busy design on the carpet to add some visual depth.

Hotel Room

While Homewood Suites has the word “suite” in its name, this was more like a larger hotel room with a kitchenette.

What is it with hotel rooms putting the TV where it’s not convenient to watch from any location in the room?

The entrance to the bathroom area was next to the bed, which isn’t my favorite layout. The sink was separate from the shower and toilet.

There is limited door clearance when using the toilet, so if you’re tall, it’s best to close the door before sitting down. The shower was sufficient, with controls that were easily reachable and understandable. There was no problem with water leaking onto the floor. The large-sized toiletries were easy to read and of good quality, being a product by Gilchrist & Soames.

One of the reasons we picked the Homewood Suites was the full-sized refrigerator/freezer, which is handy for freezing the Texas BBQ that we purchase and pack up to bring home with us.

Hotel Amenities

One selling point of Homewood Suites is that besides having a kitchenette, they also serve breakfast. We never stopped by for breakfast, but we did grab some coffee which did the trick in a pinch.

Once a week, there’s a happy hour, during which the hotel serves complimentary beer, wine and snacks. We were headed to dinner on the day it was running, so we passed on the food, but I did grab a cookie.

The hotel has a basic setup for a “business center” with two computers and a printer.

There’s also a general fitness center with weights and machines. Nothing is too fancy, but it was a decent size and good enough to get a varied workout while away from home.

The most impressive thing about what is essentially a roadside hotel is the outdoor space. There is a firepit with several chairs.

There were also tables to eat outside and, most importantly, a place to sit with shade from the Texas sun.

While the pool wasn’t large, it looked nice, with a separate area for the little ones to splash around.

Final Thought

We’ve been hopping around New Braunfels looking for a back-up for our go-to Courtyard, which is by far the nicest and most scenic hotel in the area, located right on the river. I think we found it with the Homewood Suites. It is centrally located and being down the street from Buc-ee’s, where we stop for breakfast every morning, is a plus. The price is more reasonable than the Courtyard, even though the hotel is still pricey on summer weekends, charging $200 and up.

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