Residence Inn vs Homewood Suites: Which Fits Your Stay?

Residence Inn and Homewood Suites are both all-suite, extended stay brands with kitchens in many rooms, and the differences are mostly the parent group, the loyalty programme and the individual property. Residence Inn is a Marriott brand; Homewood Suites is a Hilton brand. For a given trip, the better option is the one with the right apartment type near where you need to be.

The short comparison

Factor	Residence Inn	Homewood Suites
Parent group	Marriott	Hilton
Format	Suites, studios to larger layouts	All-suite format
Kitchens	Many suites with full kitchens; some kitchenette only	Kitchens common in suites; check the room type
Loyalty	Marriott’s programme	Hilton’s programme
Scale on aparthotel.com’s index	Among the largest counts	Among the largest counts
Typical use	Relocations, business trips, family stays	Family stays, business trips, longer visits

Both are positioned in the same broad tier. If someone tells you one is simply better, ask which property and which room.

Key takeaway: treat the two as near equals on concept. The decision rests on three things you can check: which one has a hotel near your destination, which apartment type fits, and which loyalty programme you use.

What the data on aparthotel.com shows

The aparthotel.com brand index shows both names with large property counts. The Residence Inn page states that, where room sizes are published, the median apartment is 46 m2, that a large share of its listed properties list a full kitchen in at least one room type while others list a kitchenette only, and that the USA holds the great majority of its properties, with a smaller number in Canada, Germany and England. You can see the detail on the Residence Inn brand page. We have not seen equivalent published statistics for Homewood Suites in our research, so we do not compare numbers head to head; open its page on the same site to read what it lists.

How to compare them for your stay

1. Start with location

In most US cities one of the two will be closer to your destination. Sorting by distance usually settles it. If both are near, move to the next step.

2. Compare the apartment type

Studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom: the sleeping arrangement and kitchen type vary. Read the apartment type listed on the booking page, look at the photos and check whether the kitchen is full or a kitchenette. Full kitchen versus kitchenette explains why that matters for a stay of a month.

3. Compare the total price and cancellation terms

Compare the same dates, the total price including taxes shown before payment, and the free-cancellation deadline. aparthotel.com says taxes payable at the property are shown before you pay where they apply.

4. Think about loyalty

If you hold status with Marriott or Hilton, that may tip the balance. Note that points rules differ by booking route; verify before assuming a third-party booking earns points.

5. Read recent reviews of the specific property

Noise, cleanliness, parking and breakfast quality vary property to property. A brand cannot tell you that.

Scenario guide

Scenario	What matters most	Likely approach
Two-week project in a new city	Desk, kitchen, laundry	Pick the closer property with a workspace
Family week near a theme park	Two bedrooms, kitchen, pool	Compare room sizes and total price
Month-long relocation	Washing machine, oven, cancellation flexibility	Compare apartment types and rate rules
Pet travel	Pet rules and fees	Ask each property directly

Mistakes to avoid

• Choosing by logo. The room and the location decide the stay.
• Assuming every suite has a full kitchen. Check the room type.
• Ignoring parking and pet fees. These are property-level and not on brand lists.
• Missing the cancellation deadline. Check the cutoff time on the rate.

Where this fits in the wider picture

Residence Inn and Homewood Suites are two of five big US names. For the others, and how all five compare, read best extended stay hotel brands in the USA. For who stands behind each brand, see hotel parent brands for extended stay.

How booking through a platform works

If you search on aparthotel.com, prices come live from a booking partner, the payment is taken by LiteAPI (Nuitée) as merchant of record, and you receive a confirmation email with a booking reference. The platform’s how booking works page explains this in full. If you book direct with the brand instead, you follow that brand’s rules and loyalty benefits. Neither route is universally better; compare the total, the terms and any benefits you value.

Bottom line

If you must pick one without more information, pick the one closer to where you will spend your days and with the apartment type that fits. Then compare the total price and the cancellation rules. If you need a broader view of how apartment-style brands differ, begin with extended stay hotel brands.

A practical way to decide in ten minutes

Open both brand pages on aparthotel.com and search the same city and dates. Write down, for each property near your destination: the apartment type, the total, the free-cancellation deadline and the distance to where you will spend your day. Delete any option that fails a must-have. If two remain, choose the one with the better recent reviews and the closer location. If they are still equal, use loyalty.

That exercise takes ten minutes and beats any general verdict, including ours. Brands differ by group and by tier, but the individual hotel varies far more. You can compare the facts the platform lists, for example the kitchen and size details on the Residence Inn page, and then read the apartment details for the Homewood Suites property you are considering. For the full list of what aparthotel.com shows, see the brand index.

What neither brand tells you

Brand pages and indexes do not tell you about noise, the age of the building, the quality of the breakfast or how the front desk handles problems. Those come from recent reviews and from asking. Read a handful of reviews from the last few months for each property and look for patterns rather than single complaints: repeated mentions of thin walls, slow lifts, parking difficulties or maintenance problems tell you more than a star rating.

Also check the neighbourhood. Both brands often sit outside the centre, near offices or highways. If you will walk, look at the map for a supermarket, a pharmacy and a place to eat within a ten-minute walk. If you will drive, check parking cost and whether the site is easy to reach at peak times.