Embassy Suites, Homewood, Alabama

From Wikepedia: A staycation (or stay-cation, or stacation) is a period of time in which an individual or family stays at home and relaxes at home or takes day trips from their home to area attractions. Staycations have achieved high popularity in current hard economic times in which unemployment levels and gas prices are high.
Common activities of a staycation include use of the backyard pool, visits to local parks and museums, and attendance at local festivals.Staycations do not have the stress associated with travel, such as packing, long drives, or waits at airports. Staycationers may spend money they had not planned as retailers and other advertisers offer "deals" to encourage staycationers to spend money. These may include hotels making package deals in hopes of luring planned staycationers to do some travel.

Staycation. It's what my mother in law enjoys to plan for family trips these days. With the current status of Ernie and Peg, it is the safest thing for her to do...both in peace of mind and geographically. My MIL is always so kind to want to orchestrate some type of family activity, usually in the form of going somewhere, to promote family togetherness. this weekend, she rented suites for everyone at Embassy Suites in Homewood, Alabama to celebrate the October birthday's of J Smooth and his aunt, Mida.

It was just a 20 minute trip to our hotel room. We had to wake the kids to carry in their luggage, they crashed hard after the sugar rush from earlier the evening (Halloween). We decided to call it night-sleeping children! That rarely happens on a weekend! While the kids slept, Big Daddy and I got acquainted with our suite, which I found very nice, big and yet comfortable. Each suite is beautifully decorated with a private bedroom and spacious living room. All suites are fully equipped with two televisions, a refrigerator, microwave oven, coffee maker, two telephones with data ports and a well-lit boardroom table and seating for 8 attendees.

Our suite came with two queen beds in one room, and in another adjoining room a meeting room with meeting table, pull out couch and high def TV.

We had a nice view from our room of Shades Mountain in the distance. Vulcan was just out of sight behind a building. Our room had a sliding glass door that allowed us to let in the wonderful fall breeze. The weather was perfect!

This from the Embassy Suites Web site:

Embassy Suites Hotels is the nation's largest brand of upscale, all-suite hotels. Our suite amenities include:
High speed wireless internet access in guest suites and atrium.
Sweet Dreams bedding to provide support and luxury.
Easy to set Alarm Clocks, equipped with MP3 connectivity to personalize in-room listening using iPods, CD players and other portable devices.
Televisions in both living room and bedroom offering remote control cable TV, and Pay-Per-View movies.
2-line direct dial phones
Voice mail
Delivery of USA Today® newspaper (M-F)
Coffee maker with complimentary coffee/tea
Microwave
Refrigerator
Ironing board with iron
Hairdryer

yadayadayada.......
A bonus that we took advantage of was the nightly Manager's Reception. It features a variety of cold beverages (of both the non alcoholic and alcoholic form), tasty snacks and warm conversation, signaling the beginning of a relaxing evening. I guess if you can call a debate of college football relaxing....

Did I mention that the drinks and snacks are all free?

You can enjoy them in the atrium's that offer a tranquil place to unwind and socialize.




We began Saturday morning with the complimentary cooked to order breakfast. The breakfast offers a great variety of great tasting options like grits, oatmeal, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, custom ordered omelets, breakfast breads, yogurts and fruits. So whether you are counting carbs, points or calories anyone can find something on the menu. And breakfast is served in the atrium, a beautiful "greenhouse" that is alive with plant life and fish swimming in the indoor "creeks". Our kids enjoyed looking at the large koi. They ran back and forth from one stream to another pointing out the "big ones".

It appears as though Grandma used the time to pray to get through the weekend. Just an observation....

Nahhhh......with our angels?

Sometimes It is nice to get away.....just for a change of scenery. I really enjoyed the Embassy Suites Hotel. I will absolutely stay here again. It is in perfect proximity to Homewoods Great shopping. Mida and I took advantage of that on Saturday afternoon, while the rest swam in the indoor pool (there is also an indoor fitness center, sauna, steam room and hot tub, if you are so inclined. I was not.). There are some great restaurants in the area for dining, including Ruths Chris Steakhouse which is located in the building. But for that-bring your wallet (wink).

Check out the Embassy Suites package deals and have your own staycation!

Embassy Suites Birmingham

http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/index.do
2300 Woodcrest Place

Birmingham, Alabama, United States 35209

Tel: 1-205-879-7400 Fax: 1-205-870-4523