Sonesta ES Suites Birmingham Homewood - Birmingham, Alabama

Lenora R.

Front Desk person Jennifer & the Manager (I think Tammy) were friendly & kind. The hotel was clean in public areas & in my nice room (see my photos). The good: my Single Suite room was immaculate & spacious. Included a full fridge with ice-maker, microwave, coffee pot with tea & coffee, and a small stovetop. Mine was not really a suite because everything was open so bedroom is not separate if you're seeking a private bedroom. But it was perfect for me. I also like how you can use your cell phone for the TV remote by scanning a QR code, instead of handling the room remote.The bad (in my opinion): I don't like staying on the ground floor in hotels, but when I got my bill I saw they charged me about $30 more per night for my 2nd floor room. They could have told me I'd be charged extra for requesting to not be on the ground floor. The other thing I personally didn't like, is that this is a courtyard hotel, like 4 sides with an open area in the middle, so I had to go outside from the front desk / eating area to get to my room. So if it's raining, you & your luggage will get wet at check in or check out to get between the front desk & your room, or just to go from your room for breakfast, or to leave the hotel. Only one portion of the rooms are connected to the front desk wing. It was a cold Thanksgiving when I was there, so I was cold every time I went for breakfast. I am happy that the gates were locked to prevent outside people from entering, because an extended stay motel was next door, and we don't want them wandering in; so I have no complaints that the one entrance was at the front desk, which made me feel safer.

MarQuita C.

I would like to start off by saying this is the best hotel that I've been too!! When my husband and I checked in, we we're greeted by Jennifer. She was so nice and welcoming. The check in was fast. When we arrived to our room, it was clean and spacious. We noticed right away that one of the lamps weren't working that was near the bed. We called Jennifer and she said that she would help us as soon as she got down time since she was the only person downstairs to check people in. We were fine with that and told her that it was no rush. My husband and I decided to go to Walmart and decided to go downstairs to let Jennifer know that she could go into our room if we weren't in there. When we made it downstairs, it was now Jennifer and another lady down there with her. Jennifer was busy checking in a customer so the other lady ended up taking us. We were just letting her know that we wanted to let Jennifer know that she could go into our room if we weren't there since we were going to be gone for a little while. The lady caught an attitude and was like, "Well, it's just us here, and we don't have maintenance." I'm telling her that we spoke to Jennifer and was just coming to let her know that we'll be gone for a while and that she could go into our room if we weren't there. Come to find out, the lady was actually the manager and I believe her name was Tammy. How are you a manager and your customer service is worse then the workers that are below you? Jennifer should be the manager. Anyways, the maintenance lady ended up coming the very next morning and she fixed our lamp. She apologized and we had a great conversation with her. I didn't get her name but she was a black lady who was in charge of the maintenance team I believe. We tried the breakfast and it was good. It stops a little early but I think that's how it is at mostly every hotel. We also loved that the TV had the option for us to use YouTube and Netflix. Hotel TVs are usually very strict and would only have regular cable. No one watches cable nowadays so that was quite a surprise!! We will definitely be back whenever we're in town. Tammy, the current manager needs to do better with her customer service. She's the reason for the 4 star.

Raquel B.

I went with my whole family (5 kids) to keep my husband company while he was on training for his job. We stood for 3 weeks. The first night, we got accommodated to a room with one bed and a sofa bed. My husband asked if we could have a bigger room, but one of the ladies at the front said she could not accommodate us. There was another lady that worked there who suggested that we switch with another guy who was staying there alone and he had a bigger room, but the first lady totally dismissed the idea. We bought an air mattress to make the stay as comfortable as possible.

The next day, the VP of the hotel was speaking at a meeting that my husband was in attendance for. Afterward, my husband explained to her our room situation and asked her if there was anything she could do to get us a bigger room. She immediately accommodated us to a bigger room and the rest of our stay was fairly comfortable.

I don’t have too many complaints. But there were two instances that were unpleasant. But before I get to that, I have to give a shout out to the ladies who served in the breakfast room, MS. JACKIE and MS. SHAWN! They held it down in there! They treated us so kindly, but especially my children. They made our stay so much better.

Ms. Jackie was especially hospitable and I could tell that she took her job to serve everyone seriously. She had been working in that profession for 25 years.

So my first minor complaint was that during our stay, they ran out of pancake mix and a few other items were not supplied. I knew that Ms. Jackie was frustrated because she had been waiting for the shipment with the mix and other things to come in for those 2 weeks and it did not arrive. And she did not like for the people that she was serving to not have a variety of food. It’s not the fact that there were no pancakes that I’m complaining about (that’s the least of my worries), but more so that she was put in a position of frustration because she wanted to serve well with little resources. Like, managers - treat your workers well… especially the ones who have great experience and who work hard to represent your company well. The pancakes were finally available on the last day of our stay.

The other complaint I have was the room cleaning service. We were told that 3 days after arrival, the cleaners would come to offer new towels and take trash if necessary and then 7 days after arrival, they would do a full room cleaning and then 7 days after that, they would come again for a full room cleaning. So, they followed through with the 3 day and the 7 day protocol (which fell on a Monday). Well, the following Monday (room cleaning day according to protocol), we left the room so that they could go in and clean… but they never showed up. So the next day, I called the front desk to asked about it and the lady said, “We’ll call you back to let you know when we’re coming.” I waited for the call back. They never called or showed up. The next day, I asked one of the workers that was outside when do they do the room cleanings and he said that I have to request it. I thought that was weird because I thought it was automatically every 7 days. I waited another day to see if maybe they would show up, but nope. Thursday finally came and I went to the front desk to inquire. The lady there was very adamant about their quality service for the company that my husband works for and that they take it very seriously and that they DO come every 7 days. So I asked her, “Well, shouldn’t they have come on Monday?” And she looked at the forms with my room on it and the dates and she realized they never showed up. So she gave me a form to write my number on so that they could call me to let me know when they were coming (again). Well, I waited for the call and they never called. But they did show up without calling and I was not prepared at the moment for them. Anyway, we hurried up and gathered our things and waited outside until it was done. So that was annoying.

The cleaners were great by the way. The problem was not the actual workers, but management I think.

J* R.

We stayed with our dog at the hotel for one night. The service and breakfast were good. Special shout out to Candy at the front desk, who was so hospitable and welcoming.
The outside of the hotel is well maintained. The inside could use some upgrades. The bed was comfortable.

Alissa N.

Good location. We felt safe there. We were only there one night on our way to Destin. Nice to have a fridge and a kitchenette. Breakfast was decent but 6:30-8:30 seems like an early end to typical breakfast times. There was trash overflowing and on the ground outside of the trash can. It wasn’t picked up the next morning when we went to leave.

Carrie I.

Sigh...
Our room smelled like cigarettes. Not a slight hint, but almost overwhelming. We had to buy room spray but it didn't help much. There was also dust built up on the outlets, lights and sprinklers. The toilet wouldn't fill up to flush so we had to pour water in the tank just for a flush.
The staff was very friendly and the breakfast was good.

Attila M. T.

It was a nice place. However Room was flea infested. We have been suffering ever since. If you have a dog, you will probably leave with fleas, even if your dog is on flea medication.

On the positive, nice courtyard, easy to reach stores and everything else.

Renae L.

Clean, spacious. Worth the price. Safe for families with children. Good location. Kitchen with full stove, dishwasher, full fridge, microwave, 4 seater table.