We had some vacation time to burn at the beginning of the year, so we spent the weekend in Brandon. The lobby was nice and the staff was very friendly.We had booked ahead and we requested a room away from the elevator and the ice machine. What did we get? A room directly across from the elevator. By the time we arrived, all rooms had been taken so we could not request another room. There was a soccer tournament in town and it was noisy all night next to that elevator. At one point we had to open the door (at 1am) and ask people standing in front of the elevator to keep it down. They had been standing there for about half an hour. If we had know we would encounter a hotel full of kids, we would not have stayed there. The room was clean and comfortable, but when we went to use the fridge and the microwave, they would not work. It was late so we did not want to call maintenance. We pulled the refridgerator out and discovered it had been unplugged. Since we were not sure why it had been unplugged we left it alone. The manager's reception was nice and the food served was great. The breakfast was ok by Embassy standards, and the pool was small and crowded. We have stayed in quite a few Embassy Suites and this one is definitely my least favorite. We realize the hotel could not be held accountable for the children's behavior, but I wish they had told us they were going to be there when we called.

This hotel had all of the normal Embassy Suites standards, and is a nice new property, but lacked some intangibles that we often find in an Embassy. We like to stay at Embassy Suites for some "pampering" and found this property lacking in the customer service area. Because this hotel is an Embassy Suites, and we expect top quality from an Embassy, the review is harsher than it might have been for a hotel where less was expected. We have written a letter to Hilton and have included the letter below. Will we stay there on our next visit to Tampa? We're not sure at this point. If there are some changes in management or management's attitude about customers, probably. If the hotel continues to operate like a Sleep Inn, probably not. Our letter to Hilton follows:

To Whom it May Concern:

My family and I recently stayed at the Embassy Suites in Brandon, Florida for five nights. This was our second visit to this property; our first visit was one year ago when the property was brand new. During our first visit, we noticed several things that appeared to be odd for an Embassy Suites, but we passed them off as part of the learning curve for a new property. Overall, our first experience was good, and we looked forward to returning.

During our recent visit, however, we found that the property failed to live up to our expectations and found the following problems. None of these problems individually amounted to a lot, but collectively they spoke volumes about the management of the property. For ease of reading, I have listed the problems in bullet fashion.

• Orange juice was not available on at least one morning. The breakfast attendant explained that the night manager had taken the key to the juice machine and could not be located.
• Cranberry juice was not available on at least one morning. We were offered the same reason as the missing orange juice.
• The property brochure indicates that coffee is available 24 hours a day. When we tried to get coffee at approximately 10:30 a.m., the staff explained that the hotel only offered coffee during breakfast hours. We could only assume that the fountain soda was only available during the breakfast hours as well, as it was closed the rest of the day, even during the happy hour.
• No milk was available on more than one morning. When asked if more was available, the breakfast attendant explained that they were waiting on a truck to arrive.
• No bacon was available for omelets on at least one morning, although there was bacon in the regular hot food area.
• No breakfast potatoes were available on at least one morning.
• No pancakes were available on at least one morning.
• One morning there were pancakes available, but no waffle mix or syrup. When asked, the breakfast attendant again explained that they were waiting on a truck to arrive with syrup. After I threw my pancakes in the trash, the attendant mysteriously found a gallon of syrup and told me it would be ready in a few minutes.
• We attended the manager’s reception four of our five evenings at the hotel. Each evening, the bartender ran out of glasses, and had to disappear to find more.
• Three of the four nights, the bartender was out of mixers and could not make drinks that were available the night before.
• Several times we ordered a drink, and the bartender told us she would make them in a few minutes, then proceeded to help other guests and finally made our drinks when we returned in ten minutes.
• We observed various other guests leaving in disgust due to the poor performance on the part of the bartender and the long lines waiting on the confused and inept service.

I should mention that we always arrived for breakfast with at least one hour remaining in the schedule, we tipped, and were relatively undemanding guests.

When my family and I travel to a hotel such as an Embassy Suites, we look forward to quality service and relaxation. Unfortunately, during this visit we found ourselves trying not to be frustrated at the hotel’s obvious lack of concern for its guests. It is amazing to me that a hotel the size of this one could run out of food, and be completely incapable of driving down the street to a store to replenish the supplies when in a bind. It is also amazing to me that the bartender apparently never had any idea that people would be attending the manager’s reception, and that she needed to check supplies and have clean glasses and mixers available for the reception.

The hotel gave off a general feeling that money was tight, and that they were unable to keep things on hand due to a cash shortage. This may be the case, and if Hilton wants their guests to see this, then the hotel did a good job. If, on the other hand, Hilton wishes its guests to be pampered and feel as though they have arrived at a luxury destination, the property utterly failed. We will most likely still consider Embassy Suites as we plan various trips, but the Brandon property would have to make some changes before we would go back.

My daughter and I arrived in Tampa on December 6th for a short two-night stay--we were attending a funeral. Check-in was quick and easy and parking was abundant. The hotel had bell carts; getting our luggage upstairs was easy (I prefer valets and bellmen, but this hotel was convenient and the reviews great). We used the pool shortly after check-in. It had a few bugs, but I was able to quickly and easily clean those out with the skimmer hanging nearby. The water was comfortably warm with an outside air temperature of about 65 degrees. Our room was spacious, close to the elevators (not so close as to be noisy), and clean overall. There were also plenty of towels available in the room. The bed and pillows were comfortable, but I’d love to see larger pillows (longer) with more filling choices (down, feather, synthetic). We went to the manager’s reception the first night and found a staff member (Carmen B) that went way above and beyond what I assume were her general duties. Carmen was working in the bar/restaurant area and was very welcoming, friendly, and accommodating. When my daughter said she didn’t like lemon pie (offered for free at the manager’s reception), Carmen went and got her chocolate cake. I didn’t get the other gentleman’s name, but he too was very friendly and went to find something that my daughter preferred. There was also another lady that had mostly been attending to a party with a birthday who went out of her way for all the guests. I’ve honestly never been more impressed with a group of wait staff in my life. We went to breakfast later in the morning—about 1015 on Saturday (the buffet closes at 1030 on weekends). The buffet was completely stocked with most everything you’d want from a buffet. The staff again was incredibly helpful and friendly to everyone around. A guy came in late, after the buffet had closed, and one of the ladies working there asked what he’d like. Even though the buffet was over, she went into the back and came out with a plate of what he had requested. The lady we had most contact with during breakfast was Ruth; she too was really friendly and helpful to us and everyone I saw her encounter. After breakfast, we went to the pool and found that it was again, comfortably warm; there were also plenty of towels available for our use. In addition to the great staff, this hotel had great water pressure in the shower (a seemingly small issue unless you’ve ever tried to rinse the shampoo out of your hair with drips). Also, the tub drained properly—bad tub drainage is another pet peeve of mine that seems small, but can be really annoying when you are almost knee high in soap scum filled water. Finally, the heat/air conditioning system is a unit (not a wall unit—I hate those) that is sufficiently quiet and removed from the sleeping area so as to provide a quiet and comfortable environment. One suggestion to this and many other hotels is please provide somewhere for guests to hang wet bathing suits. I don’t like to leave our suits dripping in the closet (the most convenient place for me to leave them with the hangars available and the most hygienic since they aren’t touching any shower parts), but not nice for the carpeting in the room. I don’t want to trash the carpet, but often, there are few other options. I had the do not disturb sign up, so our room did not get serviced during our short stay, so I can’t comment on housekeeping. I’m a bit of a hotel snob, but I really enjoyed my stay in this Embassy Suites.

The Embassy Suites in Brandon, FL is a new hotel so everything is clean and new. Each suite has 2 flat screen TV's, a fridge, microwave, table for 3, and a pullout sofabed. The price includes breakfast served buffet style in the restaurant. The variety was excellent and the food was very good. They even have an omlette station and cook to order. (Please remember to tip the lady who cleans the tables, we noticed many people not tipping).
You also receive a card at check-in to enjoy free drinks at the bar everyday for happy hour. That was an excellent perk and the bartender was extremely nice and helpful w/ touristy type information.
We had the pool area to ourselves the few times we used it. It was well maintained and sparkling clean.
I would stay there again in a heartbeat.