The Homewood Suites Mt Laurel is located across from a shopping mall, off an exit of the I-295. The New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia are easily accessible from there, and visiting relatives there was the main purpose of our stay.

While the location is fairly convenient, the hotel has been built too close to the Interstate. We were given a room facing the freeway at first and found it too loud. Our request to move into a room facing the other side was immediately granted since the hotel was not very full. The other side was much better.

The hotel appears to have opened very recently (as in 12/06 or thereabouts). Everything is thus very new and modern. We had a 1-bedroom suite with a king-sized bed. There was a double sofabed in the living room for our children.

The bathroom is accessible only from the bedroom, not from the living room. That may be good or bad, depending on who you are sharing the suite with (if anybody). Space utilization and arrangement of furniture were slightly better than in another Homewood Suites I stayed at recently, but all in all very similar.

One negative thing about the suite was that the bedroom itself is relatively small - there was really hardly any space left to move around, especially when suitcases were opened. The living room is more spacious, even with the sofabed unfolded. The kitchen area features all standard kitchen appliances, including a full-size fridge.

A full breakfast buffet was included in the room price and was quite good. There is a small (but not tiny) swimming pool and a fitness room. We tried out the pool - the water could have been slightly warmer. But at least there was a hot tub to warm up in as well.

Overall, this is a very good hotel, but I'm concerned about the noise from the Interstate if there are no rooms available facing the other way. I also think the bedroom should be a little bigger.