What do you do when you are going to undergo major home renovations? Where do you live? We crossed that path last October when we decided to move into my dad’s house after he passed away. The house needed a lot of work and since it wasn’t going to be worked on until the winter and we lived an hour away we thought it best to find a place to live nearby. We really just needed a place to shower until one bathroom was done. This way we were close and could be at the house daily but also not have to deal with the daily drive, weather, etc. We researched a number of places in the Piscataway, NJ area and found the Embassy Suites on Centennial Avenue in Piscataway.
How perfect would it be to have a separate bedroom and living area since we were going to be living there 6 weeks? My hubby and I went there to take a tour of the hotel as well as check out their rooms. We knew it was the place. Plus, since we were going to be staying more than 30 days we also got a special deal. Oh and free breakfast? Yes! Count me in!
So for the next 6 weeks we lived in a hotel. Which sounds crazy I know. And it was, kind of. Because I mean who lives in a hotel? My hubby kept calling himself Royal Tenenbaum. But it was so close to where we needed to be and it really was like our home. We got to know everyone that worked there over our stay. Every person we met and got to know was nicer than the next. We especially got to know the staff at breakfast (they have a great cooked to order breakfast daily) Agnes, Hernando, Margot as well as the all the bartenders Carlos, Tyrell and Wendy. And you can’t forget Sue the waitress in the bar area.  Every night we both received a free cocktail (which if you knew about all we went with in our renovations you know we needed it) and snacks as part of their daily evening managers reception. Our room was always spotless but we always knew when Emma cleaned it. She took care of little details, plus used Fabuloso which smelled so good. For Valentine’s Day she made us a heart out of a napkin and left Valentine’s Day candies. I learned that not all hotels have bad food. My past experiences with hotel food have not been so hot. Seriously… this hotel has the most amazing French Onion soup ever. In fact, all their food is really good. And trust me we tried everything! The portions are huge and enough to share. I also learned that if I purchase food or drink I should charge it all to my room because I will earn extra points. Were if I just charged it I wouldn’t get anything. But as a Hilton Honors member I get extra points any time I charge to my room. Done and done.
The Embassy Suites really was our home away from home. We were treated like family. Every day we were greeted by staff. They might have been thinking oh here are those crazy people just living in a hotel. But we came to find out a number of people actually lived there. Mainly during the week because they worked at a nearby company but some for years. We got to know the other people that stayed there as well.
We eventually moved into our house but when it came time to have our floors redone we needed to move out again and guess where we went? Of course! We didn’t want to deal with the smells, chemicals from the floors so we moved on back to the good ole’ Embassy Suites. Everyone was so excited to see us (or at least they made us feel that way).
I’m happy to report that we are all settled in at our home now and couldn’t be happier. Although I am craving some French Onion soup so I think we may have to run over to our old stomping grounds.
One response to “Musings of Living in a Hotel for 6 Weeks – Embassy Suites”
Great article. Love hotel points!