Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX [In-depth Review]

Recently, I stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX with my family for 4 nights. We were on a group trip and this hotel ended up being excellent for our needs.

With a large lobby and basketball court, it was easy to spend time with our group. The location of the hotel made it a great home base for exploring the area, and the room was spacious with nearly a full kitchen. We felt so at ease there — it was like having an apartment in Round Rock and I’d be happy to stay again.

Let’s get into the details of our stay and what we liked about this hotel.

Hotel Location

The Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX is on South Mays Street, about 1.4 miles from downtown Round Rock, just a 5-minute trip by car.

Although this hotel has Austin in the name, it’s not in Austin proper — it’s a Round Rock hotel north of Austin. Downtown Austin is about 17 miles and a 20-minute drive away. The I-35 hotel location was great for us as we explored Round Rock, Georgetown, and Austin.

Booking

I booked a 2 Queen 1 Bedroom Suite at a group rate of $122 per night. I consider that a great price for any hotel room that sleeps my family of 5. When you factor in that we stayed in a suite with a separate bedroom, living room, and kitchen and got free breakfast every day, that’s an excellent value.

This was not our first stay at a Homewood Suites, as we like this brand for family travel within the Hilton portfolio. It gives us additional space with a separate living room and bedroom, and we don’t have to try to squeeze our family of 5 into standard rooms often designed for 4.

The in-room kitchen is icing on the cake, though we don’t tend to use it much as we get free breakfast and usually dine out for other meals when we travel. But we do use the large fridge and microwave for leftovers! It’s nice to have real plates and silverware with a sink and dishwasher to clean them. And having a kitchen table is a nice amenity.

While the cash rate was very good, this wouldn’t have been a slam-dunk points redemption. Single-night redemptions go for about 40,000 points at this hotel and we value Hilton points at about 0.4 cents per point. At 40,000 points per night, that’s worth about $160.

That $160 value isn’t very far off from what I paid when you count taxes and fees, but I was happy to save my points for a higher-value redemption and pay a cash rate of $122 per night for this stay.

For such a low per-night cash price, I considered this stay a good points-earning opportunity, especially because Hilton had a promotion that more than doubled my base points.

The 2023 Double Up & Explore promotion I enrolled in before booking helped me double my base points earned and added another 1,000 points for visiting a new property type, Homewood Suites. Also, I still got 250 MyWay points, even though I got a welcome gift at check-in.

Hot Tip: Always check for points promotions before booking so you can maximize your earnings.

Checking In

Checking in was perfectly uneventful, with the front desk agent friendly in demeanor and getting us our room keys quickly. She explained how to get to our room, the breakfast hours, and how to access Wi-Fi.

I received a welcome bag containing 2 water bottles and a bag of trail mix. Under MyWay benefits preferences for Homewood Suites, you can select to receive 2 bottles of water and a featured snack at check-in or get 250 bonus points per stay. I’ve selected the points under my preferences but still received the water and snack, plus I still got the points.

Elite Benefits

I unexpectedly reached Hilton Diamond status in late 2022 and this was my first Hilton stay as a Diamond member. As a Diamond member at a Homewood Suites property, my available elite benefits included:

• Premium Wi-Fi
• Bottled water
• Space-available room upgrades
• 100% points-earning bonus

I expected nothing but Wi-Fi and higher points earned as a Diamond, and that’s what I got. It’s possible we missed getting a room upgrade to a 1 King/2 Queen Beds 2 Bedroom 2 Bath Suite, but I didn’t see it available when we booked our stay, so it was likely never an option for us on this visit, upgrade or not.

The Lobby

As we visited Round Rock with a group, we spent time in the lobby and other common areas together. There were multiple seating areas to use both inside and outside, and I liked the local art featured throughout the hotel, especially in the lobby.

The lobby blended with the breakfast area, featuring lots of seating for eating or socializing.

There were always multiple luggage trolleys available at the front entrance.

Adjacent to the lobby area were a couple of meeting rooms.

Down the hall to the elevators were restrooms and a water fountain.

My oldest especially enjoyed this piece of black diamond art that greeted us as we walked to the elevators multiple times a day. It was a nice touch.

The hotel manager told me this location received this “Flight” sculpture in 2011 from a local artist in Lampasas, Texas, for opening as the 300th Homewood Suites property.

Amenities

This hotel is not a resort, but it has a few amenities including a basketball court, pool, and back patio that could make you want to spend some time on the property.

Basketball Court

I was delighted to find out this hotel has a basketball court. We spent a lot of time at the basketball court with our group and definitely made the most of this amenity.

This small court had a nice surface and was well-maintained. I appreciated the netting, which kept the balls well-contained so we didn’t have kids running off into the parking lot to catch stray balls.

Hot Tip: I knew about the basketball court ahead of our trip, so we brought balls from home. I didn’t get the impression that the hotel supplies basketballs, but there are nearby stores to buy a ball if you need one.

Having a basketball court onsite was such a treat! It was a great gathering spot for our group of kids and was a very convenient way for my husband to entertain the kids screen-free while I took care of work quietly in our guestroom. We stayed after checking out and loading up our car just so we could play some more and get energy out of the kids before the drive home. I will definitely look for more properties with a basketball court for future stays.

Pool

Right next to the basketball court was the hotel’s pool. The pool was pretty small compared to the hotel’s capacity, so I can imagine this spot gets pretty packed in warmer months. It was way too cold for us to take a dip during our visit.

Patio

Just out the back door of the dining area was a limestone patio. If you take a right from the door, you can follow the path to the nearby pool and basketball court. This patio was a really nice spot with outdoor seating and 2 grills for guest use.

It was too cold for us to consider spending time out on the patio, but this would be a great amenity to use during the warmer months, especially if you’re planning to spend time by the pool!

Wi-Fi

Although the speed test I performed showed the Wi-Fi was pretty slow, I didn’t have any complaints. I got work done from the hotel, including a video call, and didn’t experience any hiccups in the connection.

Fitness Center

The fitness center was just past the lobby on the way to the elevators. We walked past it multiple times a day and rarely saw it used.

The fitness center had multiple types of cardio equipment, including treadmills and a seated bike.

There were also a couple of elliptical machines and a Peloton bike.

Towels and water were readily accessible.

The fitness center also featured free weights, a balance ball, and yoga mats, with a large open space in the middle of the room for workouts.

Market

In the lobby, there was a market with a pretty extensive selection of food and drinks.

There was also a cold area with grab-and-go drinks and cold snacks including fruit.

You could even get kitchen towels.

The pantry shelf snacks were mostly chips and candy. You could also get medications, condiments, toiletries, and cleaning items.

The refrigerator featured alcoholic drinks and frozen items including ice cream. There were also frozen meals, burritos, and Hot Pockets.

Parking

I didn’t think to get any photos of the parking lot, but it was fairly standard — and free. It was a single surface surrounding the property and we never had any trouble finding a spot close to one of the doors at the front, side, and back patio. It was easy to access the hotel from anywhere we parked so long as we had a key.

The Room

We stayed in room 209, almost a corner room that was just far enough away from the elevators that we didn’t hear a lot of noise but also didn’t have to walk too far to get in and out.

Our Digital Key worked for this trip, but we got a couple of keys just in case, too.

Overall, the room was spacious and had all of the features we needed for our stay.

Bedroom

I booked a room with 2 Queen beds, which were appropriately fluffy and comfortable. We slept well on them … no complaints!

When we checked in, I found this letter on the bed explaining limited housekeeping service, citing COVID-19. Pandemic or not, I usually prefer no housekeeping for more privacy. I asked for an extra blanket and trash bags at the front desk and they handed both items to me on the spot.

The bedside furniture was pretty basic, featuring a single-drawer nightstand and 2 wall-mounted lamps. Each of the bedside lamps had a light switch and power outlet. But I noticed a distinct lack of USB outlets, which we’ve seen at most hotels lately.

At the foot of the beds was the rest of the bedroom furniture: a dresser that was sufficient for our needs, topped with a TV. Next to the dresser was a desk with a work chair, lamp, and mirror.

This was an ideal spot to use for work and for charging our devices.

The desk featured a standard outlet.

Bathroom

The bathroom was divided into 2 small rooms: a vanity area with a closet and another room with a toilet, shower, and tub.

I was impressed by the depth of the closet. It gave us a lot of room to store our bags and hang items.

On the counter were Neutrogena amenities and tissues.

We were satisfied with the counter space and had enough towels for our entire stay.

I was surprised to see this hotel still using travel-sized amenities when so many other hotels have switched to refillable wall-mounted bottles. I prefer wall-mounted bottles, but I brought all of the toiletries I needed on this road trip, so it didn’t make a difference to me.

The bathroom had a shower and tub combo with a shower curtain. It seemed a little outdated as many hotels we stay at now have showers and glass doors, but was clean and still delivered where it really counts, as the water was always hot with fantastic water pressure.

Living Room

Having a separate living room is one of the best features of Homewood Suites. There was a door — with a lock — separating the bedroom and living room.

We maximized the sleeping space in this room, pulling out the full-sized sofa bed each night. We also used an inflatable mattress we brought from home so all the kids could sleep in the living room.

The living room featured another dresser and TV combo along with a side chair. There was an abundance of seating in this suite between the chair, sofa, kitchen table, and work chair in the bedroom.

It was really handy having a separate living room area with a second TV so the kids could watch a movie while I got some work done in the next room.

Another unexpectedly nice feature: there were separate thermostats for the living room and bedroom.

Kitchen

Our suite had nearly a full kitchen. It had a refrigerator, microwave, stovetop, toaster, dishwasher, and sink with a garbage disposal. An oven was the only kitchen appliance it didn’t have. The cabinets had table settings for 4 people as well as cooking utensils.

It was great having cabinets to store food, as we travel with a lot of snacks for the kids. We also appreciated having a kitchen table in the room.

The table was a convenient place to eat while we were in the room, but it was also a good drop zone spot for stuff as we walked in.

There was a small microwave and a toaster in the cabinet above it. The microwave plate didn’t spin, so it heated food unevenly, but it was good enough for heating up water and mac and cheese.

The highlight of the kitchen was the large fridge with more than enough space for our snacks and leftovers.

It was great to have a large freezer and an ice maker right in our room.

The sink was good for refilling water bottles and washing the in-room dishes. However, I noticed an odor from the garbage disposal when we arrived. I filled the sink with soapy hot water and ran the disposal, and that fixed it, so I’m guessing a previous guest hadn’t cleared food out of it. We didn’t have any trouble with smells after that.

Under the sink was an extra trash can, a full roll of paper towels, dish soap, and a dishwasher soap pack.

In the cabinets were dishes for 4. Service for 6 — the room’s max capacity — would have been nice, but as a party of 5 we never used all of these dishes at once, so we didn’t need that many.

There were also pots and pans in the cabinets below the stovetop, which we didn’t need on this trip.

I liked having real silverware in our room. There was even a knife, cooking utensils, and a kitchen towel.

We got coffee downstairs, so we didn’t need in-room coffee, but it was available.

Food and Beverage

There’s no onsite restaurant at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX, though there is free breakfast. If you want to dine in outside of breakfast hours, the front desk offered us a printed list of delivery and pickup options nearby with addresses, distances, descriptions, and hours with contact information.

It’s a telling sign that you’re in Texas when the hotel offers you pizza or Tex-Mex as your main order-in options.

Breakfast hours were 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekends. The sign in the dining area noted an evening reception on Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., but we weren’t at the property at that time.

The dining area had a mix of seating with some large and small tables, bistro tables, and a large bar table.

Hot drink options included decaf or regular coffee, along with hot water for Bigelow teas. There were single-serving flavored creamers along with half-and-half. Each day, the coffee was refilled through breakfast and then left out until it was empty.

The ice water station was always full and my kids liked seeing all of the juices in glass dispensers rather than a dispensing machine.

There were pastries, muffins, bagels, and bread available each morning, with a toaster for heating any of them up.

But why have a muffin when you could have a Texas-shaped hot waffle?

The kids especially loved the unlimited yogurt buffet. I can’t keep up with their yogurt consumption at home, so I’m thankful Homewood Suites kept the yogurts coming every morning.

Each morning, there was at least 1 type of egg dish available, including regular scrambled eggs. Sometimes, sausage or veggies were included in the eggs.

Likewise, there was always a potato dish and usually breakfast meat. There were sausage rounds and my favorite — roasted potatoes with sauteed veggies. Other days featured biscuits and gravy.

There was always oatmeal available with sliced almonds, brown sugar, and golden raisins as toppers.

We also found an overflowing bowl of apples and oranges available each morning.

There was plenty of food to choose from, but my kids loved nothing more than the cereal dispensers and didn’t miss a morning of cranking out Froot Loops or Cheerios.

Service

We didn’t have many interactions with the staff of Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX, but what we experienced was pleasant.

I was warmly welcomed at check-in, the manager was always close by at breakfast to ensure everything was well-stocked, and the few requests we had were met promptly. The breakfast was hot and well-supplied, the room was clean and stocked with towels and bedding when we arrived, the entire hotel was clean, and all available amenities were accessible.

Even though we didn’t need to interact with staff very much, they were clearly doing their jobs. That’s exactly the kind of unobtrusive (yet available) service I expect when I stay at a hotel like Homewood Suites, so we were perfectly satisfied.

Restaurants Nearby

Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX is surrounded by an array of restaurants and shops. We love eating our way around Austin, so I was not at all surprised to find Round Rock also has lots of local flavors.

Just across I-35 from the hotel is Flix Brewhouse, a movie theater and brewpub with food and drinks. There’s also Miso for Korean and Japanese dining. And just a tiny bit further in the La Frontera shopping center, we found Hurricane Grill & Wings, a casual dining spot where we got tacos, burgers, nachos, and more.

Just 10 minutes away from the hotel, there’s a Round Rock outpost of the Salt Lick, a famous Austin barbeque spot.

We didn’t pass up a chance to visit the famous Round Rock Donuts known for its orange-hued donuts, especially the Texas-sized donut that takes up a whole box.

Round Rock Donuts is located in downtown Round Rock just over a mile from Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX. It only took us about 5 minutes to get there by car.

Venturing further, we had dinner at The Oasis, a cliffside restaurant and attraction on Lake Travis with extensive art installations and a killer lake view, especially at sunset.

We managed to time our visit perfectly at golden hour, so we sat on the cliffside patio that overlooks the lake.

This sunset dinner view was absolutely worth the fairly short drive from the hotel!

Attractions

We took a few minutes to find the round rock the city is named for — yes, there is an actual round rock.

During the covered wagon days, travelers used this round table-like rock in Brushy Creek as a landmark for low-water crossings. Today, the city has grown around it, with businesses lining the creek and a road with a bridge crossing the creek right next to the rock.

Hot Tip: If you’re sightseeing, you could spot this landmark from your car as you drive by or park nearby to hike the creek trail.

We also visited Inner Space Cavern, which I’ve known about for years but had yet to visit. It’s a cavern in Georgetown that was discovered during road construction testing in the ’60s — and it’s just 15 minutes north on I-35 from the Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX.

It’s easy to spot Inner Space Cavern from I-35! Just look for the distinctive sign.

There was a small gift shop, playground, cafe, and gem mining area at the surface level, but the real attraction is below ground.

After walking down a fairly steep ramp into the cavern, we went on a tour about a mile long that took us to many of the cavern’s rooms. We learned about the formations, fossils, history, cave creatures, and more.

Some of the cavern rooms seemed to go on forever — and it was strange to think we were exploring below the surface level of a freeway. This tour was definitely one of the highlights of our visit to Round Rock!

Hot Tip: Flashlights aren’t necessary to tour the well-lit cave, but you might want them to illuminate particular areas of interest. Sturdy closed-toe shoes are a must, though, as some areas are a little steep and slippery.

Final Thoughts

I was pleased with our stay at Homewood Suites by Hilton Austin/Round Rock, TX, as it was cozy and accommodating. It had great amenities along with ample space to spend time with our group. The cash rate was excellent and I am happy with the points I locked away for another stay. I would be glad to stay at this hotel and hit the basketball court again.