Affordable, clean, good location

Hillview Terrace is a great place to stay if you are planning on visiting the great city of St. John's, Newfoundland. It is located on the corner of Torbay Road and MacDonald Drive (east end on Wadland Crescent. Across the road is a shopping plaza and down the road is a Tim Hortons, Sobeys and a few other businesses.

The location could be better, but it's not bad. The airport is about 15 minutes away and the hotel is located just off a major route (MacDonald Drive), so you shouldn't have any problems getting a Metrobus to most destinations. It is also easy to get to the Confederation Building, Memorial University, Avalon Mall and Village Mall because they are all located on or just off the cross-town arterial, McDonald Drive (to the west it becomes Prince Philip Drive and then Columbus Drive). If you are looking for big box stores, Stavenger Drive is just north on Torbay Road (Route 20).

The downtown core is relatively close as well, as is The Rooms and Signal Hill, so this location is pretty good. I had no trouble sleeping or anything either because of traffic - being just out of the busiest part of the city, the area is rather quiet, except during the morning rush hour.

Hillview Terrace is more of an apartment-style complex than a hotel, but it serves the same purpose.. There are several buildings and inside are apartments. You can rent a 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom for a night, a few nights, a week, a month, etc. You'll definitely save versus renting an actual hotel, and you get a living room, bathroom and kitchenette so it feels just like home.

I stayed in a 2-bedroom suite for two nights. In the living room, there's a cable TV and telephone, as well as a outlet on the wall to put an ethernet cord into for free high-speed internet access (they provide the cord too if you ask). The master bedroom was fairly big and had an alarm clock, dresser and telephone. It was nice. The second bedroom wasn't as big but was still roomy and comfortable. The bathroom was clean. I really liked the apartment style rather than a standard hotel because it feels more like home and you have all the tools in the kitchen to prepare your own food.

The reason I did not give Hillview Terrace Suites five stars, however, is because of their attitude over pricing. On their website, prices for the 1, 2 and 3 bedroom suites are listed per night, per week and per month. These are not the prices you will pay! These are the "medical rates" and they will give you the real price when you call up to reserve. For two nights, I paid about $250, that included tax (2 bedroom in September). On the Trans-Canada Highway entering St. John's city limits, there's a sign for Hillview Terrace and it also states the "medical rate". When I asked them about it politely, the two women working at the counter were very hostile and angry at me for even bringing it up.

I'm not sure if that's the general attitude of the complex or just two employees in a bad mood, but other than that everything was fine. Staff were generally nice, everything was clean, it's affordable (even if you don't pay the advertised rate) and sure beats paying double at a hotel and not having the same "home" feeling.